Are Pinto Beans At Chipotle Vegan?

There was a time when ordering pinto beans at Chipotle also included the question, “Are you OK with eating bacon?” If you're a vegetarian or vegan, you would have to deny yourself the pork-flavored pinto beans. Well guess what? Chipotle pinto beans are vegan — and even better, they kind of have been for a while.

Maybe it was just my experience at Chipotle where the employees always making sure I was OK with bacon in my pinto beans, but for some that wasn’t always the case. Back in 2011 a customer actually complained on Twitter about how they found out there was bacon inside the pinto beans they have been eating for years — which made him feel “ill.” The CEO of Chipotle Steve Ellis personally responded to this complaint and made sure all menus at Chipotle advertised that pinto beans were always advertised with having bacon, and customers were aware of what’s inside their products.

It was a mere two years later that Chipotle finally decided to make the switch all together, and just provide pinto beans without bacon, creating even more menu options for those who claim as vegetarians, and of course, for vegans.

That’s right — the pinto beans at Chipotle no longer contains pork as one of their main ingredients. They are now cooked exactly the same as the black beans: simmered with onions, adobo, garlic, and a blend of spices. No bacon at all!

So next time you’re at Chipotle, order a heaping amount of those pinto beans — because you’ve probably been waiting for this moment for a very long time!