Daiya Cheezy Mac - Alfredo

My how the times have changed! Back when I first went vegan, the only box mac & cheeze around was Road's End, and I have to admit, it never really tasted anything like the real thing, but I still enjoyed it. Now, there's so many options out there with so much promise to be awesome, and I intend to review all that I can get my hands on! Today, it's Daiya's turn.

I had no idea what to expect when I stumbled across the Daiya Cheezy Mac. I hadn't come across any other reviews or any real information about it other than the fact that it existed. So I went in to trying this mac without any preconceived notions! So what is my take on it? Let's find out!


Purchasing. I wasn't even looking for this product when it happened to catch my eye on a Fred Meyer shelf. I figured that I was gonna have to make a trip to Whole Foods or New Seasons to find it. When I found it, they had all three available flavors (alfredo, cheddar, and white cheddar with veggies) and I was so excited that I snatched up all three. I did not realize until later that they were differently priced, and the cryptic receipt doesn't specify which flavor was what price. So at Fred Meyer I paid either $4.69 or $5.29 for this. Ouch.

Yes, unfortunately this stuff is pretty pricey. But I guess that is to be expected when Daiya's focus is about being free from a variety of common allergens and gluten. I'm pretty sure that Daiya's original angle was to just make vegan cheese, but I guess if jumping on the allergen/gluten-free bandwagon is what it takes for a vegan company to survive, then so be it. I just wish it didn't result in products that were so darn expensive.

On Amazon you can buy all the flavors together in a 6 pack (so two of each), but at it's current price there, it's coming out to about $7.50 per box of mac, which is an absurd price to pay! At that price just make you're own! Or you could purchase from an online vegan retailer like Food Fight, Rabbit Food, Pangea or Vegan Essentials.

Packaging. The cardboard box had a tear tab that made it very easy to open. Inside the cardboard box I found a packet of cheeze sauce and a packet of the brown rice pasta. I know it's a bit wasteful to have the pasta in it's own sealed bag, but I kinda like it that way, so that I not accidentally spilling the pasta as I open the box and it can help keep out stuff like pantry moths. Eww. I ended up using scissors to open the pasta and cheese pouches.

Cooking instructions.

Prep. Making this stuff was pretty straight forward, but as the package warns, don't overcook the pasta! This is brown rice pasta, not the standard semolina stuff. Also worth noting, brown rice pasta will cloud up the water quite a bit and this is normal. Unlike other mac & cheese stuff where the cheese comes in a powder form, you get the cheese already in a sauce form that you just squeeze over the pasta once it's done. Mix & enjoy!

Step by step prep! Easy peasy!

Nutrition facts & ingredients.

Nutrition. Sigh. I was really hoping it would be better than this. The box makes a meager three servings, and I ended up dividing it up to four after seeing that each serving had almost 300 calories! 9 grams of fat is a bit much to swallow, but then I see that 3.5 grams of which are saturated! This is not good. And a whole serving nets you 25% of your RDI of sodium... On the plus side, you do get 2 grams of fiber, 5g of protein and it is fortified with a smidge of B12.

Looking at the ingredients, once you get past the pasta, there isn't much good to say about what goes in the sauce. While most of the ingredients aren't too bad, it's not great either. My biggest concerns are the coconut oil and titanium dioxide. Overall, this stuff is pretty processed and not really health promoting. Just being free from allergens doesn't make a food healthy! I shudder to think that some years ago, I would not have hesitated eating the whole box in one sitting.

Closeup of texture

Tasting. So I've established that Daiya Cheezy Mac is a bit pricey, and not a health food, but does the taste make up for it? For me, sadly, it does not. It wasn't bad though, the texture was pretty awesome very gooey & creamy like what you would expect a cheese sauce to be. I'm also glad the gluten free pasta is of the rice variety; I've had my fair share of gluten free pastas that tasted like garbage, but rice is usually good.

The flavor of the sauce is where things go wrong, for the most part it tastes fine, but it has this weird kinda tangy aftertaste to it that I just didn't care for. Not to mention that it doesn't taste anything like alfredo. Sure, I've been vegan since '99 so who knows when I've last had an actual dairy based alfredo sauce, but this just did not taste like any alfredo I remember ever having. So I had my omnivore spouse taste it too, and he confirmed that it did not taste like alfredo. It does have sort of a cheezy flavor to it, but I'm not sure how to describe it.

I also want to mention that for the leftovers, I highly recommend reheating. It really firmed up in the fridge (as is typical with rice) and was virtually inedible cold. Reheating it seemed to mute the tangy aftertaste, but also seemed to reduce the creamy texture of the sauce. It was still acceptably tasty though.

Bottom Line. Daiya's website can be found here for more product info. I love that it's certified vegan, and being gluten & soy free should appeal to many others. It does bug me that they promote their products as being healthy though just from being free from a few common allergens.

While I am intending to write reviews for the other two flavors, I'm just not sure I'll ever buy this product again unless it's on sale for a really good price. Either way, looking at the nutrition of this product has me hesitant to consume on a regular basis anyway. I see no problems eating it as a treat here and there though.