Vegan Mac and Cheese Is Now at Nearly 100 Costco Stores

This weekend, wholesale retailer Costco is increasing a take-and-bake vegan mac and cheese to just about 100 places within the Southeastern area of the nation. Chef Ayinde Howell’s Unique Mac & Yease will probably be obtainable in 32-ounce trays within the ready meals part of shops in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Puerto Rico. 

Howell—the previous private chef for musician India.Arie—developed the now-popular Mac & Yease recipe a number of years in the past as a tribute to his great-grandmother Mary’s Sunday supper staple. “I’m so glad that we get an opportunity to get this recipe out and for it to be within the South—that’s the place the thought originated. My great-grandmother, Mary Fluker, used to make baked mac and cheese in St. Stephens, Alabama, and my father liked it a lot that when he went vegan earlier than I used to be born, he needed me to have it,” Howell advised VegNews, “In my first cafe in Seattle 22 years in the past, I began promoting, cooking, and refining Mac & Yease to what it’s at the moment, and it will likely be obtainable within the Cellular Costco in Alabama, the place I used to spend summers. I really feel like that’s [coming] full circle, if I ever noticed one.”

Vegan mac and cheese for everybody

In April, Costco examined Howell’s Jalapeño & Cheddar Mac & Yease at 30 places in California and Hawaii. The jalapeño and cheddar taste is identical recipe however with the added kick of contemporary jalapeños. Howell says that the wholesale retailer expanded the meal choice to extra shops on account of constructive buyer suggestions. The Unique Mac and Yease is out there for a six-week restricted time check interval within the further shops. 

Although Costco was the primary retailer to supply Howell’s Jalapeño & Cheddar Mac & Yease, this isn’t the primary time the Unique Mac & Yease has been obtainable at shops. In 2018, Howell partnered with Whole Foods Market to convey his mac and cheese to the grocery store’s hot-food bar at 44 places within the Southern Pacific area, which included California, Las Vegas, Arizona, Maui, and Oahu. In 2019, the choice was expanded for a restricted time at Complete Meals places in Northern California.

Extra vegan choices at Costco

Lately, Costco has expanded its choice of plant-based merchandise, significantly within the vegan meat and cheese class. Choose places of the chain supply bulk packs of Past Burgers, Past Sausages, and Beyond Meatballs; vegan rooster items made by vegan model Daring Foods; pea-based milk by vegan model Ripple; Daiya cheese shreds and frozen dessert bars; and JUST Egg vegan liquid egg replacer. 

Moreover, in Could, Costco rolled out new vegan breakfast sandwiches within the frozen aisle at Costco places in Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Space, and the Southeast area (which incorporates shops in Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and Puerto Rico). Made by vegan model Alpha Meals, the Meatless Sausage, Plant Egg & Cheeze sandwich options vegan cheese by Greek model Violife. In 2020, the model additionally launched its Plant-Protein Crispy Chik’n Patties at Costco places within the Southeast area, Los Angeles, Hawaii, and Texas. Earlier this month, Costco elevated its vegan rooster choices with new bulk packs of Discipline Roast Plant-Primarily based Nuggets at greater than 50 places within the Los Angeles space.