{"id":23325,"date":"2024-07-23T09:00:08","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T13:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=23325"},"modified":"2024-07-08T10:47:32","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T14:47:32","slug":"review-of-packaged-vegan-mac-cheese-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2024\/07\/23\/review-of-packaged-vegan-mac-cheese-products\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of Packaged Vegan Mac & Cheese Products"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD<\/p>\n

For many people, mac and cheese is a comfort food. It\u2019s salty and creamy and it can be a quick meal or snack. Vegan mac and cheese packages abound on supermarket shelves. VRG volunteer Mae Y. Seon and I evaluated 31 boxed vegan mac and cheese products from Annie\u2019s, Banza, Daiya, Goodles, Grown as Foods, Jovial, O Organics, Pastabilities, Upton\u2019s Naturals, and Wicked Kitchen.<\/p>\n

We found lots of variations on vegan mac and cheese with flavors ranging from the traditional Cheddar cheese flavor to Jalape\u00f1o, barbecue, and truffle.<\/p>\n

Preparation time for boxed vegan mac and cheese, according to package information, is generally short\u2014boil water, cook pasta, make sauce, then mix pasta and sauce. Some varieties feature pre-made sauce; you just mix it in with the cooked pasta. Prep time varies from 6-12 minutes, depending on the product. Some vegan boxed mac and cheese packages come with everything that you need while others call for you to add unsweetened non-dairy milk and non-dairy butter to the sauce packet.<\/p>\n

Most products report nutritional information both as purchased and as prepared. For products that did not included \u201cas prepared\u201d information, we calculated the nutrient content of a serving using unsweetened soy milk and Earth Balance margarine.<\/p>\n

The labels on most products reported a serving size of 1 cup of prepared mac & cheese, although a couple of Banza products had a \u00be cup serving size. A serving of prepared vegan mac & cheese provided between 200 and 550 calories.<\/p>\n

The products we looked at had 4 to 22 grams of protein per serving, making them a reasonable source of protein. Products highest in protein were Wicked Kitchen products that ranged from 18-19 grams of protein in a 1 cup serving and Pastabilities Protein Pasta Ruffles & Vegan Cheese with 22 grams of protein in a cup.<\/p>\n

There was a lot of variability in fat in the products that we examined with a range from 1.5 to 18 grams of fat per serving. Saturated fat ranged from 0 to 6 grams per serving.<\/p>\n

The products that were lowest in saturated fat were:<\/p>\n