What is Van Leeuwen Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Ice Cream?
Ever have the urge to dump a Kraft Macaroni & Cheese powder packet into a pint of ice cream? I kid you not – the ingredient list here is cream, milk, cane sugar, egg yolks, and Kraft cheese sauce mix. Of course, when the Van Leeuwen / Kraft Mac & Cheese truck set up in Manhattan and gave away free cups last week, I was there.
Why is this happening? Come on, it’s 2021. Stop asking – we’re beyond that now.
How is it?
I did not like this – and I went in with an open mind. I’ve had an ice cream made with brie cheese that was delicious. I liked the French’s Mustard Coolhaus Ice Cream and Oscar Mayer Hot Dog Ice Cream. But here, I thought the levels of the sweet ice cream base and savory cheese powder were too equal, fighting each other for center stage. In the mustard and hot dog ice creams, the base vanilla was the star of the show, the novelty ingredients were accents.
This combo might have worked better if one of the flavors dominated. But as-is, it was a cheesy-sweet mess that was not refreshing on a blazing hot day. That being said, it wasn’t even close to the worst thing I’ve ever tasted, so I’ll throw it some points.
Anything else you need to know?
This flavor is currently sold out at all the Van Leeuwen shops and online. So if you really want to try it, keep checking for a restock. Or just drop a powdered cheese pack into a pint of vanilla ice cream.
Conclusion:
People have said they liked it. Now, I like A LOT of stuff. Scroll back through my reviews at the ill-advised stuff that I’ll defend. But I can’t here. Only go for this if you’re a hardcore curiosity seeker.
Purchased Price: Free Giveaway
Size: approx. 3 oz. serving
Purchased at: Van Leeuwen ice cream truck
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: not available
First photo courtesy of KraftHeinz. Scoop and sign photos courtesy of Steve Flack (mine melted too fast to photograph!)
You tried it so we didn’t have to. Thank you for that Rachel!
^ +47.
There are no words…
I won’t even eat regular Kraft Mac & Cheese. I find it foul. I can’t imagine putting that taste in ice cream!
I have always been a huge fan of the stuff. It’s definitely a yummy comfort food for me. Having said that, I find the idea of it in ice-cream version absolutely revolting. ::shudder::
Having been a somewhat fan (yep, I said it) of the Kraft *Deluxe* mac ‘n cheese version (with the semi-solid cheese packet), I recently tried the cheap-o base version (with the powdered “cheese”) in the 3-cheese version, and it’s not bad–although way too salty (I add a fair amount of vegetables to it, which dilutes that down).
I actually much prefer the powdered-cheese variety. The other one is too rich/heavy, for my liking.
As far as the “way too salty” part: You’d like shudder to know that it’s not salty *enough*, for me; I actually add salt (and/or other seasonings, to it). We’ve all heard of people having a sweet tooth: me, I have a salty tooth. lol (I do agree that veggie mix-ins are good, though.)
*likely; I wasn’t being all Valley Girl; haha
I agree as to the richness–I find that I have to almost always add vegetables (e.g. a crown of broccoli cut up) to mac ‘n cheese nowadays, whatever the “homemade” variety, or I go into carb. or cheese overdose shock (and I’m a big fan of both). But then, if I’m making the package just for me, I contentedly can go through more than half the full amount at a time (and when I wasn’t adding vegetables, even up to the full amount), and so we’re talking a fair amount carbs and cheese.
As to the salt: egads! 😉 I guess my dr. would be proud of me: I’m a big salt fan as well, but continually have dialed it down over the years so that now, I notice and am satisfied with even just a little. 🙂
I feel like whoever came up with this should to go to Hell when they die. 😉 I’m kidding, but still. BLEGH!!!!!
Thanks for taking one for the team!
Yay! You heard my cry to review this, hehe. I’d certainly try it, out of curiosity. Some cheeses work really well in ice cream, mayhaps mac n cheese powder isn’t one of them, hehe. Thanks for the review!
I bet it’s as nasty as those Fruit Punch pickles Walmart had/has?
WHY…WHY…WHY????
Get your review. Your point about neither flavor dominating actually fit what I thought this would taste like. I liked the fact one spoonful would lean towards vanilla and the next would lean towards the cheesy end of the spectrum. What would have put it over the top for me is if they had included something that would have been the ‘macaroni’ component in the mix. As is, you really only have Kraft Cheese ice cream, don’t you? Maybe a special baked macaroni shaped vanilla cookie bit – maybe even real macaroni. Talk about your wet noodle! Got my pint for free. Walmart had marked this down to $2 after sitting for over 3 months and I had a $2 off coupon and voila, free ice cream. Would I eat it again if offered, yeah. (Imagine Flynn replying to Clu’s question about the perfect system in Tron Legacy) Would I buy it again – and since it’s a moot point as it was a limited run – no, not unless I could buy it for less than retail ($2 would work for me).