Isn’t living in the future great? Kraft Dinner now makes a vegan option! I’ll admit I didn’t eat Kraft Dinner all that much before I went vegan, but as a Canadian, it still fills me with joy to see a vegan option now available.
For those who don’t know, Kraft Dinner is a boxed mac n cheese. The box comes with dried pasta noodles and a powdered flavour packet. It’s very simple to make: boil the pasta, add the flavour packet and/or some milk (or water) and butter then mix.
Similar to Mr. Noodles, it’s a cheap, fast meal to throw together.
I’m happy to report the vegan one follows the exact same steps and as far as I could tell, didn’t take any longer. (Though again, I haven’t made Kraft Dinner for at least 10+ years) The box was the same size and shape as the non-vegan counterpart, and it even had a comparable price!
You can see the box is only slightly skinnier than the non-vegan
At Wal-Mart, the Original (non-vegan) Kraft Dinner was $2.27 and the Plant-Based is listed at $2.67 – and that’s not a sales price!
$2.67! That is the cheapest price for a vegan alternative I’ve seen, ever. Usually when I buy Daiya Mac, it’s around $5.67.
Despite the cheaper price and the box being the same size, the vegan one didn’t quite make a full bowl of mac n cheese. I would say it was a little more than half. However, I tested it mostly by itself. Usually when I make Daiya mac, I’ll add peas and some sort of protein (sometimes notdogs, sometimes a Gardein nugget). This time, I just added a Gardein Original Breakfast Sausage patty, cut up. If you add a few extras, it’ll probably end up being a full bowl of mac n cheese.
I also noticed the flavour packet, the powder inside was white, instead of the classic yellow colour that Kraft Dinner is known for. They do make a White Cheddar vegan one, but my box said Original, so I was a little confused.
That is, until I poured the powdered onto the noodles and stirred. The pot quickly became that classic Kraft Dinner yellow before my eyes, almost like magic. I’m not sure why the powder is white, and it turns yellow, but it was a happy surprise.
As far as taste goes, it was a little almond-y, but that may have been my fault because my hand twitched when I added the milk. (It was Silk Unsweetened Almond, if you’re curious) Other than that, it tasted like cheddar mac n cheese. You could definitely tell it wasn’t Daiya’s – as I’ve said in the past, Daiya has a very specific flavour – but it definitely wasn’t bad at all.
I also noticed the noodles were a little… doughier than the Daiya noodles. Like if you get thick crust pizza, the amount of chewing required was surprising. Whenever I make the Daiya Mac, the noodles are always very soft. You can flatten them on your tongue and swallow them whole. At first, I thought maybe I overcooked them, but no matter how little or long I leave the noodles boiling, they’re the same consistency.
The Daiya Mac is also gluten-free, and the Kraft Dinner isn’t, so that may be why. Obviously I can’t say for sure, but that’s my current best (only) guess for why the noodles are such a different texture.
Again though, I wouldn’t say this was a negative, it just surprised me because I wasn’t expecting it.
I unfortunately wasn’t able to ask a non-vegan friend to taste test it to see how it compares with it’s non-vegan counterpart, but I would definitely recommend trying it if you haven’t yet.
Especially because it’s only $2.67!
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