Cava, known as the Chipotle of Mediterranean cuisine, is a fast-casual dining restaurant serving up its spin on traditional Greek recipes. Founded in 2006, it’s sort of a newcomer in the fast food world but has quickly become a much-beloved go-to for those who enjoy healthy Mediterranean-style food on the move. Collaborating with local farmers, the chain emphasizes bringing “heart, health and humanity to food,” and luckily for us, it caters pretty well to its vegan clientele, too. At Vegan Unlocked, we’ve made it even easier for you to purchase your ticket to flavor town. From falafel pitas to deliciously layered salad bowls, with our secret menu, full menu, and editor’s picks, you’ll be on your way to delight in the flavors of the Mediterranean in no time at all.
The Vegan Unlocked Research Team combed through all 18 items of the Cava menu and came away with two to-die-for custom creations and an impressive range of on-menu items that will make you drool.
Cava scores 2.7 out of 5 stars with few vegan options. This means that you’ll find an array of vegan-friendly and scrumptiously spiced pulses incorporated into Cava’s dishes and some plant-based favorites to enjoy. There’s even a vegan-friendly garlic sauce – yum! That said, there are no plant-based meats or cheeses here.
This score is calculated based on the number of vegan offerings on BJs menu “as is” or with an easy substitution, a restaurant vegan customizability score and finally, the number of vegan options vs non-vegan options. Learn more about how Vegan Unlocked Ratings.
Secret Menu
We all know the stress of trying to find something edible when out with friends and family, as we desperately try to not create too much bother, often settling for a rather sad salad. So, it’s always refreshing to find a chain like Cava that has so many vegan-friendly and easily customizable plant-based options. At Vegan Unlocked, we sent in our team of vegan researchers to scour the menu and see if we could find any other delicious vegan-friendly options to make dining out even more straightforward. And, our researchers did it again, coming up with three mouthwatering custom creations that will blow your mind. You can even try your hand at this invention test too – and it doesn’t have to be complicated, either. Sometimes it can just involve swapping out a dairy product for its plant-based counterpart or adding a touch more flavor with a vegan-friendly dressing.
Don’t fancy trying out one of our inventive custom creations? Scroll on to find the Cava vegan menu items and our editors’ top picks just below this section.
Spicy Lentil Bowl
Order up the Lentil Bowl, sub in the skhug and garlic dressing for hot harissa vinaigrette, and swap the regular hummus for the spicy hummus. Let the spice sing, and your tastebuds will tingle.
Cava Little Bites
Sometimes, it’s nice to have a little bit of everything, and with this order, you can dip, drizzle and dive in. Order up a side of pita chips, red pepper hummus, spicy hummus, and regular hummus for dipping. Then, depending on your preferences, get some kalamata olives, carrot sticks (again, for dipping), tomato, onion, and arugula. Finally, select your dressings. We’d recommend the tahini caesar, garlic dressing, and harissa vinaigrette.
Kids’ Pita Surprise
Cava has a great selection of kid-friendly plant-based options for children to enjoy. However, we’ve taken them to the next level. Order up a kid’s mini pita, and then fill it with brown rice, roasted vegetables, and falafel. Then, get an adult-size hummus and some carrot sticks. Put some of the hummus inside the kid’s mini pita, and leave some on the side for the kids to dip their carrot sticks into.
All the Vegan Options at Cava
So, what else is on the Cava vegan menu?
Meals
- Lentil Avocado Bowl: Cava says that this plant-based bowl is all about texture, and it’s not wrong. With falafel, roasted veggies, avocado, spinach, super greens mix, roasted eggplant, hummus, pickled onions, cucumber, lentil tabbouleh, and cabbage slaw, finished with skhug and garlic dressing, this bountiful bowl is packed with goodness. Creamy, crunchy, crumbly, crispy and smooth, it’s got it all.
- Crispy Falafel Pita: Hearty and absolutely jam-packed with flavor, this pita comes with crispy falafel, hummus, roasted eggplant, pickles, cabbage slaw and more!
- Create Your Own Grain Bowl: Let your creative mind run wild with this delicious grain bowl order. Greens and grains? Fire-roasted corn and kalamata olives? Why the heck not? Throw it all in and enjoy.
- Create Your Own Salad: Salads are far from boring or limp and lifeless at Cava. This create-your-own option, allows you to fill it with your favorites and make the perfect Mediterranean salad.
Kids’
- Kid’s pita chips
- Kid’s saffron basmati rice
- Kid’s brown rice
- Kid’s Black lentils
- Kid’s mini pita
- Carrot sticks
- Kid’s falafel
- Kid’s roasted vegetables
Sides
- Spicy hummus
- Hummus
- Roasted eggplant
- Harissa
- Red pepper hummus
- Falafel
- Roasted vegetables
- Roasted white sweet potato
- Emma’s Spicy Snack
- Side pita
- Pita chips
Sauces, Add Ons, Toppings
- Brown rice
- Saffron basmati rice
- RightRice
- Black lentils
- SuperGreens
- Arugula
- Baby spinach
- Romaine
- SplendidGreens
- Pita
- Shredded romaine
- Cabbage slaw
- Tomato and onion
- Persian cucumber
- Tomato and cucumber
- Kalamata olives
- Lentil tabbouleh
- Pickled onions
- Salt-Brined pickles
- Fire-roasted corn
- Avocado
- Preserved lemon vinaigrette
- Lemon-herb tahini
- Tahini caesar
- Greek vinaigrette
- Skhug
- Hot harissa vinaigrette
- Garlic dressing
Editor’s Picks: What Are the Top Vegan Meals at Cava?
At Cava, you can create your own meze platter, where you can mix and match all your favorites, just hack the secret menu with the Cava Little Bites, it’s Cava’s snack supreme. It’s a wonderful selection of all the flavors from the Mediterranean.
Getting a hit of protein in your busy day can never hurt. Whether you’re preparing for a big meeting and want to make sure your stomach’s not grumbling or you’re heading to the gym to make those gains, we’ve got the perfect options for you. When eating vegan at Cava, the Create Your Own Grain Bowl is the perfect protein hit that both satiates your hunger and delights your taste buds.
It’s not always easy to find a meal that keeps the kids quiet and satisfied, but, luckily, at Cava, we’ve found just that. The Best kid-friendly option at the restaurant is the Kids’ Pita Surprise. Not too spicy, not too bland, and full of veggies, this filled pita ticks all the boxes.
Note: Vegan Unlocked is a tool dedicated to helping people find plant-based options. We are not an allergen resource, and want to encourage our friends with allergies to proceed with caution. We cannot control and don’t always know when cross contamination takes place. See the Cava allergen menu here. As far as cross-contamination of vegan foods with animal products, this is completely up to your comfort level as an individual. Read our stance on cross contamination.
Frequently Asked Cava Questions
What Dressings at Cava Are Vegan?
The Cava menu features a wide array of vegan-friendly dressings for you to drizzle over your salad, pitas, and falafel. These include:
- Preserved lemon vinaigrette
- Tahini caesar
- Greek vinaigrette
- Garlic dressing
- Skhug
- Hot harissa vinaigrette
Is Cava Tzatziki Vegan?
No, unfortunately, Cava’s tzatziki contains dairy, so it’s one to miss if you follow a plant-based diet.
Is Cava Pita Bread Vegan?
Yes! Cava pita bread is indeed vegan, so be sure to cram it full of all of your favorites!
You can find out more information on Cava by visiting their website here.
Planning on visiting Cava soon?
Be sure to tag Vegan Unlocked and share your vegan meal or custom creation to be entered into our monthly giveaway!
The Cava Vegan Menu Was Brought to You by…
Madaline Dunn
Madaline is a vegan journalist, writer, and editor specializing in sustainability, current affairs, and social justice and the ways in which they intersect. Her work focuses on innovation and progress, prioritizing rigorous investigation. When she’s not writing, she’s in the kitchen experimenting with new plant-based recipes, reading a good book, or thinking about her next cup of coffee.
Cristina Garrido
Cristina is a vegan cook and recipe developer. She’s worked in several vegan kitchens, as a collaborator for different cooking blogs and now works as a consultant helping restaurants interested in making their menus more vegan-friendly. She’s passionate about cultural foods and culinary innovations. Her non-food related interests include thrifting, sustainability and exploring her new adoptive country, Portugal.
