0:00
Is this going to be a disaster
0:01
Because I kind of feel like it might be a disaster. Nobody's going to think, oh, this isn't vegan
0:07
Do you taste anything? Salt? This actually has flavor. You know, it had potential
0:13
Today, we are testing 10 vegan mac and cheeses. Mac and cheese is something I used to love, but I have yet to find a vegan mac and cheese that I really like
0:23
It seems like I am always hearing people raving about a new vegan mac and cheese, and I try it
0:29
just to be disappointed. So today I thought why not be disappointed ten times in a row
0:36
I actually have found one vegan mac and cheese that I really liked but it was at a
0:40
vegan restaurant in Columbia South Carolina. I will try to find the name of that
0:46
restaurant and put it on the screen here but it was not really a traditional
0:50
mac and cheese. I would describe it more as a gourmet mac and cheese with breadcrumbs
0:55
and I do like breadcrumbs of my mac and cheese. So if you're in that area I would
0:59
definitely check it out. Anyway, I'm going to prepare all of these according to the box instructions
1:04
If it requires vegan butter, then I'm using Earth Balance buttery sticks, the salted version
1:10
And if it requires non-dairy milk, then I am using 365 unsweetened almond milk
1:16
So before we get started, I just want to note that I am going to give you the nutrition facts and
1:21
the prices for each one of these. But the serving size for each one of these is wildly different
1:26
So I tried to categorize them by similar types of mac and cheese, be it boxed or prepared or whatever, and try to pick one serving size and do the math to make it comparable
1:38
So it's not going to match in most cases what you're going to see on the box as far as the nutrition facts, but you will be able to compare one to the other, at least within the same category
1:50
All right. So I am here with Dominique. Hello. And we are going to test out some vegan mac and cheese
1:57
That's right. Let's jump into it. All right. Okay, so our first contender is the Annie's vegan mac
2:03
This one is a box mac and cheese with a powder pouched, so you will need to boil the pasta and add some non-dairy milk and butter to it
2:09
This one is our cheapest option coming in at $1.25 for 71 grams
2:14
It is on the lower end for calories in fat, but it's high in sodium. And you might want to keep in mind that these nutrition facts do not include the VEA
2:23
So let's try it. All right, we've got our first one. She's is Annie's vegan Mac
2:31
Let's see how it does. Yes, well there's no cheesiness. Yes, it's a very thin sauce
2:39
Yeah, in the structure, so... Do you taste anything? Salt? Yeah, but apart from that, there's like nothing to it
2:50
It tastes like pasta and... pasta and vegan butter. Vegan butter, that's right
2:56
I did put vegan butter in here to make the sauce. There's not even like nutritional yeast or anything that would make it cheesy
3:03
If it is, it's very light. This tastes to me, like if I'm broke, I'm not going grocery shopping
3:11
And I'm like, okay, I have pasta and vegan butter. And I'm just going to make the pasta and put the vegan butter
3:16
And that's what I'm going to eat because that's what I have. Right. But you would pay less than for this box. Yeah
3:21
I don't think. This adds very much, the sauce packet. No. Like if you would put this as a side dish to a meal, you get nothing from this
3:30
I feel like it's a little creamier than if I were to just put vegan butter on it. Sure
3:35
But it's not really much. I'm unimpressed with this. Yeah, me too
3:40
It is the cheapest one. I think I paid $3 for it. I think it's too much
3:45
It is. It is. It's not really joyful yumminess. That's what it says on the box
3:51
Honestly, like I would eat it. Sure. But. If you have nothing else. Right
3:56
I feel like paying that much for that. Yeah, it's kind of no
4:01
Yeah. All right. Well, that was number one. We're off to a disappointing start
4:07
Mediocre. Mediocre. But all right. Well, let's see. We'll try the next one
4:13
Yes. Okay. Next up is Cedar Lane, butternut squash and pumpkin mac and cheese
4:18
This one is already prepared. It's in the refrigerator. section and it gets heated up in the oven. The package said to heat it for a 10 to 12 minutes
4:26
but mine still wasn't heated through at 12 minutes, so I had to leave it in for an extra
4:31
five minutes. You could also microwave this one if you prefer. This one is our second most
4:36
expensive option at $4.49 per serving, and it's the highest in calories, fat, and protein in all
4:44
of these tests. The sodium is also pretty high as well. Mmm
4:54
Well, this is very pumpkiny. What is in there? For me, it doesn't have any flavor
5:01
I feel like I'm overpoweringly tasting just the pasta. The pasta is very soft
5:07
It's like very mush. It doesn't have a lot of flavor, but somehow it's like repulsive
5:13
What is it that I'm tasting that I don't like? It's just that the pasta is coming through so strong
5:19
because there's not enough flavor in this sauce. for me. Okay. But repeated almonds. There's even almonds in there. Garlic. I feel I'm tasting a lot of the garlic. Nutritional yeast. Yeah, it has so much stuff in it. Kind of like an aftertaste to it
5:34
I'm not noticing an aftertaste. It's... But because you don't notice much of a taste at all. Yeah. It just feels very bland. I don't know. Do you like it
5:43
No. I find it weird. I think I taste more than you and I find the taste weird. I would not buy this. No
5:51
No, me neither. I would not buy this and I would not buy the annies
5:56
So we're two for two. I mean, it looked so nice from the package
6:01
Yeah, well. I think you were kind of excited about it being fresh and from refrigerated
6:07
Yeah. Well, at least they're not making any bold promises that it tastes good because it doesn't
6:12
You know, it had potential. It had potential. But it just fell flat
6:19
I know. Our third mac and cheese. is the sweet earth cauliflower mac, which is a frozen option
6:25
For this one, the package says to bake it for 40 minutes, and you have to transfer it to your own dish
6:30
because you can't put the packaging in the oven. I have found that 40 minutes is too long
6:35
and so I usually cook it for 35 minutes. And there are microwave instructions for this one as well
6:40
This one is the most expensive option per serving, because one box is a single serving which comes in at $49 to $6.49,000
6:48
depending on where you buy it. This one's pretty much middle of the road, as far as calories, fat, and protein, but it does have some extra vitamin C and potassium that the others don't have
6:57
This is one that I have eaten a lot. Okay. I like it
7:02
Yeah. But I do have some complaints about it. So for me, of the ones that I've tried in the past, this is the one that I like the most
7:09
Okay. Hmm This actually has flavor After the first two this is kind of like whoa the cauliflower is on the box so it is kind of dominant
7:24
Texture-wise, the sauce is not creamy, but it has a good flavor
7:29
The reason I like this one is because the texture is less creamy, and it almost has like that bread crummy
7:35
It gives me the vibe of like when you have a baked mac and cheese, where you have like the, the, the
7:43
little bit of a crunchy cheese that's like on top. The flavor, it could be stronger in my opinion
7:50
but it's good in comparison to the previous one. Yeah. I really like the charred bits on the cauliflower
7:57
You do taste the onion, the garlic a little, five superfoods that I displayed on the side of the box
8:04
Sweet potato, cauliflower, onions, turmeric, and garlic. You do taste the onion. Bit of caramelization
8:11
not much. Normally I add just a little bit of salt to this to just bring out the flavor a little bit. Yes
8:17
And it, I think, tastes a lot better that way. But as it is, you know, the flavor is mild, but not bad. No
8:25
It's not bland. And I also like the baked look of the texture
8:29
This is for now a winner in comparison, although the competition wasn't that great to begin with so far. Congratulations
8:36
Congratulations, sweetheart. You did it. No, it is a decent and good one
8:41
And it's also freshly made from the frozen aisle. Yeah, it's more of an adult mac because of the cauliflower
8:49
If you give this to a kid, I don't know that they're going to love it. I mean, they might, depending on the kid
8:53
It's not junk foodie type of mac and cheese, but it's very nice, yeah
8:58
All right, there we go. All righty. Next we have Annie's pumpkin and sweet potato vegan mac, which is another box mac with a powder sauce packet
9:07
This one is cheaper to middle of the road, price-wise, depending on
9:11
depending on where you buy it, and it is the lowest in calories in fat, also pretty low in sodium
9:17
but again, this nutrition information does not include the vegan butter. Well, that's more flavor than the first one
9:28
Right. The sauce is still not wowing me, but it's less salty
9:34
Oh yes. It doesn't smack you across the face with salt. Yeah, no, it's true
9:42
This is less salty. You taste the sweet potato a lot. You do
9:46
It tastes like a sweet potato pumpkin sauce. Yeah. That's not bad
9:53
Mm-hmm. If you're evaluating it as a pasta sauce instead of thinking of it as mac and cheese
9:59
it's possible. Yeah. I probably still wouldn't buy it. No, it's not a mac and cheese
10:04
Though I do like the sweet potato flavoring it has. The first one was so not interesting on any regard
10:11
This is at least interesting. I mean, I don't know if it's because the bar has just been set so low
10:18
There is something I like about it. I'm trying to think if I had not tasted the first annies
10:23
No, then you wouldn't probably. Would I be thinking this is terrible
10:27
I mean, it's not terrible, I guess. You can taste the sweet potato and the pumpkin, but it is on the bland side
10:36
Actually, this needs a little salt. It's not as bland as the Cedar Lane, though. No
10:40
No. So right now I would say this is like in second place for me
10:45
Addable. You probably wouldn't give it as much praise, as you say, hadn't you taste it
10:51
The other areas first. But it's still, it's not bad. It's not like I need to throw this out
10:57
Right. Just kind of meh. Exactly. Next up is Possibilities, Vegan Organic Mac and Cheese
11:04
This is our last box mac and cheese with a powdered packet. Price-wise, it is on the cheaper side per serving and the nutrition
11:11
are pretty respectable considering that they do include the vegan butter in their calculations
11:17
So let's see how it tastes. Pothabilities are they endless or will they end right here
11:23
Let's see. Hmm. It's again a lot of vegan salt and vegan butter tastes
11:33
It's giving me first one vibes, the Annie's vibes. Right? Just the pasta is different. Yeah
11:40
If there's any flavor. are in here. It's hard to detect over the salt and the vegan butter. I find this even has a little
11:46
more salt than the anise. I'm not convinced. I mean, because it doesn't really taste like much
11:51
I would say exactly the same thing about this as the first annies, the vegan mat. The only thing is
11:57
I do like the pasta a little bit more, but I think that pasta maybe could be cooked. It's really
12:04
al dente. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I know. It says six to seven minutes and I cooked it for seven
12:11
You probably want to go rather one or two minutes more because it has almost too much of a bite to it
12:17
Yeah. Yeah, I don't even know what else to say. It's just, I mean, I'm going with the box again
12:22
It's not pastibly the best. Well, pastibly means... It's postable? I guess now that we've tasted it, it's not postable
12:30
But before you taste it, before you open the box, anything's pastible
12:35
So there's a shreddinger's mac and cheese, yeah. I go mainly also by, is this something interesting
12:41
Is this something that I could add to my rotation? Yeah, to my lineup of stuff that I would eat. Yeah
12:50
And it's not interesting. Alright, well, let's see what else we got
12:55
So now we're going to try yet another annies. This one is the rich and creamy vegan mac
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For this one, you do have to boil the pasta, but the sauce is ready to go in a packet, so you don't need to add anything
13:06
And this one's about a dollar 70 per 100 grams. So still pretty affordable
13:12
And each 100 grams has 290 calories, 8 grams of fat and 510 milligrams of sodium
13:20
All right, we're giving you another chance, Annie's. This is your last chance
13:25
Like, well, I'm just kind of like, I'm shrugging my shoulders because I don't even know what to say to this one
13:37
I think we have the salt and vegan butter situation. again. That's what I was going to say, it tastes like the first one. Yeah, just with shells. It does
13:44
look creamier than the first one. Yes. It is a step up that you have the sauce packet versus
13:51
the powdery stuff. But it tastes the same. Yeah. I don't know if you gave it to me blindfolded
13:56
one next to the other. The vegan mac versus this one, could I tell the difference? I don't think so
14:01
I mean, other than the shell shape. But the sauce itself, it tastes the same. Like there's no
14:07
flavor to it really other than the saltiness and the vegan butter taste
14:11
Yeah. It is creamier. Yeah, sure. I guess you're paying for the extra convenience of not having to put the milk and butter in
14:23
there and mix it all up. You just have the sauce packet, which is more convenient
14:28
Yeah. But it pretty much tastes the same. It does yeah All right We got a few more to try And Annie did not convince so No I sorry Annie All right now we going to try Follow Your Heart Cheesy Carrot Super Mac
14:43
This one is also a boxed Mac with a pre-made sauce packet. And this is the most expensive of the box mac and cheeses at $2.61 per 100 grams
14:53
But it is low in calories, low in fat, and the sodium is moderate
14:58
So let's see what they've got for us. It's very orangey, so..
15:06
Hmm. Well, it's carrots. Mm-hmm. It's not a macaron cheese. Mm-mm. But it tastes very interesting, I find. Yeah
15:18
It's very strong, but I don't... It's not... it's a no for you
15:25
The weird thing is it reminds me of baby food. At least the German baby food
15:30
A little... It's like pasta meat sauce and all that, but for toddlers
15:35
I have a little bit the taste of it because of the carrots. It does have some cheesiness
15:40
Yeah. With carrots, but it's not thick enough of a sauce. And the flavor is just a little weird
15:47
It's not my thing. Because carrot paste is so distinct. It would never make cheesy sauce
15:54
I mean, there are recipes that you can homemake whereas carrots in there
15:58
but you keep the carrots kind of on the lower. of the scale and here it's like
16:03
a lot. That's, yeah, that's your main ingredient. Organic cauliflower, onion, cashew butter
16:10
sea salt, chickpea miso. I don't taste any of that in it. Maybe the miso
16:15
Yeah, I'm not a huge miso lover. Yeah. So that could be it
16:20
I do like about this that it is like veggies, but it has nothing to do with the cheese sauce
16:25
Sure, you can give it a shot if you want something interesting. They're not lying. I mean, it says cheesy carrot
16:31
And I think that that's a good description, yeah. Yeah. This is kind of hit or miss
16:35
Either you like it or you don't. So do you like it? I do, actually
16:39
Okay. At least this is not boring. Would it fool anyone this is mac and cheese
16:44
No. It may be good to smuggle some veggies into your kids
16:48
although I don't know if they would necessarily like this. Spongling into your kids
16:53
Whatever works, right? It's not boring. Yeah. But divisive. Okay. So where, let me think
16:59
I think. better than past abilities. It's better than the Annie's vegan mac. It's better than the last
17:05
annies, the rich and creamy. And the seed are lame. So then we have sweet earth and the potato
17:11
sweet potato. Yeah. Then it would be in third position for now. And the sweet earth is still
17:17
player. Which I'm upset because that's the one I already knew and I like it, but I don't love it. So
17:23
I'm been hoping to find something better. Let's see what happens. Yeah. All right. All right, next
17:30
Next on the list is Dea, which is the last of the three options with dry pasta and a sauce pack
17:37
This is the only one we're testing today that is gluten-free. And on a per-serving basis, this one is the second cheapest, although the price can vary depending on where you buy it
17:47
Compared with the others, it does have a lot of sodium and not much protein
17:52
The protein difference can probably be attributed to the fact that it's gluten-free because gluten is protein
17:58
So if you lose the gluten, you lose a lot of the protein
18:02
This one I'm like smelling right away. Yeah. And it has stretching this
18:06
I'm afraid to put it in my mouth and be let down. What's the point here
18:10
I'll just say that walk away. This was good. All right. Let's try
18:19
Wait, what is in there? It's lemony or something acidic. Yeah. It has a cheddar flavor
18:28
but it's almost too much. Yeah. And then it has that acidic
18:33
which is, in my opinion, taking away from it. True. I don't see any lemon in here
18:38
Lactic acid maybe. Could be. It is certainly very cheesy. Mm-hmm. But I don't know if it's not already too thick
18:48
The sauce is thick. If you want a creamy one, the texture of this is better than anything else that we track
18:56
That's true. That's true because the others were. kind of soupy. And this one, even when you move it around, so you get a little bit of stretch. Yes
19:04
It has its good qualities. Just for me, the flavor is too strong
19:09
It's really standalone. You would eat this on its own. Actually, you know what
19:14
I forgot that this is even gluten-free. And I think the pasta is fine
19:18
I didn't notice that the pasta is any different. It's surprisingly good
19:22
I feel like trying this, I might be willing to try one of the other things
19:27
of the other flavors. I think they get the texture pretty well. And yeah, the surprises with the
19:33
gluten-free pasta because that that is really good. If one of the other flavors nails it better on the
19:41
flavor, then it might be worth trying. But for me, the flavor is just too much on us. Yeah
19:46
it's very overpower. So now I'm thinking where do we put this? I would put it definitely above
19:51
follow your heart. Probably a solid three. Would I put this above the sweet potato one? I think texture
19:57
wise you like this more yeah for texture absolutely flavor wise this one goes overboard and the annies
20:05
is under right so it's they even out yeah but then the texture kind of makes this one is the texture
20:11
is better yeah so i think i would kind of put this one above the annies sweet potato yeah i would agree
20:18
you know no changes no notes to my my ranking no it's a it's a good ranking i agree all right well
20:27
We'll find out. This video suddenly cuts out. That's, you know, what happened
20:32
Okay, our next Mac is Upton's Natural's deluxe cheesy bacon mac. This one is completely prepared already
20:40
The pasta is cooked and there is a sauce packet. So you just have to stir it together on the stove to warm it up
20:47
This one is in the middle to expensive price range per serving
20:50
But I did not adjust the serving size at all on this one for the pricing and nutrition
20:55
just because there's no others in this category where the pasta is pre-cooked and there's a sauce packet
21:02
So when we compare it to the others, given the serving size that's on the box
21:08
Uptons is on the lower end for calories and sodium and higher than most of the others for protein
21:13
But again, we're just using the serving size on the box here
21:17
We could only get bacon mac in this one. So fair warning, I don't like bacon
21:21
So I'm going to do my best to try to judge this on this texture
21:27
I guess if I don't like it then, maybe that means it's good. We'll see. I used to like bacon, so yeah
21:32
I'm the counterbalance here. Good. It has a very smoky smell. So that's why it's not really bacony
21:44
Like super bacony. It's smoky. A little bit, but not too much
21:49
For me it too much But you are like zero tolerance to begin with I don like smoky I don like bacon Yeah I mean I just also had the satan piece for the bacony part
22:02
Yeah. I don't feel like the texture is right for bacon. No, no
22:07
That's actually too soft. Yeah. The texture is, which is weird. It doesn't really even taste like meat, but definitely not like bacon
22:16
No. Because bacon is crunchy and crispy. Yeah. I know that. But on the Mac itself, the pasta is a little... Underwhelming
22:25
I mean, it has the same problem as the Cedar lane, I think. Where it's pre-cooked
22:29
And so it's not, the texture is not great on the pasta. On the noodles, yeah
22:33
I mean, it is faster to make because you don't have to do anything. You just put it on the stove together
22:39
The texture of the sauce, well, compared to some of the box ones, we've tried, it's better
22:44
Like the powdered ones. It's not as good as the texture as the dea
22:49
No, it's drier. Yeah, it's not as creamy. Yeah, it has a bit of like chalkiness, kind of like in the dryness versus the day
22:59
I see what you're saying. It gives your mouth kind of a dry feel. Yeah, it's hard for me to judge it because, you know, I don't like the liquid smoking
23:06
But could you imagine if this was now... Yeah, if it was just regular macon cheese, it wouldn't blow me away. Yeah
23:12
Overall, the substance of the pasta and the consistency of the cheesy sauce doesn't convince
23:19
No, it's not impressing me. No, it doesn't wow me either. See, and there is mustard in there
23:25
I feel that the mustard is a bit overpowering. It's not the worst
23:30
No. Certainly not the best. No, where do we put it? We put it..
23:33
I would put it behind the follow your heart. Would you? Hmm. The follow your heart, the pasta is better
23:39
The sauce texture, I think the texture of this one might be a little better than the follow your heart. Yeah
23:47
I can't judge this one on flavor. because I'm biased. Right. I would probably put it about even with a fall of your heart. Yeah
23:54
It's really hard. Thinking the same. Yeah. Same for you? It's a tie. Okay
23:58
On fourth place. Okay. So a tie for four thousand of right now
24:02
Alright, let's try the next one. Number 10. Last one. And our last Mac is Trader Joe's vegan Mac
24:10
This one is also pre-prepared, but the sauce is already mixed in with the pasta
24:15
So you can literally just scoop the whole thing from the tub right on
24:19
the stove and heat it up at two dollars and eleven cents per two hundred and fifty five
24:23
grams this one is the cheapest of all the vegan max that do not require you to boil
24:29
any pasta as far as nutrition it's mostly middle of the road but it is pretty high in
24:34
sodium so let's try it it smells starchy right starchy is that what that is yeah and
24:49
Even potatoy? Hmm. Wow, those are some soft noodles. It's creamy
24:59
Yeah. The sauce isn't bad. I'm not grilled about the flavor. It's mild
25:05
There's not much to it. It's not very cheesy. That's the thing. It's more like almost an alfredo-ish type
25:10
Yeah, it could be like a white sauce, but not really a cheese sauce. Maybe it has a little bit more cheese to it than an alfredo. Okay
25:19
I mean, Alfredo's made with cheese, but it's made with, like, Parmesan typically. This has a little bit more bite to it than that
25:25
Yeah, I think we're suffering that same problem where the noodles being pre-made
25:29
They're super soft. They're breaking. They're, like, they're not looking very pretty
25:34
They're giving up there. I think we had worse. Yeah, we definitely had worse
25:38
This might even be, more on the top. No. We have a winner
25:43
No. No, no, it's not the winner, but. No, but it might be in the top three, I think
25:49
Yeah. This one actually has a little bit of spice to it. Yeah. It has a little pepper in it
25:53
It has pepper in it. It also has a little bit of mustard in it. Dijon mustard. Ground nutmeg is in there. I think that's what I can taste too, the nutmeg
26:03
Yeah, I think the only thing that bugs me is really the softness of the noodles. Yeah. They're way too soft
26:08
Yeah, if the noodles weren't that soft, I think this would be much better
26:11
But honestly, the sauce is not wowing me either. It's acceptable. We're comparing the sauce versus the
26:19
sweet potato annies. I think sauce-wise, I think this is better. Because texture-wise, definitely better
26:28
Yeah. It's just a question of the flavor. It doesn't be the dea
26:33
In texture, no. Also, taste-wise. Taste-wise, the thing is the Dea had, like, a weird taste to some extent, like, overly strong
26:43
True. So... So you like this better because it's milder? Maybe we can keep it in
26:49
I mean for me I think yeah yeah yeah I mean it's so hard because none of them is like
26:56
jumping out at me and it's like trying to rank in mediocrity I follow your your verdict on those
27:05
yeah so the bottom four are no no just updins follow your heart depending on your taste
27:13
honestly even Dea is Dea Trader Joe's and the sweet potato, all are like okay
27:23
None of these are real winners. This is just us being like what had its points
27:29
Right. Yeah, I think the sweet earth is the only one that I like because I like the texture of it
27:35
Yeah. And the flavor can be enhanced if you add a little bit of salt to it
27:39
then you're like borderline getting into good, but you know, nobody's gonna think, oh, this isn't vegan. Yeah, all of it is very vegan
27:48
Yeah. And to be honest, this is why I really don't even try with the vegan mac and cheese
27:54
because I've been disappointed, you know, and nothing here has really changed my mind on that
28:01
Yeah. I stick with my recommendation. Just make yourself something because there are good recipes
28:06
out there and you can make this better at home for less money. There's no wow factor here
28:13
Sorry. Yeah. All right. Well, I think that's our ranking. So wrap up, yes
28:19
So there you have it. It is a little bit disappointing, but if you're a person who likes opportunity, well, the
28:27
vegan mac and cheese field is wide open for someone to come in and do big things, so I'll
28:33
be waiting. So even though we didn't find anything spectacular today, I hope this video has still
28:39
been helpful for you, even if it just saves you a little bit of money from buying a bad mac
28:44
and cheese. Thank you to Dominique for helping me with this one
28:48
By the way, Dominique sews her own amazing clothes, including the ones you've been seeing her wearing throughout these taste tests
28:56
So if you want to see more of her stuff, check her out on Instagram
29:00
Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one