Best Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese Brands – Nima Tested

Are you searching for the best gluten-free mac and cheese brands? The good news is you don’t have to look far because Annie’s and Kraft make boxed gluten-free mac and cheese, and I put them both to the hidden gluten test and taste test to help you find the best one for you and your family. This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosures.

Good news, gluten-free friends. Two major brands offer boxed gluten-free mac and cheese mixes, and a handful of boutique brands offer gluten-free mac and cheese too.

Let’s discuss how each brand fared by taste and when tested for hidden gluten with my Nima Sensor. Nima is a portable gluten-detecting device that helps you quickly identify if a food contains hidden gluten. Learn more about the device in my article, Wait! Read this Before Buying a Nima Sensor.

Gluten-Free Kraft Mac and Cheese

Kraft is late to the gluten-free mac and cheese game, finally introducing its gluten-free mac and cheese mixes to grocery stores across the U.S.

To the gluten-free community, its arrival was a welcome addition. Newer packages show that Kraft Mac and Cheese is certified gluten-free by the NSF, which you can verify on the NSF page.

Kraft’s gluten-free mac and cheese is made with gluten-free pasta (made from a combination of corn and brown rice flour), as well as its signature cheese sauce.

My children ate and loved it. My son said it tasted like Annie’s mac and cheese (which I’ll talk about next), and my daughter says she thinks she might like the gluten-free Kraft mac and cheese better than Annie’s.

I also tested it for hidden gluten with my Nima Sensor, and Nima returned a smile, meaning no gluten was found.

You can buy Kraft gluten-free mac and cheese on Amazon or at major grocery stores, including Safeway/Albertsons, Kroger, and Target.

UPDATE: In May 2022, Kraft launched portable gluten-free macaroni & cheese cups, a game-changer in the underserved portable gluten-free marketplace. Grab one of these for a quick gluten-free lunch at the office.

Annie’s Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese

While Kraft will likely take a swift lead in the gluten-free mac and cheese marketplace, Annie’s has always been there for the gluten-free community with its lineup of gluten-free mac and cheese mixes.

Annie’s, a General Mills company, makes a Rice Pasta and Cheddar gluten-free mac and cheese, a Quinoa-based Rice Pasta and White Cheddar variety, and even a vegan and gluten-free mac and cheese.

I recently learned that Annie’s manufactures its gluten-free products on shared equipment, although Annie’s says it takes “every precaution to ensure that cross contamination of ingredients does not occur at any point in the process.”

Unlike Kraft gluten-free mac cheese, which is certified gluten-free by the NSF, Annie’s mac and cheese is not certified gluten-free.

One of my readers tested Annie’s mac and cheese for hidden gluten, and her Nima found gluten. I independently tested it, and Nima didn’t find any gluten.

This could be a tester error. Or it could mean there are hot spots of gluten due to shared equipment. Nima might detect trace amounts of gluten below the 20 ppm gluten threshold. (See my article, Is the Nima Sensor Accurate?)

You can find Annie’s on Amazon and at major grocery stores, and in specialty stores like Sprouts and Natural Grocers.

Other Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese Brands

Other brands that make gluten-free mac and cheese mixes include:

Banza: Banza makes a chickpea mac and cheese that is gluten-free and full of fiber. It doesn’t quite taste like the mac and cheese you know and love, as the noodles are chewier and not as soft, but it does offer more fiber than the rice- and corn-based noodles offered by the leading brands.

Daiya: This specialty brand makes a dairy-free, vegan, soy-free, and gluten-free mac and cheese mix. Vegans love Daiya products and will remain loyal to this brand. I have not tried it.

Jovial: Jovial launched its gluten-free mac & cheese boxed mixes in March 2023. It comes in vegan and white cheddar varieties. If I’m being honest, my kids didn’t like the taste of the cheese packets, although they always love Jovial’s brown rice pasta.

Pamela’s: Pamela’s makes vegan mac and cheese from white rice flour and pea protein. We tried it and enjoyed it, although the noodles weren’t very soft, and they were dense in texture.

O Organics: O Organics is an exclusive brand of Safeway/Albertson’s stores, and they carry a gluten-free and vegan mac mix.

Walmart (Great Value): Walmart’s store brand, Great Value, also makes gluten-free mac and cheese. Three cheers for bargain gluten-free mac and cheese.

Do you know of other brands that make gluten-free mac and cheese? Please let me know so I can add them to this list.