By pure coincidence I ended up ordering the new flavour as a new customer (at least as far as the savoury meals are concerned). I ordered yesterday so am assuming it must be the new one.
I ordered Mac N Cheese, Korma and Chickn Mushroom. I tried the Mac N Cheese this morning.
Funnily enough I’m not usually a huge fan of macaroni cheese because I find the cheese too sickly. I am pleased to say that I enjoyed this meal far more than I was expecting. I made sure to scoop from the bottom and left it a good 10 minutes to do its thing. The flavour was delicious, the portion size was more satisfying than I was expecting and I really like the cup that you can just eat from to minimise washing up. If there was a downside there’s a slight gritty texture (assume this might be the pea protein) but this is really nitpicking as it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.
10/10 for me, looking forward to trying the other 2 (oh and it’s great to communicate on your forum after being a customer for a few years now!).
Hi there, I received my order at the beginning of January, I’ve ordered Mac N Cheeze and I believe that I got the new version of it, although it still says version 1.0… I just opened the bag as we haven’t finished the remaining of the previous bag, and I see that the pasta is different, not arcs but instead like a fusilli rigati… There’s any way I can confirm is the new version? Here goes some pics.
Welcome to the forum @Lurker99 so happy you loved the new version, we wanted to make sure we took on customer feedback from the previous version to make this a version you guys hopefully love, so I couldn’t be happier to hear this
I loved the old Mac & Cheeze, it was my favourite. Great sauce, great sauce-pasta ratio. Loved everything about it. Was so confused and then disappointed to realise it’s been changed. Now I need less water to achieve a decent consistency and even then it’s nowhere near the same.
This has gone from 10/10 to about a 6/10 for me.
Gutted.
I was concerned when I saw change coming for Mac and Cheeze, as this was one of my favourites (either by itself or mixed with Cajun pasta) - the thickness of the sauce was a highlight for me but appreciate not for everyone.
Tried the new version for the first time today and was incredibly disappointed.
There was more pasta, as had been advertised. But despite mixing up the bag as much as I could, there was very little powder in the bag and so there was almost no flavour to the mix and was a pretty unpleasant experience.
Now I have an almost full bag that I don’t particularly want to eat, and will need to now to find a substitute for it in future orders (if I continue at all).
welcome to the forum @MCalavera, sorry to hear it’s due to you not enjoying our updated Mac & Cheeze, did you find the problem was purely down to the pasta/sauce ratio?
I suppose to stick my oar in as a fellow of the ‘Mac and Cheeze is my favourite Huel product’ crowd, I tried the new one this morning … it’s fine, but I won’t buy any more of the new recipe. For me it’s not the paste/sauce ratio (although it is very noticeably less), but the flavour itself that’s just a bit bland to me now. The old one felt very indulgent - I liked it so much because it felt like a guilty pleasure food even though it’s nutritional and good for you, but this one doesn’t have that same feeling because the flavour’s dialled way down.
Hi Charlotte - the ratio wasn’t so much a problem in that there was plenty of pasta and it soaked the water well. It’s just that it didn’t taste of anything, or anywhere near as tasty as the previous recipe.
As other comments point out, the slightly indulgent feel of the meal has gone as it’s lost its richness and creaminess.
feedback in the form of sales is usually the thing that drives decisions on a products changes or lifespan - in any business. If theres one thing people don’t like its change - but whats also true is that they usually get over it or don’t even realise it happened - so I guess we’ll have to wait and see and how it pans out.
As @Phil_C said, we collect data based on customer feedback and sales to show us how a product has landed.
Feedback from you guys is a vital part of that, so if this was the case, I don’t think it would be soon as we would need time to analyze how successful the updated version is.
if its any help - If I ever want my H&S pasta to be creamier, I stir in a spoon of cream cheese halfway through the ‘cooking’ time then put the pot lid back on to let it melt into it. There are plenty of choices there - including vegan ones - and it works a treat, especially if its a garlic and herb cheese.
Can confirm that the new recipe of Mac and Cheeze is significantly worse than it was before (in my opinion). It’s gone from a purchase i’d frequently make to a definite no. Boring, bland and lack of sauce. It does feel like this change was made to cut costs as pasta is cheap and I never really heard too many complaints about the texture etc. I also wouldn’t want to add any extras to make it more creamy as suggested above because the whole purpose of Huel is its convenience and you know exactly what you’re getting per portion. Overall hugely disappointed as that was my favourite
I had my second batch today ready for a night shift. So disappointing in the lack of flavor and sauce. Its just tastes like watery pasta now to me. Really hard to see how there is anything but carbs in there with so little sauce. If it was a slight difference I don’t think I would mind but its extremely different. The last recipe I would give a 8 out of ten for a quick healthy meal, for this I would give a 2. Struggling to fathom how theres 20 grams of protein or anything else per serving unless its in the pasta itself because there sure isnt 20 grams of sauce even after hydrating. Very curious to how you fit all those ingredients in.
Tried the new formula out and would generally agree with some of the comments here – at least the ones not drowning in negative hyperbole.
Is it watery? No
Is it less creamy and cheesy than before? Yes
Has it gotten blander? Noticeably but not dramatically.
Is it dry / too much pasta and not enough sauce? No, if you mix and make it right, its fine (see photo)
Overall, for me this update is a bit of a miss. Not convinced I’d be able to eat it regularly without either additional seasoning or mixing with another of the pasta flavours (I guess it would mix well with either the Bolognese or Carbonara.
I think most disappointing aspect for me is that the previous formulation I also blended to use as a cheese sauce substitute and it worked really well for that in both colour and taste. I don’t think this one would be able to do that as well.
of course the pasta pieces will contribute to the overall protein amount. Not sure exactly what that ratio is in Huel, but typically dried macaroni is 10-13% protein by weight.
One huge plus of the new recipe that should be highlighted - the pasta really does hydrate much better. I haven’t had a single crunchy bite since the new version.
you can tell by the pasta shape, the ingredients should also be different on the pack.
