Burger King Goes All In On Plant-Based—What Are ‘Dirty Vegan Chicken Nuggets’?

For a limited-time only earlier this month, Burger King offered UK customers a menu item that they deemed ‘Dirty Vegan Chicken Nuggets.’ This marks the fast food giant’s latest plant-based option to hit their menu there, as they also continue to offer more vegetarian food choices at their locations around the globe. In light of this, here’s what we know about their vegetarian menu options in the UK , the US, and elsewhere:

In honor of World Vegan Day on November 1st, Burger King offered plant-based nuggets throughout the UK, continuing this until November 6th. According to the chain, these breaded vegan nuggets were “loaded with smokey BBQ sauce and topped with crispy onions” and caused a stir on Twitter where fans shared their experiences trying the new menu item and others around the globe expressed their wish for more vegetarian options to hit their local Burger King restaurant.

Back in January, as reported by Veg News, Burger King became the “first fast-food chain in the UK to add vegan chicken nuggets to its menu after it launched The Vegetarian Butcher-made nuggets in six-piece, nine-piece, and 20-piece boxes along with sweet chili dipping sauce.”

The most recent ‘Dirty’ vegan chicken nuggets were available with a special code in the Burger King app, and were also ordered through delivery UK-wide through Deliveroo. This makes us wonder, will something similar soon arrive in the US or elsewhere?

Globally, fans may remember how Burger King first “got into plant-based food,” Veg News writes, with the launch of the Impossible Whopper in the US in 2019. Since then, the popular chain has made some major vegetarian-friendly changes to its menus worldwide, and especially in the UK. There, the outlet notes, Burger King’s “goal is to make half of its menu plant-based by 2030—a move that would help the chain achieve its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 41 percent.”

Regarding this, Alasdair Murdoch, chief executive of Burger King UK, previously said in a statement, “Adapting to customer preferences is a key focus at Burger King. We are committed to helping our guests make good decisions about what they eat and drink and providing them with informed choices.”

At its UK locations, Burger King works with the European supplier The Vegetarian Butcher to offer plant-based versions of their most famous menu items, such as a “Plant-Based Whopper,” which Veg News says “got a vegan makeover during a brief pandemic-induced hiatus,” a plant-based chicken sandwich called the “Vegan Royale,” and more.

Burger King’s “efforts to lead the plant-based fast-food revolution” have also resulted, Veg News continues, in “meatless pop-ups around the world,” starting at a singular location in Germany, and then “expanding to Spain, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Israel, and more.”

In the US specifically, the fast food giant launched its first plant-based chicken sandwich for a limited time at Cincinnati, Ohio locations back in August. There, the “Original Chick’n Sandwich” was revamped, and instead made with Impossible Foods’ new Impossible Chicken Patties made from Plants and could be ordered to be fully plant-based by omitting mayonnaise.