Most baked goods contain dough, and dough, if you’re not aware, is generally not vegan. It contains eggs, which is an animal byproduct. Unfortunately, eggs are crucial to baking. Some even view it as being synonymous with baked goods.
For that reason, most bakeries have only a few vegan options on their menu, but that is also the case with Perkins Restaurant & Bakery.
Unsurprisingly, Perkins Restaurant & Bakery only have a handful of vegan options on their menu, most of which are salads and sides.
Therefore, if you wish to dine in a restaurant, you may have to be careful what you order. But this can prove to be difficult since Perkins Restaurant & Bakery has several categories on their menu, as well as subcategories. Let’s start this guide by looking into one of their categories: breakfast.
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Perkins Restaurant & Bakery: Breakfast
As the name suggests, the breakfast category consists of menu options that are suitable for breakfast. This category has three subcategories, namely (1) Fresh-Cracked Classics, (2) Griddle Greats, and (3) Breakfast Sides. Let’s take a look into each breakfast subcategory, starting with Fresh-Cracked Classics:
Fresh-Cracked Classics
As the name suggests, the Fresh-Cracked Classics subcategory is centered on using eggs, hence the name. Since eggs are not vegan, the options in this subcategory aren’t as well.
Griddle Greats
Griddle Greats consists of dishes made on a griddle, which is where the name comes from. Their Griddle Greats menu includes pancakes, waffles, and toast.
Their pancakes are either made of buttermilk or potato batter. Unfortunately, both types contain eggs and dairy, so they’re not vegan. As for the waffles, Perkins specifically makes Belgian waffles, which are inherently not vegan since its recipe contains dairy. The toast, on the other hand, is vegan, but make sure it’s the whole wheat, white, or sourdough type. The rye toast usually contains honey.
You must keep in mind that all toast products at Perkins contain dough conditioner, which typically has enzymes that are potentially non-vegan.
Alas, we have yet to find the exact components of their dough improver, so it’s not yet set in stone whether the toast at Perkins is indeed vegan.
Sides
The last subcategory of breakfast consists of the sides. Fortunately, you’ll find an assortment of vegan options in this subcategory. These include:
- Applesauce
- Bagels
- Fresh Fruit
- Grits
- Hash Browns
- Oatmeal
- Potatoes
- Toast
- Tots
Again, make sure you order the right type of toast. Otherwise, you might receive the toast that contains honey. Also, hash browns usually contain artificial flavors.
Much like with the dough improver, there is limited information regarding the ingredients of their artificial flavors, so it’s not clear whether the hash browns at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery are vegan or not.
Perkins Restaurant & Bakery: Lunch & Dinner
Similar to the breakfast category, the lunch category has several subcategories, four, to be exact. Here’s a closer look at each of them:
Classic Entrees
The options in the Classic Entrees subcategory are mainly complete dishes, meaning each option consists of numerous ingredients. Sadly, there is no vegan Classic Entree in Perkins. Each option consists of fish, beef, poultry, or pork.
Burgers & Sandwiches
Burgers are inherently not vegan, so it is no surprise that there are no vegan options in this subcategory.
Soups & Salads
As a vegan, you’d assume that if there were a menu option that’s going to be vegan, it would be in the salads category. However, surprisingly enough, all soups & salads options in Perkins Restaurant & Bakery contain an animal product. The Honey Mustard Chicken Crunch, for example, contains honey. The Southwest Avocado also features chicken, which is undoubtedly not vegan.
Appetizers
If breakfast has the sides subcategory, lunch has the appetizers subcategory, where you’ll find a handful of vegan options. Here’s a look at these options:
- Crispy Fries
- Fried Pickles
- Tots
Though there’s an onion ring option in this subcategory, it’s not vegan since the batter recipe usually calls for eggs or dairy. Apart from that, the rest of the menu is clearly not vegan since they contain chicken and cheese. Overall, the lunch & dinner doesn’t offer much to vegans as opposed to the breakfast category.
Bakery
The two previous sections are all part of the Perkins Restaurant. If you’re more into the bakery part of Perkins, you might struggle to find a single vegan option since most of their baked goods contain either dairy or eggs. After going through each bakery subcategory, including Whole Pies, Pie Slices, and Bakery Treats.
Kids Menu
The kid’s menu is basically a menu that consists of all “kid-friendly” options from the previous categories. However, they combine several options into one. For example, one option in this menu is Scrambled Egg, Hash Browns & Toast.
Though the hash browns and toast are vegan by themselves, the extra scrambled egg is not. Therefore, there are no vegan options in the kid’s category.
Beverages
Like any other restaurant, Perkins also offers numerous beverages to its customers. Of course, some of these drinks are bound to be vegan.
Here’s a look at these vegan beverages:
- Juice (Orange, Tomato, Apple, Cranberry)
- Coffee
- Decaf Coffee
- Hot Tea
- Hot Chocolate
While one may argue that these drinks are potentially not vegan since they might contain milk, you can always ask the staff not to add milk when making the drink.
A Breakdown Of Vegan Options At Perkins Restaurant & Bakery
To summarize, Perkins Restaurant & Bakery has several vegan options spread across different menus. You can find most of them in the breakfast sides subcategory, a few in the lunch & dinner appetizers subcategory, and the rest in the beverages category. Here’s a breakdown of all their vegan options:
- Applesauce
- Bagels
- Coffee
- Crispy Fries
- Decaf Coffee
- Fresh Fruit
- Fried Pickles
- Grits
- Hash Browns
- Hot Chocolate
- Hot Tea
- Juice (Orange, Tomato, Apple, Cranberry)
- Oatmeal
- Potatoes
- Toast
- Tots
Considering Perkins is a bakery, having this many vegan option is quite impressive. Of course, you must keep in mind that the menu for each location varies. So, an item on this list may not be available at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery near your area. Similarly, an item on your nearby Perkins may not be available to other locations and may not have been accounted for in this guide.
How To Engage In Vegan Baking
People usually go to Perkins Restaurant & Bakery to enjoy baked goods, not for the restaurant menu options. Unfortunately, for vegans like yourself, that’s not an experience you can ever have in this particular restaurant chain. However, if you wish to enjoy baking without ruining your vegan diet, it’s actually possible.
The main idea behind vegan baking is using alternatives to eggs and dairy since these two ingredients are the main reasons why baking is often not vegan.
So, what can you use to replace eggs and dairy? Well, to start with, it’s important to understand what each ingredient does. Let’s start with the egg.
Eggs: Baking Uses And Alternatives
Eggs are mainly used to bind the baking ingredients together so the final baked good won’t fall apart. As luck would have it, there are a couple of ingredients that are equally affordable as eggs and can provide the same effect. Examples include:
- Apple sauce
- Corn starch
- Ground flaxseed
- Mashed bananas
- Potato starch
- Silken tofu
- Soya milk
Though all of these can be effective as an egg replacement, each ingredient may give different results. The flaxseed, for example, adds a chewy texture to the baked good, which would be useful for muffins and brownies. Mashed bananas, on the other hand, can add extra flavor to baked goods. You can always experiment with their effect on your baked goods and see what works and what doesn’t.
Dairy Products: Baking Uses And Alternatives
Apart from eggs, you must also use dairy in most baking goods. It can either be milk or butter, depending on your desired result. Fortunately, just like eggs, there are a couple of dairy alternatives. These include:
- Rice milk
- Almond milk
- Coconut milk
- Hazelnut milk
- Chocolate soy milk
Like the egg alternatives, each of these ingredients can bring different results to the baked good, so make sure you know their specific effects.
Final Words
Although the list of vegan options of Perkins Restaurant & Bakery is indeed short, it’s completely expected from a bakery. After all, baked goods are generally not vegan, not to mention they also incorporate their restaurant menu, which typically consists of animal products like beef, poultry, seafood, and pork.
That’s why if vegan wishes to enjoy baked goods while still maintaining their strict diet, learning vegan baking is the way to go. And as luck would have it, this guide should be plenty of help in that regard.