Universal Studios Mardi Gras 2025: A Festive Atmosphere with Limited Vegan Offerings

Mardi Gras at Universal Studios is always a fun time. The park is glowing with traditional Mardi Gras colors and fanfare. Characters walk and dance through the streets wearing glorious Mardi Gras attire. You can dance along with them and take plenty of pictures to remember your trip. While you are there, you can enjoy concerts and a parade. You may even have the opportunity to ride on a parade float.

The Decline in Vegan-Friendly Options at Mardi Gras

Even though this was the 30th anniversary of the event, the one thing vegans are missing this year is tasty food selections. Last year’s Mardi Gras festival at Universal Orlando featured nine unique vegan or modified dishes that were all delicious. This year, however, Universal only offers two lackluster vegan dishes. There is also a new rule this year that greatly affects vegan park-goers: NO MODIFICATIONS! That is right. Universal Studios will not honor any request to modify a dish to make it vegan. All selections are sold as-is.

We tried the meager vegan offerings at Universal Mardi Gras this year, and sadly it did not take us long. Here are our thoughts.

Red Beans and Rice with Beyond Sausage

You can find Red Beans and Rice for $7.49 at the New Orleans booth at Gramercy Park. This dish contains Beyond Meat’s plant-based sausage with stewed red beans and white rice. It is garnished with fresh scallions. Red Beans and Rice are usually a delicious comfort food, and this did not disappoint. The beans had a good flavor, and the sausage was cooked well. The rice was a nice complement to the tasty dish. Overall, the dish was very good even though it was a little too salty. It was also very spicy. We gave it 4 out of 5 Bumblebees.

Potato Dosa with Coconut Chutney Dipping Sauce

The Potato Dosa is at the India booth in San Francisco. It costs $7.99. The griddled dosa is filled with curried potatoes, onions, and black mustard seeds. It comes with a Coconut Chutney dipping sauce. The filling is a bit bland. It tastes similar to the filling from last year’s samosa and the bread tastes like a sour pancake. The Coconut Chutney sauce has sweet, creamy, cilantro flavor. We did not enjoy the Potato Dosa. It gets 2 out of 5 Bumblebees.

Churro Loops

We were able to find one bonus vegan treat at the Mexico booth near Mel’s Diner. Though the new rule is no modifications, we were able to get the Churro Loops in Mexico with no sauce since the sauce is served in cups on the side. These crispy cinnamon sugar loops are sweet and tasty. They offer a nice crunch on the outside with a warm, soft inside. We gave this delicious treat 4 out of 5 Bumblebees.

Plant-Based Mardi Gras Options at Pat O’Brien’s in Citywalk

Unfortunately, these three items alone were not enough to satisfy a hungry vegan tummy, so we had to branch out a little. We decided to finish off our quest for vegan food befitting of Mardi Gras at Pat O’brien’s in Citywalk.

Cauliflower Po’Boy

The Pat O’Brien’s location in Universal Orlando Citywalk area has array of Cajun specialties, one of which is a vegan Cauliflower Po’Boy. This amazing sandwich has lettuce, tomato, pickles, pepperonata, and Cajun mayo on a hoagie roll with a side of fries. It is quite delicious, especially with some extra sauce. We gave this superb dish 4 out of 5 Bumblebees.

Pat O’Brien’s Signature Jambalaya

Pat O’Brien’s also offers a vegan version of its signature jambalaya. This smoky Cajun favorite comes with zucchini, squash, black-eyed peas, corn, and okra. The generous portion arrived steaming hot. Pat O’Brien’s vegan jambalaya is pretty spicy, so keep that in mind when ordering. We really enjoyed it and gave it 4 out of 5 Bumblebees.

We had a great time listening to the dueling pianos while we enjoyed our meal. It felt like a genuine New Orleans Mardi Gras experience. Though both dishes are available year-round, this was a nice way to finish our Mardi Gras meal.

Eating Vegan at Universal Orlando’s Mardi Gras Festival 2025

Universal Mardi Gras: International Flavors of Carnaval runs from February 1 to March 30, 2025. We managed to enjoy ourselves at Mardi Gras even though the vegan options were scant. We were disappointed with the reduced number of selections offered this year, but are happy that there were a few plant-based dishes to indulge in. It would be amazing if Universal Studios will add a few more options in the coming years.