Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I was not approached to review these products or paid to review either of these. I purchased both products with my own money.
We eat a whole lot of mac and cheese in this house and while having little ones could be my excuse it’s really just because we simply love mac and cheese. I have probably made about 40 different versions of mac and cheese that ranged from amazing to absolutely dreadful.
The thing that we don’t often have though is boxed mac and cheese so I have decided that I want to try them all. I mean who else grew up on Velveeta Shells and Cheese or Kraft Mac and Cheese or if you were so lucky to grow up in Canada like my hubby you would have had Kraft Dinner which is completely different that Kraft Mac and Cheese. I am on a mission to find the best boxed vegan mac and cheese out there because frankly I think it will be fun.
For this first round I went with two that I didn’t even know existed until the other day at Whole Foods. The first is Annie’s Homegrown organic and gluten free elbows with a creamy sauce.
Ingredients required: non-dairy milk and optional non-dairy buttery spread (I used unsweetened almond milk and Earth Balance)
Cook time: Pasta was supposed to cook in 8-10 minutes but really took closer to 12.
Texture & Consistency of Pasta: chewy and slimy and not what I would describe as elbows.
Photo on the box v. actual dish: Close but the photo on the box shows off more flexible noodles and a thicker sauce
Taste: sweet, funky, disgusting
Thoughts: I’ll tell you “elbows and creamy sauce” should have been a giveaway that this was no real mac and cheese but alas we tried it anyway – oh and by tried it I mean Edith, Alder and myself all put one bite in our mouth and promptly spit it out after a few seconds of chewing.The sauce for this one is a base of sweet potato and pumpkin and now reflecting on the ingredients I don’t see anything in it that would make it remotely cheesy. Anyway regardless of whether or not this was intended to be a vegan mac and cheese (which I think it was because it is listed under vegan mac and cheese on the Annie’s website) or not this creamy sauced pasta was dreadful.
Would I Purchase Again? I wouldn’t even take a box if I found it for free.
Next up we have the Gluten Free So Delicious Dairy Free Mac & Cheese Cheddar Flavor. 
Ingredients required: non-dairy milk (unsweetened So Delicious coconut milk recommended) and non-dairy buttery spread (I used unsweetened almond milk and Earth Balance)
Cook time: Pasta was supposed to cook in 9 minutes and it did!
Texture & Consistency of Pasta: I thought that the pasta was great for gluten free pasta.
Photo on the box v. actual dish: I think it was pretty close to looking just like the photo.
Taste: creamy, sort of cheesy, a little tangy
Thoughts: So this mac and cheese was okay. I didn’t find it overly wonderful and I honestly thought it had a bit of a sour or off taste to it but it was edible. I ended up eating a small bowl of it with a ton of sriracha, Edith had a few bites but I think she wasn’t over the moon about it, however Alder ate his plate and most of Edith’s as well so we had at least one fan!
Would I Purchase Again? I would eat it if someone served it to me but I don’t think I would go out of my way to purchase it again. I will however be trying the pizza flavor because I’m curious to see how it is.
Clearly the winner of this throwdown is the Gluten Free So Delicious Dairy Free Mac & Cheese Cheddar Flavor.
Which two vegan mac and cheese should I try next?
ohhhh fascinating! i would have bet annie’s was better so good to know. i’m super lactose intolerant now so i shall be following this series closely 🙂
I was a bit hopefully for the Annie’s but ugh it failed miserably
Ugh, that Annie’s stuff is so gross. Did they even test it before they released it? My husband wouldn’t even try it, I only managed a few bites. The Daiya mac and cheeses are alright, they kind of have a weird flavor. My favorite by far is the Earth Balance Cheddar. Its the only one I would repurchase.
I know how did the Annie’s even make it to stores?? Which of the Daiya did you have?
I’ve tried all three of the Daiya ones. The cheddar was the best of the three, the white cheddar with the dried veggie bits was my least favorite.
I didn’t even KNOW these two brand made mac n cheese. So excited to try So Delicious now. I know mind Earth Balance’s white mac n cheese, but Amy’s frozen dairy free wins by a landslide!!
Yeah I didn’t know until I went to Whole Foods the other day. I am not a fan of the Earth Balance but I want to give the gluten free version a try. I do agree that the Amy’s frozen is the best for packed ones that I have had so far.
I just tried the So Delicious Mac & Cheese ‘Pizza’ flavored variety. I did NOT like it. I much prefer the mac and cheese I’ve had from either Earth Balance or Road’s End Organic. Two very different styles.
Good to know! I have been curious about it but haven’t tried it yet. I have to say I honestly prefer earth balance olive oil spread, nutritional yeast and a pinch each of garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper that I make myself over all the boxed varieties.
I tried the so delicious flavor and it was the worst I ever had. They couldn’t pay me to eat it