Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Food Review: Earth Balance Vegan Mac n Cheese

The vegan holy grail! Mac n cheese!

Written by Sarah E. Jahier

By now, most of you know that the wonderful Earth Balance has begun making vegan mac n cheese, sold in boxes just like the Kraft stuff most of us were familiar with in our pre-vegan days! I don’t know about you, but those boxes of mac n cheese hold so many nostalgic memories for me, so in my opinion I think it is fantastic that this comfort food has finally been veganized!

Earth Balance has made two flavors – the classic orange-colored cheddar flavor, plus a white cheddar flavor. Both flavors should be on store shelves this month (some are already hitting the shelves of local health food stores and Whole Foods), but I got impatient and just ordered mine online from the fine folks at Rabbit Food Grocery.


Earth Balance Cheddar Mac and Cheese topped with Parmela, 
Bacony Bits and served with a side of purple kale

I tried the cheddar flavor first. Making it was exactly like making the Kraft kind – boil water, add the macaroni noodles, drain, then add in the (vegan) cheese powder, non-dairy milk (I used rice milk) and butter (of course I used Earth Balance)!  Mix it all up, let it sit to solidify for five minutes, season with salt and pepper and dig in! For extra cheesiness, I added some Parmela Vegan Parmesan crumbles and for some added smokiness I sprinkled some Wayfare Pig Out Bacony Bits on top!

After taking the first bite, I was amazed at how close it resembled the Kraft  mac n cheese from my pre-vegan days. At first, it was a little watery, but like I mentioned above if you let it sit in the pot after cooking it solidifies nicely. I also felt it had a slightly sweet taste, but I couldn't tell if that was just my tastebuds being weird or the flavor itself, though it seemed to go away after I seasoned it with salt, pepper and topped it with the Parmela and Bacony Bits.

Earth Balance White Cheddar Mac and Cheese topped
with Louisville Vegan Jerky Company jerky

I also tried the white cheddar, and though I had assumed I wouldn't like it as much as the cheddar flavor, I was surprised to find I loved this flavor! It is prepared the exact same way the cheddar flavor is, and I seasoned it with salt, pepper and topped it with Louisville Vegan Jerky Company Bourbon Smoked Spicy Chipotle jerky. The flavor was pure cheesy goodness...I just couldn't stop eating it!

I was really pleased with how both these flavors tasted…sometimes you just need comfort foods from childhood and it is so awesome that a decent vegan option for mac n cheese in a box now exists! The only previous experience I had with vegan mac n cheese in a box didn't go as well – it was when I first went vegan 6+ years ago and tried some Chreese. I didn't care for it much and didn't taste anything like the Kraft mac n cheese! Earth Balance has come to the rescue and finally successfully veganized a childhood favorite! I feel like a broken record, but they have done it AGAIN! Kudos to Earth Balance and hurrah for vegan junk food!

4 comments:

  1. There's a restaurant near where I live called "Soul Vegetarian." It serves all kinds of vegan soul food like fried "steak" and gravy, vegan mac'n'cheese, burgers, barbecue, and even eggless salad! Their website says it's the largest vegan chain restaurant in the world.

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  2. Good to know! I saw these boxes yesterday at my local health food store and was wondering if they were any good. I am going to need to check them out. Thanks for the review!

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  3. i can see why you especially love it (your the spooky vegan, and it tastes so good its to die for XD )

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