The country’s first fast-food hamburger chain has become one of the first fast-food hamburger chains in the U.S. to offer a dairy-free alternative to cheddar cheese. W hite Castle has launched the non-dairy product in its New Jersey and New York City restaurants this month.

Customers are able to order dairy free cheddar to top any slider, including the Impossible™ Slider, the plant-based slider that White Castle introduced in April 2018 as a test item and then launched as a permanent menu item five months later. The protein-packed slider made from plants looks, tastes and even sizzles like real beef.

“Our Impossible Slider was an instant Craver favorite, but it’s about to get a new dimension with the introduction of dairy-free cheddar,” said Jamie Richardson, vice president of White Castle. “We are excited to bring this new non-dairy, vegan item to Cravers in the New York and New Jersey areas with the hope of taking it to other markets in the future.”

White Castle has been growing its plant-based menu offering for years. The Slider pioneer introduced its Veggie Slider, a vegan patty made by Dr. Praeger’s, in 2015. The Veggie Slider is available in restaurants and in retail outlets. White Castle’s Black Bean Slider is also available in retail outlets only. White Castle updated its bun recipe to conform to vegan dietary restrictions.

With such a history in menu innovation of this type, it is no surprise that White Castle was the first fast-food hamburger chain to partner with Impossible™ Foods to offer the Impossible™ Slider, which was quickly hailed as “one of the country’s best fast-food burgers, period.” Now it’s the first fast-food hamburger chain to partner with GoodPlanet Foods, the company that makes the non-dairy cheddar.

“We’re committed to innovation, and we’re always looking for ways to do things better and make things better for our loyal customers,” Richardson said. “It’s exciting to be the fast-food restaurant that’s leading the trend in providing plant-based options for consumers.”

White Castle, America’s first fast-food hamburger chain, has been making hot and tasty sliders as a family-owned business for more than 99 years. Based in Columbus, Ohio, White Castle started serving The Original Slider®, made from 100% USDA inspected beef, in 1921. Today the company owns and operates more than 365 restaurants dedicated to satisfying customers’ cravings, morning, noon and night and sells its famous fare in retail stores nationwide, in a growing number of international locations, and at military exchanges around the world. The Original Slider, named in 2014 as Time Magazine’s most influential burger of all time, is served alongside a menu of creatively crafted sliders and other mouthwatering food options, including White Castle’s Impossible™ Slider, named by Thrillist in 2019 as the “Best Plant-Based Fast Food Burger.” White Castle’s commitment to maintaining the highest quality products extends to the company owning and operating its own meat processing plants, bakeries and frozen-food processing plants. For more information, visit their website.