Everything you need to know about eating vegan at The Big E

If you’ve ever traveled while trying to eat vegan, you’ve probably had at least one experience during which you found that the vegan eating guide you checked online beforehand was inaccurate or insufficient.

So MassLive decided to send me (one of two vegans on staff) onsite to The Big E to scope out the vegan options at New England’s largest fair. I visited (or tried to visit) all the food vendors listed as having vegan options on The Big E’s website, but also asked other vendors whose food I thought might be vegan whether their offerings were vegan.

• Read more: The 2024 Big E Eater’s Guide: What to eat and where to find it

Overall, I found the fair’s guide to be useful and mostly accurate.

Additionally, I found that there were several food vendors offering vegan options that weren’t listed on the The Big E’s website. I highly recommend asking food vendors whether their food is vegan, even if it is not listed as such.

Vegan options at The Big E

SoulFully Vegan

I’m listing SoulFully Vegan first in this guide because if you’re looking for an easy button for eating vegan at the fair, this is it. This 100% vegan food truck offers a variety of dishes for about as much money as comparable non-vegan options that are available elsewhere at The Big E.

SoulFully Vegan’s offerings focus on typical fair food such as burgers, hot dogs and milkshakes, but they are by no means phoning it in. The food truck is famous for its Spicy PB&J burger, which has peanut butter, cheese, grape jelly and jalapeños, but I tried the less adventurous Big Boy Burger, which has bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles, grilled onions and mayo house sauce, and found it to be delicious and satisfying.

SoulFully Vegan is located at the Front Porch.

BoardWok Noodles

BoardWok Noodles is also a good option for a vegan meal, as their veggie noodle, rice and noodle-rice combo bowls are vegan. This food truck is also located at the Front Porch.

Tots-A-Lot

Tota-A-Lot was a nice surprise in terms of vegan offerings. The food stand, which is located on New England Avenue, offers “Mexican-style” tots with Daiya cheese, salsa and other taco fixings and “pizza-style” with marinara sauce and Daiya cheese.

The Broccoli Bar

The Broccoli Bar offers a veggie platter called The Big Sexy, which is not only vegan, but MassLive’s “I Ate It” columnist Nick O’Malley’s favorite dish among the fair foods he tried this year. The Broccoli Bar is located behind the Vermont Building.

Empanada truck

Despite what this stand’s onsite marketing would suggest, the empanada truck on Industrial Avenue does have a vegan option. Though its spinach empanada is listed as a spinach and cheese empanada, I asked the man running the stand, and they said the spinach empanada does not actually have cheese.

Subway

There is a Subway in the food court, and like other Subway locations, it offers a veggie patty, which is vegan. In case you’re not familiar with eating vegan at Subway, here’s a guide.

Apple Fries

The “original” apple fries from the Apple Fries stand on West Road are a solid vegan snack or dessert. Apple fries are deep-fried apples cut french fry-style and seasoned with brown sugar and spices. The fries themselves are $10, and you can can add other toppings, though it’s unclear whether the peanut butter crumbles or caramel are vegan.

Dole Whip

Dole Whip is a vegan soft serve dessert that is available in pineapple, strawberry, lemon and mango flavors. The stand is located on West Road near the entrance to The Big E arena.

Kora & Mila’s Cookie Dough

Kora & Mila’s Cookie Dough is another option. I confirmed with the woman who runs the stand that its Grandma’s Sugar Cookie dough is vegan. This stand is located on Hampden Avenue.

LuAnn’s Bakery

LuAnn’s Bakery, which is located on New England Avenue, offers a vegan (and gluten-free) triple chocolate cupcake.

Kettle Corn

Pioneer Valley Poppers kettle corn, which is available at its own stand at the Front Porch and at many fair food stands around the The Big E, is vegan. It is unclear whether their “movie style” popcorn is vegan, but they include an ingredients list on their bags.

Red’s Red Apples

Red’s Red Apples are vegan, according to one of the people running their largest stand. Red’s candy apples are available at many stands around the fair. The people running the stand were not sure if the caramel apples were vegan or not.

Jack’s Fries

Jack’s Fries offers plain fries that are made with entirely vegan ingredients, according to the people running the stand. The fries are fried in the same oil as the stand’s fried chicken, so those allergic to meat or other non-vegan food should keep that in mind. The stand is located near the Coliseum.

Pickle Fries

The Pickle Fries stand offers pickle-flavored french fries, which the woman running the stand said are vegan. The stand is located off of East Road.

Villa of Lebanon

Villa of Lebanon is listed on The Big E’s website as having vegan options.

Villa of Lebanon is located inside the Young Building and offers a lot of Mediterranean food staples that are typically vegan, such as falafel and hummus.

The chilled, freshly blended smoothies made with fruits such as bananas, strawberries and mangoes are a sweet treat you can take on the go or while you stake out your next best purchase.

Beyond smoothies — while Villa of Lebanon’s rotating menu is not entirely vegan — options such as the fatoush salad, hummus, tabouleh salad, falafel, grape leaves and baba ghanouj should satisfy while also adhering to a vegan diet.

Sweet Babu’s

Sweet Babu’s, which sells granola, is listed as a food vendor offering vegan options on The Big E’s website. It is located on the side of the Massachusetts Building.

Sweet Babu’s website lists its Cherry Pie and Toasted Vanilla granola flavors as being vegan.

JA Patty

JA Patty is the final vegan option. It is listed as being located behind the Rhode Island Building, and its website indicates that it offers Jamaican cuisine.

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