Is Starbucks Caramel Drizzle Vegan (Caramel Sauces + More)

Have you ever asked yourself or your friend if the caramel drizzle at Starbucks is vegan? How to order vegan drinks at Starbucks? Well, you are at the perfect place to find the answer to such a question.

If you order Starbucks often, you’ll want to know what’s vegan on their menu. Their caramel drizzle is very popular, but is it vegan?

No, the Starbucks caramel drizzle isn’t vegan. According to their ingredient list, the caramel drizzle contains heavy cream, butter, and skim milk powder, which is dairy. However, the caramel syrup is vegan, so you can substitute it with the drizzle.

You need to be careful if you’re a vegan ordering from Starbucks since it can be difficult to tell what you can and can’t eat there. Here’s everything you’ll need to know.

Table of Contents

Is Starbucks Caramel Drizzle Vegan?

You’ll need to pay attention to what toppings you order from Starbucks. While it sounds like their caramel drizzle and syrup should be the same topping, they consist of different ingredients. Plus, the drizzle isn’t vegan, while the syrup contains no animal products.

Generally, Starbucks clear syrups are typically vegan, but the other sauces aren’t. If you want your drink to be vegan, you’ll need to replace the caramel drizzle with another topping.

The caramel macchiato is one of Starbucks’ most popular drinks that uses the caramel drizzle. You can still order it, but to make it vegan, you should swap out the caramel drizzle and whipped cream and ask for no dairy in the drink. There are plenty of dairy alternatives at Starbucks.

Overall, the Starbucks caramel drizzle isn’t vegan! It contains at least two different milk products as ingredients. Most caramel you find won’t be vegan because many recipes use butter, milk, or heavy cream to create the sweet topping.

Starbucks Caramel Drizzle Nutrition Facts

You’ll also want to know what ingredients are in the caramel drizzle before you order it. The caramel drizzle isn’t healthy, but you only eat small amounts of it at a time since it’s a drink topping.

It includes two grams of carbs, one gram of fat, and no protein.

The topping also consists of these ingredients. We’ve bolded the ones that aren’t vegan:

Corn Syrup
Invert Sugar
Sugar
Butter (cream and salt)
Heavy Cream
Water
Skim Milk Powder
Natural Flavors
Potassium Sorbate (as a preservative)
Mono and Diglycerides
Sodium Bicarbonate

As you can see, there are non-vegan ingredients in the drizzle. Butter, heavy cream, and skim milk powder are all dairy products, meaning they come from cows- so they can’t be vegan.

Starbucks Caramel Drizzle Alternatives

If you enjoy the sweet taste of caramel toppings, you can still add the syrup to your drink and have it be vegan.

These are the ingredients in the syrup:

Sugar
Water
Natural Flavor
Citric Acid
Potassium Sorbate (as a preservative)

All of these products are vegan so you can drink them safely! If the drink you want to order comes with caramel sauce, you can always ask your barista to replace it with syrup.

It’s an easy swap, so they shouldn’t have any issues with doing it.

You’ll want to keep in mind that most caramel products do have dairy in them. These syrups are only caramel flavored, meaning they aren’t real caramel so that they can be vegan.

You might also find vegan caramel out there that consists of alternative dairy products, which would be safe for you to eat.

Caramel Drizzle VS Caramel Syrup

You might also be wondering what the difference between these two toppings is. The main variation is that the drizzle (sometimes called a sauce) dissolves much faster.

The syrup lasts longer on whipped cream, making it a better decorative topping.

The syrups also have more uses in the cafe since they distribute more evenly.

They can go in the drinks or act as a topping. If you want to swap out the drizzles for syrups, you can do so in a one-to-one ratio.

Overall, both of these toppings taste fantastic! However, if you’re a vegan, then caramel syrup is the only option for you out of the two.

What Drinks are Vegan at Starbucks?

There are plenty of vegan beverages that you can order from Starbucks. Their coffee, black, chai, green, and herbal teas are all vegan.

You’ll want to choose one of those vegan options as your base, then add non-dairy products. That way, you can know you’re getting a vegan drink.

Here are a few examples of the Best vegan drinks at Starbucks:

Matcha green tea latte
Caffè Americano
Pink drink
Flat white with non-dairy
Coconut milk latte
Nitro cold brew
Violet drink

However, you can order any item on the menu and tell the barista that you want it to be vegan. The staff there can offer you plenty of non-dairy alternatives, including soy, almond, or coconut milk. Although, you will need to ensure that they don’t put whipped cream on your drink.

Unfortunately, Starbucks doesn’t have a vegan whipped cream option at this time.

The company is testing vegan whipped cream made from lentils, but the topping isn’t available at every location yet.

Final Thoughts

To summarize, the Starbucks caramel drizzle isn’t vegan. You’ll want to switch it out for the caramel syrup since this option doesn’t contain the dairy products you usually find in caramel.

You don’t need to feel discouraged from ordering vegan drinks at Starbucks. The baristas have access to many different non-dairy alternatives that they can add to your favorite drinks instead. That way, you can still enjoy their coffee safely.

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