France Vegan Guide: Find Vegan Food In France | 2025
When I first moved to France I was worried about being vegan in France. I was told that France is not the most vegan-friendly country and that I would struggle with vegan food in France.
Yet, I’ve lived in France as a vegan for over 5 years enjoying delicious food.
This France vegan travel guide will help you do the same!
While most French dishes are not originally vegan, all big cities have at least a couple of vegetarian and vegan restaurants.
Also, French supermarkets have a wide variety of vegan products and an abundance of local fruits and vegetables.
Here’s everything you need to know if you’re traveling to France as a vegan!
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The Reality Of Being Vegan In France
Let’s start with setting some realistic expectations about being vegan in France.
The understanding and popularity of veganism varies dramatically in different areas of the country. It even differs from one restaurant to another!
Eating vegan is easy in France if you cook your meals at home.
French supermarkets have everything you’d need to make delicious and quick vegan meals.
From plant-based milk to meat substitutes, cookies, and ready meals, you’ll find it all!
Some supermarkets are better than others, but most offer a majority of these products. Many vegan brands in the country are French, so all supermarkets offer them.
Also, farmer’s markets are a big part of French culture, so fresh fruits and veggies are always available.
Now, eating out as a vegan is another story.
If you don’t speak French, your best bet is to download the Happy Cow App and pick vegan restaurants.
Even if you speak French, you’ll have a fun time (not really) explaining what vegan means and that is not the same as vegetarian.
Most of my friends in France are not vegan, so I often go to non-vegan restaurants.
In my experience, nicer restaurants are willing to prepare a vegan dish even when there’s nothing already on the menu.
On the other hand, local grills and fast food restaurants will look at you confused if you ask for vegan options.
The concept of being a vegetarian is common in France, and I was never served a dish with meat or fish in it after saying that I don’t eat it.
However, ensuring there are no eggs, milk, cheese, or honey, takes some explaining.
Vegan Food In French Supermarkets
I love French supermarkets. In the past 5 years of living in France, I can say that the offer of vegan products improved dramatically!
When I first moved to France, only one or two brands were offering vegan products, including an unreasonable number of plant-based milk options.
Nowadays, you can find almost anything you can think of in the vegan version!
If you’re spending a week in France it is well worth it to stock up on some food to stay on budget.
I’m not going to talk about vegan staples, like beans, chickpeas, pasta, or rice. You can find those everywhere.
Instead, let’s talk about specialty vegan products!
French Supermarkets
France has many supermarkets, and you can find vegan items in all of them.
Auchan, Carrefour, and L’Eclerc usually have the most vegan options. The bigger the store, the more choice you’ll have.
Still, even smaller corner stores will have vegan staples like hummus, plant milk, and meat alternatives.
Lidl can be a hit or miss, as they don’t always have the same items. However, when they have it, their vegan chocolate souffle is the best one I ever had!
Here are some of my favorite vegan brands in French supermarkets:
- Alpro: You’ll find Alpro products in basically every store. They have vegan milk, yogurts, and pudding-type desserts.
- La Vie: French bacon alternative brand. They also have ready-made sandwiches with vegan ham!
- HappyVore: French meat alternative brand. I love their burgers, sausages, and “chicken” strips!
- Accro: Another French meat alternative brand with fantastic burgers, sausages, and “chicken”.
- Nourish: My go-to brand for cheese alternatives, I love their vegan parmesan!
Honestly, there are so many options!
Health Food Stores
Another place to find vegan food is health food stores.
The two biggest chains are Biocoop and Naturalia, and they both offer lots of vegan items.
So, what can you buy here?
Basically, everything you need. These health stores offer everything from snacks to meat alternatives, plant-based milk, and fresh produce.
I don’t often shop there, as they are significantly more expensive than organic products in regular supermarkets.
However, they are usually in the city center making them more accessible than supermarkets.
Asian Food Stores
Surprisingly, you can also find a good variety of vegan products in Asian stores!
I usually get tofu from my local Asian store, as it is the cheapest and tastes the best.
Other items you can get there are various noodles and sauces.
Farmer’s Market
Getting fresh fruits and vegetables from a local farmer’s market is a vital part of French culture.
Even the smallest French villages have farmer markets at least once a week, and you get to buy fresh and local produce.
How To Recognize Non-Vegan Ingredients In French?
The easiest way to spot vegan products is if they have a vegan symbol on them.
When you spot one, make sure that it says vegan under the V sign, as it sometimes says vegetarian.
However, not every vegan item is marked as such.
There are several reasons, but mostly because getting the label costs time and money and many manufacturers just don’t care.
So, how do you recognize vegan products that are not marked as vegan?
You read the ingredients!
When scanning the ingredients, these are the words to look out for:
- Lait (milk)
- Lactosérum (whey)
- Fromage (cheese)
- Beurre (butter)
- Œuf (eggs)
- Miel (honey)
- Gélatine (gelatine)
Luckily, most non-vegan ingredients are also allergens, so they are written in bold print. However, gelatine and honey are usually not bolded.
Eating Out As A Vegan In France
France is a big country, so I can’t list every vegan restaurant in France in this article. However, there are many!
I found that most big cities have at least one vegan restaurant.
You’ll be spoilt with choice in places like Paris, where there are more than 20 fully vegan restaurants!
If you want to visit nice restaurants, eating out in France is expensive compared to cooking your meals.
You’ll pay 15-20€ for dinner in a sit-down restaurant, and fast food dishes and casual cafes are around 10€ per meal.
So, how to find vegan restaurants in France?
- Happy Cow App: It’s my favorite app and the one I don’t travel without.
- Google Maps: I also use Google Maps and search “vegan” or “vegan options” directly in the app. It reads through reviews and if someone mentioned there are vegan options in otherwise non-vegan restaurants.
- Facebook Groups: I’m in several French vegan Facebook groups, and sometimes you can find places not yet reviewed online. It’s mostly for vegan options in non-vegan restaurants.
Vegan Food Tours
The best way to discover vegan spots in a city is to join a vegan food tour! Several French cities offer vegan food tours, including Paris and Lyon.
Vegan Restaurants In France
There are many vegan restaurants in France, so it would be hard to list them all here.
If you’re planning a trip to France based on which place is the best for vegans, Paris is generally the best city for vegans in France is Paris.
Paris has more than 100 fully vegan restaurants, cafes, and bakeries!
Still, every larger city I visited in France had a decent offer of vegan restaurants. Some of my favorites are Lyon, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, and Nice.
Let me share some of my favorite vegan restaurants in France!
Vegan in Paris
Paris is the vegan capital of France. Wherever you stay in Paris, you’ll have at least a couple of vegan restaurants around you.
It’s hard picking my favorite spots, but vegan bakeries in Paris are on another level.
French croissants are one of the top reasons to visit France, so you must visit Land&Monkey Vegan Bakery and VG Patisserie.
Also, you shouldn’t miss Aujourd’hui Demain Cafe for a casual meal and delicious cakes.
Vegan in Strasbourg
The city has a lot of options, including a fine dining option in Velicious.
I lived in Strasbourg for 2 years and still think about the delicious vegan kebab from Végéman. If you’re a vegan junk food lover, you have to try it!
For vegan bakery and cakes, head to Origin Coffee Shop in the city center.
Vegan in Bordeaux
I’ve tried every vegan restaurant in Bordeaux as I live in the city. Sure, you won’t have nearly as many options as in Paris, but the ones we have are good!
Dis Leur is the place to go for fine dining, Monkey Mood is a casual dinner spot, and Michel Ma Belle vegan bakery is the one for a quick snack.
All of these places are in the city center, and getting around France by public transport is simple and affordable.
Vegan in Lyon
Lyon is often named the culinary capital of France, and that is also true for vegan restaurants in Lyon!
I recently spent 4 days in Lyon and tested different vegan restaurants every day!
I especially loved vegan bakeries in Lyon, such as Zoi Kitchen, Les Belles Âmes Pâtisserie, and ZEITGEIST Café.
Vegan in Toulouse
I was pleasantly surprised by vegan restaurants in Toulouse. I had a cake and matcha latte in Virgule, and delicious lunch in Brule.
With 2 days in Toulouse, you can even try several other vegan restaurants, including a great Ethiopian restaurant with vegan options!
Vegan in Nice
Finally, if you’re visiting coastal cities in France, Nice is the place where you’ll find the most vegan restaurants.
Vegan Cafes
If you’re a coffee or matcha drinker, you’ll be happy to know that most cafes in France offer plant milk options for their drinks.
I’ve heard stories about people being refused plant milk with their coffee, but honestly, I don’t know what kind of cafe they went to.
Most specialty coffee places offer soy, oat, and almond milk.
I like to check the menu in advance just in case, as I drink matcha, and not every place has it.
If all else fails, coffee shop chains like Starbucks and Colombus offer plant milk for all drinks free of charge!
Vegan-Friendly Restaurants In France
As a vegan living in France, I’ve found that restaurants specializing in foreign cuisines often offer more vegan options than traditional French restaurants.
So, if there are no fully vegan restaurants in your area, consider checking these out:
- Lebanese: Most Lebanese restaurants have several accidentally vegan dishes on the menu. My go-to is falafel, hummus, and their baked potatoes.
- Italian: I’m a big pizza lover, and they can easily be made vegan if you order vegetarian pizza and ask them to omit the cheese.
- Indian: Indian cuisine is very vegetarian friendly, so most restaurants have long vegetarian menus. Unless a dish is marked as vegan, you’ll have to ensure they don’t add butter to vegetarian dishes when ordering!
- Moroccan: Vegetarian tajine or couscous is available in every Moroccan restaurant, making it easy to get a vegan meal.
- Ethiopian: Ethiopian cuisine has many accidentally vegan dishes, and makes for a great option if you’re in a mixed group.
- Thai: Many Thai restaurants offer tofu as a protein source and you can ask them to adjust the ingredients of noodle and rice dishes.
- Japanese: Most Japanese restaurants I visited in France had vegan sushi options, and since they make them on
- Poke Bowl: I’m not sure which cuisine should I put poke bowls in, but these casual eateries are fantastic for vegans too! They often have tofu as a protein source, and most sides are vegan.
Accidentally Vegan Food In France
So, are there any traditionally vegan dishes in the French cuisine?
Unfortunately, not many!
The problem is that the French love butter. Honestly, it feels like they put butter in everything!
Even when you see a simple vegetable on the menu, you need to make sure that it isn’t cooked in butter.
Here are some accidentally vegan dishes in France:
- Baguette: The French classic bread is vegan and so good that you can eat it on its own!
- Ratatouille: A vegetable dish of stewed vegetables that is often vegan.
- Socca: Accidentally vegan chickpea flatbread, traditionally eaten in Nice.
FAQ: Vegan France Guide
Is France good for vegans?
Yes, France is a great travel destination for vegans. While traditional French cuisine is not typically vegan, the movement is gaining popularity, and there are many fully vegan restaurants across the country, especially in Paris. Additionally, supermarkets now offer a wide variety of vegan products.
What is the best city in France for vegans?
Paris is the best city in France for vegans, with more than 100 fully vegan restaurants, cafes, and bakeries to choose from. You can also find several vegan stores and traditional restaurants that offer vegan options too!
Is French cuisine vegan-friendly?
Traditional French cuisine isn’t very vegan-friendly. Aside from baguettes, there aren’t many accidentally vegan French staples. Although French cuisine uses plenty of fresh vegetables and herbs, butter is a key ingredient in many dishes.
Final Thoughts: France Vegan Travel Guide
Being vegan in France is easier than ever. The movement and vegan diet is finally getting more popular, and more and more places offer vegan versions of traditional dishes.
You won’t have any issues finding vegan items in French supermarkets, from plant-based milk to meat alternatives and snacks.
French restaurants can be a hit or miss, but more and more fully vegan restaurants open each year.
Paris is the best place for vegans in France, but other big cities like Lyon, Bordeaux, or Strasbourg offer many options too!
In the worst-case scenario, you can always grab a fresh baguette from a French bakery, hummus and olives from the supermarket, and have a traditional French picnic in a park!
