Whether you need a tasty side dish for a lunchtime get-together or just want a snack in the afternoon, Pringles potato chips are a favorite throughout the US (and beyond!). Featuring a distinctive and crisp flavor, Pringles are great to share with friends or snack on by yourself. But are Pringles vegan?
Classic Pringles are considered vegan. However, many of the flavored varieties of Pringles are not due to non-vegan flavorings or additives, such as cheese and whey protein. The best vegan alternatives to non-vegan Pringles are The Good Crisp Company Classic Crisps, Pulp Pantry Salt n Vinegar Chips, and One Potato Two Potato Garlic & Herbs Root Veggie Chips.
Today, let’s break down which types of Pringles are vegan and explore the ingredients you should avoid to keep to your diet while snacking on these tasty potato chips.
Contents
Which Pringles Are Vegan?
At their core, most Pringles chips are basic potato chips with salt and vegetable oil. In fact, the basic recipe for Pringles is simply potatoes, vegetable oil, and cornstarch/corn flour. That’s all you need to make a basic Pringles potato chip.
However, Pringles has tons of different flavors available, and many of those flavors are decidedly non-vegan because they are derived from dairy or animal products. These are usually fillers or flavoring ingredients, including cheese, milk, and so on.
On top of all that, some Pringles chips have ingredients that are in a gray area, like monoglycerides and diglycerides. Monoglycerides and diglycerides are derived from fats and can come from animals or plants. Unfortunately, it can be tough to tell whether the glycerides in any given Pringles variety are vegan or not.
The bottom line is this: basic Pringles potato chips are vegan, but you have to be somewhat careful when choosing a flavored variety of Pringles potato chips.
Which Pringles Aren’t Vegan?
The following Pringles potato chips are not vegan because they include one or more problematic ingredients like whey protein, cheese, milk, or sour cream:
- Pringles BBQ
- Pringles cheddar cheese
- Pringles cheddar and sour cream
- Pringles honey mustard
- Pringles Memphis BBQ
- Pringles jalapeno
- Pringles pizza
- Pringles sour cream and onion
- Pringles screamin’ dill pickle
- Pringles buffalo ranch
- Pringles extra hot
- Pringles ranch
- Pringles salt and vinegar
- Pringles Parmesan and roasted garlic
- Pringles rotisserie chicken
If you choose a Pringles flavor that isn’t on the above list, you should be set.
Pringles Flavors Nutritional Information (Vegan)
Just to be safe, let’s break down the core ingredients and nutritional info for each vegan friendly Pringles potato chip flavor.
Original Pringles
Original Pringles are the classic version of the potato chip and the kind most people will choose when grabbing a canister at the grocery store. Note that the vegetable oil used for original Pringles and all other types of Pringles is either corn oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, or cottonseed oil depending on the flavor.
Its ingredients are:
- Dried potatoes
- Vegetable oil
- Rice flour
- Wheat starch
- Maltodextrin
- Salt
- Dextrose
Nutrition Facts:
- 150 cal per serving
- 9 g fat or 12% DV
- 150 mg sodium or 7% DV
- 16 g carbohydrate or 6% DV
- <1 g fiber or 3% DV
- 1 g protein
- 110 mg potassium or 2% DV
Pringles Wavy Classic Salted Chips
The Wavy Classic Salted Chips have a slightly different texture but ultimately the same basic formula, making these very similar to classic Pringles.
Its ingredients are:
- Dried potatoes
- Vegetable oil
- Degerminated yellow corn flour
- Cornstarch
- Rice flour
- Maltodextrin
- Mono and diglycerides
- Salt
- Wheat starch
Nutrition Facts:
- 150 cal per serving
- 9 g fat or 12% DV
- 190 mg sodium or 8% DV
- 16 g carbohydrate or 6% DV
- <1 g fiber or 3% DV
- 1 g protein
- 120 mg potassium or 2% DV
Pringles Original Lightly Salted Chips
The Lightly Salted Pringles chips are great for vegans or folks who just want to avoid consuming too much salt in their daily diets.
Its ingredients are:
- Dried potatoes
- Vegetable oil
- Degerminated yellow corn flour
- Rice flour
- Maltodextrin
- Mono and diglycerides
- Salt
- Wheat starch
Nutrition Facts:
- 150 cal per serving
- 9 g fat or 12% DV
- 70 mg sodium or 3% DV
- 16 g carbohydrate or 6% DV
- <1 g fiber or 3% DV
- 1 g protein
- 120 mg potassium or 2% DV
Pringles Kickin’ Chicken Taco Chips
Despite the name that makes you think that these Pringles are not vegan, the Kickin’ Chicken Taco flavor is surprisingly vegan friendly since there aren’t any animal-based ingredients on the back of the label. See for yourself.
Its ingredients are:
- Dried potatoes
- Vegetable oil
- Degerminated yellow corn flour
- Cornstarch
- Rice flour
- Maltodextrin
- Mono and diglycerides
- Spices
- Sugar
- Salt
- Tomato powder
- Monosodium glutamate
- Natural and artificial flavors
- Sodium diacetate
- Onion powder
- Wheat starch
- Citric acid
- Yeast extract
- Paprika extract
Nutrition Facts:
- 150 cal per serving
- 9 g fat or 14% DV
- 170 mg sodium or 7% DV
- 16 g carbohydrate or 5% DV
- 1 g protein
Pringles Bacon Flavored Chips
Like the above Pringles, these bacon-flavored chips are also vegan friendly since they don’t use any actual bacon in their formula.
Its ingredients are:
- Dried potatoes
- Vegetable oil
- Wheat starch
- Corn flour
- Mono and diglycerides
- Maltodextrin
- Salt
- MSG
- Rice flour
- Torula yeast
- Sugar
- Spices
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Yeast extract
- Caramel color
- Dextrose
- Coffee
- Disodium inosinate
- Disodium guanylate
- Citric acid
- Natural flavors
- Paprika extract
Nutrition Facts:
- 150 cal per serving
- 9 g fat or 14% DV
- 210 mg sodium or 9% DV
- 16 g carbohydrate or 5% DV
- 1 g protein
Pringles Sriracha Asian Chili Sauce Chips
If you’re in the mood for Pringles flavor with more of an Asian base taste, you’re in luck. These sriracha Pringles chips are also vegan friendly.
Its ingredients are:
- Mono and diglycerides
- Hot sauce
- Citric acid
- MSG
- Sodium diacetate
- Chili pepper
- Natural and artificial flavors
- Disodium inosinate
- Disodium guanylate
- Malic acid
- Red 40 Lake
- Apple cider vinegar
- Paprika extract
Nutrition Facts:
- 150 cal per serving
- 9 g fat or 14% DV
- 280 mg sodium or 12% DV
- 15 g carb hydrate or 5% DV
- 1 g protein
Pringles Wasabi & Soy Sauce Chips
Pringles strikes it for vegans once again with these Wasabi & Soy Sauce potato chips, which are vegan friendly and which contain a few extra vegan friendly spices.
Its ingredients are:
- Dried potatoes
- Vegetable oil
- Cornstarch
- Degerminated yellow corn flour
- Rice flour
- Maltodextrin
- Mono and diglycerides
- Salt
- Sugar
- Spices
- Natural flavors
- Monosodium glutamate
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Soy sauce
- Dried horseradish
- Citric acid
- Disodium inosinate
- Disodium guanylate
- Vinegar
- Yellow 5 Lake
- Wheat dextrose
- Blue 1 Lake
Nutrition Facts:
- 150 cal per serving
- 9 g fat or 14% DV
- 190 mg sodium or 8% DV
- 16 g carbohydrate or 5% DV
- 1 g protein
Healthy Vegan Alternatives to Pringles
In the mood for some healthy vegan alternatives to Pringles? In that case, you’ll be happy to know that there are lots of great choices if you’re craving a crunchy potato-based snack but want something perhaps a little healthier and more sustainably produced than regular Pringles.
The Good Crisp Company Classic Crisps
The aptly named Good Crisp Company offers these basic but tasty potato chips that are vegan, grain free, and gluten-free thanks to their unique ingredient list. There are other flavors aside from basic salt, of course, so you can broaden your palette over time if you like.
Its ingredients are:
- Dried potatoes
- Sustainable palm oil
- Tapioca starch
- Salt
- Sugar
- White pepper
Nutrition Facts:
- 140 cal per serving
- 7 g fat or 9% DV
- 170 mg sodium or 7% DV
- 18 g carbohydrate or 7% DV
- 2 g fiber or 7% DV
- 1 g protein
Pulp Pantry Salt n Vinegar Chips
Pulp Pantry also offers these the listeners salt and vinegar flavored chips. Even better, these are a snack that’s under 150 cal per serving! Pick these if you want to stick to your vegan diet and potentially lose weight at the same time.
Its ingredients are:
- Juice pulp
- Sunflower oil
- White vinegar
- Cassava flour
- Tapioca flour
- Okara flour
- Chia seeds
- Salt and vinegar seasoning
Nutrition Facts:
- 140 cal per serving
- 15 g carbs
- 11 g fat
- 2 g protein
One Potato Two Potato Garlic & Herbs Root Veggie Chips
Last but not least are these garlic and herb flavored vegetable chips. They’re one of the best vegan friendly choices you can make as the chips are made from a blend of root vegetables rather than traditional potatoes (although sweet potatoes are a big part of the formula).
Its ingredients are:
- Sweet potatoes
- Taro
- Batata
- Parsnips
- Yuca
- Sunflower oil
- Garlic powder
- Maltodextrin
- Sea salt
- Beetroot juice concentrate
- Sugar
- Onion powder
- Spices
- Olive oil
- Yeast extract
- Lemon juice concentrate
- Citric acid
- White distilled vinegar
Nutrition Facts:
- 140 cal per serving
- 8 g fat or 10% DV
- 100 mg sodium or 4% DV
- 17 g carbohydrate or 6% DV
- 2 g fiber or 7% DV
- 1 g protein or 2% DV
- 4 g sugar
Final Thoughts
As you can see, a good selection of Pringles flavors – including the classic potato chips – are vegan friendly since you don’t have to worry about animal-based ingredients. However, remember to stay away from the Pringles chips that are not vegan friendly due to their flavorings or additives. If Pringles comes out with a new flavor, check the back for problematic ingredients like whey protein and cheese before purchasing.
Related Questions
Are Pringles vegetarian?
Practically all Pringles flavors will be vegetarian, as vegetarians can eat dairy products. We can’t find any flavors that include meat as a flavoring or additives, so vegetarians should be safe no matter what.
Are BBQ Pringles non-vegan because they contain milk?
Yes. Most BBQ chip varieties contain milk, so you should almost always stay away from BBQ-flavored snacks if you’re vegan.