8 Banza Vegan Products Ranked
Banza launched in 2014, bringing chickpea pasta to the masses. The company's goal is simple, to make gluten-free food that tastes good and is good for you. To do this, they use chickpeas as a substitute for traditional flour. Not only are chickpeas an environmentally friendly option, but they pack a huge punch of protein. What started as simple chickpea pasta has expanded into a range of foods that include mac and cheese and pizza. All of it is completely gluten-free, loaded with protein, and much of it is vegan.
As we all know, vegan and gluten-free versions of our favorite foods can be hit or miss. So we set out to put Banza products to the test. We wanted to see how their plant-based products held up against other plant-based products and the real deal. We have to say, overall, we were impressed. But not everything can get a perfect score, so we ranked the Banza vegan products so you know what to keep an eye out for.
8. Banza rice
Not everything needs to be made into rice since it already exists, is naturally gluten-free, and is delicious. Banza rice tastes okay, but that is it. While it looks like brown rice and does have a rice-like quality to it, it is not good enough to justify going out of your way to get chickpea rice versus normal rice.
One 8-ounce bag of Banza rice costs around $4 at Target, whereas a 32-ounce bag of brown rice costs less than $2. The difference in pricing is mind-boggling. The main nutritional difference is that Banza rice offers 11 grams of protein, whereas brown rice offers just 3 grams of protein. The chickpea option also has more fiber and less carbs. These can all be good things, and if your goal is to boost protein, then the switch might make sense.
That being said, there is a bit of a texture difference. Maybe it is because you cook it like pasta, boiling then straining, or maybe it is because it functionally is just small pasta, but to us, this feels more like orzo. We would happily use it as a gluten-free friendly orzo substitute, but we will likely stick to regular rice in any future paellas.
7. Plant-based cheese pizza
We have had a lot of pizza in our time, both in restaurants and at home, and sometimes the day just calls for a good old-fashioned freezer pizza. As freezer pizza goes, you could do worse. You could probably also do better, but we have had much worse pizza in general.
This Banza pizza features a chickpea crust, a tomato sauce and is topped with plant-based mozzarella from Follow Your Heart. The chickpea crust is the star of the show, which is perhaps the way it should be. It is crunchy but not overly so, and honestly holds up not just against gluten-free frozen pizza but pretty much any frozen pizza. Admittedly, it does not offer the same chewiness you get from fresh pizza, but no one gets a frozen pizza expecting gourmet quality.
Where the pizza lacks, though, is the toppings. The crust is fine, but the sauce and the cheese simply do not provide much flavor. We even added toppings to half but to no avail. We did not find the caramelized onions and roasted garlic the sauce claims to have. And while there is some kind of sprinkled seasoning on top, we could not taste it, and that was a bit of a letdown.
6. Plant-based Mac with chickpeas Shells + vegan cheddar
Sometimes you just want a box of mac and cheese to tuck into. While we love a classic mac, sometimes you just cannot beat a box. However, this is one of those times that this box can be beaten. The Banza vegan cheddar looks like mac and cheese, but it certainly does not taste like it. Once again, our problem is not with the chickpea product. The chickpeas shells included in this are decent but do fall into the gluten-free trap of being crumbly rather than chewy. Also, it is pitched as a mac, which is short for macaroni, even though the pasta base is shells.
That aside, the main problem is the flavor. One bite, and you know you are not eating cheese. Instead, it has a noticeably vegetable flavor. It tastes like ground-up veggie straw chips made into a sauce and poured over pasta. It is not actively bad, but it is definitely not what we were expecting from a mac and cheese.
5. Alphabets pasta
We love a whimsical pasta shape and were thrilled to see that Banza makes the classic childhood alphabet pasta. We were disappointed to realize, however, that they only offer them in the four letters that make up the company's name. For those keeping track, there are 26 letters in the English alphabet, so those are not great percentages. Moreover, it really puts a damper on playing alphabet pasta Scrabble.
That being said, the texture on these was actually pretty good. However, we were a little worried going into it. The letters are larger than the alphabet pasta we are accustomed to, and to keep the shape, there are a lot of joints and support pasta. When we have had similarly constructed traditional pasta, this has led to undercooked and hard spots, but we did not find those here.
Additionally, all those nooks and crannies make this pasta perfect for holding onto the sauce of your choice. As a bonus, it also only takes 5 to 7 minutes to cook, less than many of the other Banza pasta. If you do intend to use it for alphabet soup, though, we did find they could get soggy after a while and did not hold up quite as well as traditional pasta.
4. Shells pasta
Shells are a classic pasta. The ones from Banza are kicked up a notch, offering 20 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber per serving, both of which are much more than traditional pasta. We would describe these shells as medium-sized; they are not large but are noticeably bigger than the ones that come in the Banza mac and cheese.
If you are looking for little shells, then these may not be for you, but we found the size to be just about right. They are small enough that you can still get several on a spoon or fork but big enough that you do not feel like you need a million of them for each bite.
The best part is that the shells act as the perfect sauce vessel. Once they are topped, they act like little bowls, holding in sauce perfectly — even sauces that would not otherwise stick to the noodle. For us, this worked particularly well with pesto and cheese sauce. They may be a bit big for Italian dishes such as pasta e ceci, as the chickpeas just get stuck in the shells, but they work great with looser sauces.
3. Plain pizza crust
Where plant-based cheese fails is just where the plain crust pizza steps in. This product is literally just a crust. It may seem expensive, but you get two crusts in a pack which is nice. The advantage of having a straight crust is that you can add whatever sauce and toppings you want. Much in the way the Banza pasta is a single component for you to dress up, the plain crust is ready for action.
If you want to keep it vegan, add your favorite vegan cheese. We used some mozzarella and sauce we had on hand, and the flavor difference between the plant-based cheese and the plain crust was night and day.
Like the plant-based cheese pizza, the crust holds up well as a frozen and gluten-free crust. The only downside to this is that you will have to build your own pie. We would take this over other alternatives, like cauliflower crust, any day though.
2. Plant-based mac with chickpeas Shells + vegan white cheddar
The white cheddar vegan shells are noticeably better than the orange cheddar ones. Gone is the overpowering vegetable flavor. In place, there is a mild and almost naturally cheesy flavor that is unobtrusive and not unpleasant. The nutritional yeast and herbs are noticeable in the flavor but in a good way.
Instead of a base of sweet potato, the white cheddar uses parsnip, likely as a way to adjust the color. We do not care about the reason, we are just happy we can eat this without it tasting like the bottom of a bag of veggie chips.
This is not a perfect vegan shell and cheese, but we would argue it can go toe to toe with the likes of Annie's vegan and gluten-free pasta. Plus, with all the added protein from the chickpea pasta, we would argue it keeps you fuller longer. Overall, this is a solid boxed mac and cheese.
1. Plant-based Mac with chickpeas Delux Shells + vegan cheddar
This is Banza's Deluxe vegan mac and cheese, and trust us when we say it is the best. Once again, the base for this mac is shells, so really it is shells and cheese, but we digress. Unlike the other plant-based mac and cheese, instead of powdered vegan cheese, which has to be mixed with milk to reconstitute it, this one comes with a packet of ready-made cheese sauce that you pour over the cooked chickpea noodles.
Not only does this plant-based cheese sauce taste the most like real cheese out of all three, but it adds a luxuriously creamy texture that is nearly impossible to achieve from a traditional dried cheese packet. This texture not only looks great but helps combat the lack of chewiness of which gluten-free pasta is prone.
This is exactly the kind of shells and cheese you could tuck into on a night when you just need the comfort of a box of mac and cheese. Our only nitpick would be that the cheese flavor could be a bit stronger, as it comes off as mild cheddar. The fact that this product is noticeably larger than the other boxes just adds to the love. A good box mac and cheese should have you confidently eating right out of the pan, and this mac and cheese does that.