Smmmile, It’s Plant-Based!: The 9 Best Vegan Mac and Cheese Brands

Boxed, frozen, or in a cup, vegan mac and cheese brands ensure there’s something for everyone – here are nine of the best.

I’ve made my share of vegan mac and cheese recipes – whether it’s cashew- and cauliflower-based sauce or a veganised version of a quick mac, you can never really go wrong with this classic.

But sometimes you just want to do things Cliff Booth-style after a hard day of work and are in need of some comfort food, stat. There are tons of brands catering to people looking for quick mac and cheese – whether it’s a boxed mix, a cup noodle-style format, or ready-to-eat.

This has also extended to plant-based versions of the pasta dish, with companies innovating with various ingredients to come up with offerings that surprise and delight in both healthful and indulgent ways. Here are some of the best brands making vegan mac and cheese.

Annie’s

General Mills-owned Annie’s Homegrown has been around for 35 years now, so it’s safe to say it knows what it’s doing. The brand’s vegan Macaroni & Cheddar Flavor is a boxed variety combining dried pasta and a vegan Cheddar seasoning made from rice syrup, cornstarch, pea protein, organic palm oil, annotto and rosemary extracts (among others).

Annie’s promises you can make this in 10 minutes. Boil the macaroni the way you usually do (al dente is the way to go), and meanwhile, boil a third of a cup of plant-based milk alongside the vegan cheese seasoning. Once done, drain and add the pasta to the mix, and voila!

One 6oz box contains 2.5 servings, and being a boxed option, it can stay on the shelf for ages. In addition, Annie’s has a shells and sweet potato-pumpkin flavour, as well as two gluten-free boxed variants: rice pasta and Cheddar, and red lentil spirals and sweet potato-pumpkin. Plus, it has a Deluxe Rich & Creamy shelled pasta and Cheddar flavour, where you just need to mix a pre-made cheese sauce straight into hot cooked pasta.

You can buy Annie’s Vegan Macaroni & Cheddar at Target, Publix and Sprouts for $2.99.

Wicked Kitchen

British brand Wicked Kitchen has a host of mac and cheese varieties for people to choose from. Its Spicy Smoky Dreamy Mac is an ode to cup noodles and one of the quickest ways to enjoy a vegan mac and cheese. Soy protein, potato starch, maltodextrin and coconut extract are blended with spices and seasoning to recreate the flavours of a conventional cheesy mac – all you have to do is add boiling water, stir thoroughly, and wait seven minutes.