The Vegan Cuts Snack Box is a monthly subscription box full of vegan and natural food products and snacks. Many of the items will be gluten-free, but this box is not a dedicated gluten free box.
Vegan Cuts kindly provided us with a complimentary box for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About the Vegan Cuts Snack Box
The Subscription Box: Vegan Cuts Snack Box
The Cost: $22.95
The Products: 7-10 vegan snacks, pantry items, and occasionally supplements.
Ships to: US for free, Canada for $8, and worldwide for $15.
Vegan Cuts Snack Box January 2019 Review
I think Vegan Cuts has really stepped things up lately in terms of snack box curation. Let’s see what they sent for December:
The box came with this information card detailing the items in the box. There was also some product literature and a coupon.
Peaceful Fruits Apple + Acai Drizzle (0.35 oz) – Buy a 12 Pack for $16
I have had this before, I’m pretty sure from Vegan Cuts. Anyway, it’s fruit leather. It’s not something I would regularly buy, but I can see the appeal to kids and/or to people traveling since it takes up basically no space and you don’t have to worry about spoilage, TSA liquid rules, etc. It’s sticky to handle but doesn’t really stick in your teeth.
Bean Smash in Chipotle Black Bean (2 oz) – Buy a 6-Pack for $14.99
We have received this from Vegan Cuts before, too. I think just two months ago. It is good, but I’d like to see a new flavor (though looking this product up, it appears that of the four flavors, only two are vegan, so maybe that won’t be happening). Anyway, if you follow the microwave directions, this does make pretty good bean dip. We used the Hippeas and Jilz Crackerz (see below) as dip delivery vehicles, which was kind of weird, but I wasn’t just going to sit there and eat dip with a spoon. (Tortilla chips would be a better option.)
Enjoy Life Protein Bites in Dark Raspberry (1.7 oz) – Buy 6.4 oz for $6.99
These have a good flavor where the raspberry is really evident as raspberry (not just generic fruity flavor). They are free of all the major allergens, though, and the texture is less than ideal (very dry and kind of hard) – these would really be better with some coconut oil or nut butter, but then they wouldn’t be allergy-free, I guess.
Blake’s Seed-Based Pineapple Snack Bar (1.23 oz) – Buy 12 Bars for $26.99 (found here for $21.59)
This smelled really good but again didn’t have a texture I really liked. I do think eating seeds is important to get healthful fats, and these have a lot of seeds, but it’s the utter lack of flour, nut butter, etc., for the texture that makes them kind of gritty.
There’s also quite a lot of sugar in them (much of it added), though there is a fair amount of fiber to offset that
Nomba Hot Guava Gummies (3 oz) – Retail Value $5
I told my husband these were gummy candy with chili powder in them and he said that was a mean trick to play on someone unsuspecting. Seriously, though, they’re not like spicy hot or anything, there’s just a mild kick (so it’s not a lot of chili powder). These are super sticky and a bit hard to chew. I won’t comment on sugar here because these are obviously candy and not masquerading as health food.
Hippeas in Vegan White Cheddar (1.5 oz) – Buy 12 Bags for $19.99
These again. I have received I think 4 or 5 bags of this exact flavor of this exact snack in the past year. I mean, they are good enough to try once, but they kind of stick in your teeth and anyway, the other flavors are better in my opinion (especially the slightly spicy varieties).
Dave’s Gourmet Creamy Ginger Citrus Hot Sauce (8 oz) – Retail Value $6.99
Hands down, this was my favorite item of the month. We had a very bland lentil/root vegetable/brown rice dinner the last two nights and this was perfect on top for adding flavor. The citrus and ginger elements are pretty mild, it mostly just tastes like hot sauce. (Do be aware this has calories, which many hot sauces do not, but it’s not very many calories.)
IQ Bar in Matcha Chai Hazelnut (1.6 oz) – Buy 12 Bars for $29.99
I had totally forgotten these were supposed to be “matcha chai hazelnut” flavored because they tasted almost exclusively like nut/nut butter bars. They have erythritol and stevia as well as monk fruit for sweetness, but I can stand these things in food in a way I just can’t in beverages, so I didn’t mind the flavor at all. These are suitable for keto and paleo diets (can’t imagine there are too many vegans on those) and they do have some caffeine, but not enough to keep me up at night (I ate this at night).
Jilz Crackerz in Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper (0.92 oz) – Buy 5.5 oz for $6.99
These are a nut- and seed-based crackers with no grain, so they have an odd texture and are honestly kind of bland. These definitely need some kind of dip or spread. We put them into the Bean Smash which was a little strange since they were so neutral, but at least it didn’t conflict.
Be Leaf Vegan Garden Vegetable Vegan Soup (1 KCup) – Buy 12 for $17.99
Be Leaf Vegan Chicken Flavor Vegan Soup (1 KCup) – Buy 12 for $17.99
I don’t have access to a Keurig machine but luckily, they provided instructions on alternative methods of brewing. I hesitate to call this “soup,” it is really more of a broth (both flavors). I made one to try it and it is exactly like drinking broth, which is not something I really enjoy. Unless I am sick, and then it feels so good on my throat. So I am saving the second one for the inevitable winter cold I will get. The containers are recyclable according to the packaging, which is good, because I always felt KCups were rather wasteful in that regard.
Tone It Up Protein Bar in Salted Caramel (4 count box) – Retail Value $7.99 (found here for $7.19)
It is nice to get a full-size item, although I am not such a fan of the texture of these. (There are some vegan protein bars that have way better textures.) These seem marketed as a diet food and they do have lower calories than other protein bars (these are 170, others are often above 200), hence the pea protein “crisps” making up the bulk of them. They are also not very well-balanced, with a ton of protein and not much fat or fiber. Anyway, in short, although I can see from the reviews that some people love these, they are just not the right protein bar for me. (I have no issues with the flavor, but food texture is super important to me.)
Verdict: This month’s Vegan Cuts Snack Box had 12 items for an average value per item of about $1.91. There were several repeats (Peaceful Fruits, Hippeas, Bean Smash) but some new discoveries including the hot sauce, which I thought was really good. I’m a little bit over getting snacks that are free of all 8 major allergens. I do realize these can be important for multi-allergy households (and of course they tend to be vegan in that they lack eggs, dairy, fish, and shellfish) but sometimes a little bit of nut butter or wheat flour would improve the texture of some of those items quite a lot, and Vegan Cuts is definitely not an allergy-free box. Overall, I thought it was a solid box, but I’d like to see fewer repeats and fewer ultra-allergy-free snacks in future months.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? You will receive the February box. Order by the end of the month to get that month's box.
Value Breakdown: At $22.95 for this box, you are paying about $1.91 per item.
Check out our past Vegan Cuts Snack Box reviews and the Food Subscription Box Directory.
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What do you think of the January 2019 Vegan Cuts Snack Box?
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