As you know (if you've been following closely), I was at London VegFest back in October. Canada-based company Daiya had a stall there this year and were making it rain with free boxes of their vegan mac and cheese.
I first encountered Daiya at Natural Products Expo West in California back in 2015 (read my California post here). They hadn't broken into the UK market at that point, but when I tasted samples of their products back then.. boy, did I wish that they would. Up until that point, it was the best vegan cheese I had tasted. It's not surprising to see that they've grown and gone international.
I didn't grow up with mac and cheese so I can't say that I'm an expert on what makes it good or bad. Still, I was excited to try it out. I stored it away in my kitchen cupboard for a day when I couldn't be bothered to cook or for when I had a craving for something comforting and 'cheesy'. That day came over the past weekend.
Daiya Deluxe Cheezy Mac comes in a bunch of different flavours, including Alfredo Style, White Cheddar Style, Four Cheeze Style with Herbs (coming soon), and the one that I will be reviewing today - Cheddar Style.
You'll see from my YouTube video below that the cooking process is ridiculously simple, so points for convenience.
The pasta is made from brown rice, so my gluten-free friends can rejoice. It cooked in exactly 8 minutes and still had a nice bite to it.
The 'cheese', which comes in a squeezy pouch, is a shockingly bright yellow. If this was achieved through artificial colours, I'd instantly have been put off. But the yellow colour is actually annatto - an orange-red condiment derived from the seeds of the achiote tree (thank you Wikipedia!) In terms of taste, it is rich, gooey and rightfully extremely cheesy.
I sprinkled some crushed chilli flakes over mine, because you can never have too much heat.
For a quick, lazy, comforting, one-off meal, Daiya's mac and cheese is a great shout and I would have it again.
Have you tried it? Would you try it? Let me know!
I tried it... it was ok... a good reminder to not have high expectations for instant stuff because I would say I make a better mac & cheese at home. If I catch it on sale I might still buy it again and try spicing it up more as you did. Thanks for the idea!
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