Are Kodiak Cakes Vegan? (List of Vegan Varieties)

Kodiak Cakes is a popular brand of pancake, waffle, and flapjack mix. They’ve now expanded to offer other products like fruit syrups, and individual oatmeal and brownie mixes.¹

Since writing the articles on pancakes and waffles, I’ve gotten several questions about the vegan status of Kodiak Cakes in general.

Are they vegan? No, most Kodiak Cake mixes are not vegan. The original mix contains numerous animal products. They also sell several variations of the traditional mix and each contain milk in one form or another. The only exceptions are certain non-waffle/pancake mixes (more on this below).

What we’ll do here is get into the various non-vegan ingredients present in the different mixes, and then list any vegan products on offer by the brand.

Non-Vegan Kodiak Cakes Varieties

Kodiak Cakes Original Frontier Flapjack And Waffle Mix

This is one of the more popular mixes.

It contains:²

100% whole grain flour
100% whole grain oat flour
Non-fat dry milk
Leavening agents (monocalcium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate)
Dried honey (honey and wheat starch)
Wheat protein isolate
Egg whites
Sea salt

Not all vegans avoid honey.³

But, it is largely considered a non-vegan ingredient.^4,5

Even if you are a vegan who eats honey, this particular mix is off the menu anyway, as it contains both eggs and dairy.

Kodiak Power Cakes Buttermilk Pancake and Waffle Mix

These contain:⁶

100% whole grain wheat flour
100% whole grain oat flour
Milk protein concentrate
Wheat protein isolate
Brown sugar
Whey protein concentrate
Buttermilk powder
Leavening agents (monocalcium phosphate, and sodium bicarbonate)
Sea salt

As you can see, this one contains both buttermilk powder (buttermilk with the water removed) as well as isolated milk protein.

Milk protein concentrate is a mixture of both whey and casein, and whey protein concentrate contains mostly whey—it is a concentrate, not an isolate, so it still contains traces of other milk components.

In any case, they’re all dairy products and thus non-vegan.

Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Cinnamon Oat Pancake and Waffle Mix

These contain:⁷

100% whole grain wheat flour
Rolled oats
Cane sugar
Wheat protein isolate
Whey protein concentrate
Milk protein concentrate
Cinnamon
Buttermilk powder
Leaveners (monocalcium phosphate and sodium bicarbonate)
Sea salt

Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Dark Chocolate Pancake and Waffle Mix

Ingredients for this one include:⁸

100% whole grain wheat flour
Protein blend—wheat protein isolate, whey protein concentrate, and milk protein isolate
Organic cane sugar
Semisweet chocolate chips—sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, dextrose, soy lecithin
Cocoa powder (processed with alkali)
100% whole grain oat flour
Baking powder (sodium bicarbonate and mono-calcium phosphate
Natural flavor
Sea salt

Interestingly, none of the chocolate, in this case, contains milk derivatives. Unfortunately, the protein blend renders this one unsuitable for vegan consumption.

Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Peanut Butter Pancake and Waffle Mix

This one sounds innocent enough. After all, peanut butter is usually a pretty vegan-friendly flavor profile.

Alas, it contains several milk products.

Specifically, the ingredients for this mix includes:⁹

100% whole grain wheat flour
100% whole grain oat flour
Peanut flour
Organic cane sugar
Wheat protein isolate
Peanut butter drops (sugar, palm kernel oil, peanut flour, non-fat dry milk powder, salt, and soy lecithin)
Whey protein concentrate
Milk protein concentrate
Buttermilk powder
Leavening agents (monocalcium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate)
Sea salt

Vegan Kodiak Cakes Varieties (Muffin and Dessert Mixes)

Yes, Kodiak Cakes carries a muffin mix too. In fact, they have several. In general, muffins tend to be a bit less dependent on milk products.

While eggs are often used, many mixes (including these) don’t contain any dry egg in the powder. Instead, the consumer is supposed to add them to the wet ingredients.

To make the recipe work, you’ll just need to use a vegan egg replacement. Think ground flaxseeds, apple sauce, commercial vegan egg replacements, etc.

Keep in mind, not all of the muffin mixes are vegan. For example, the chocolate chip variety contains milk products.¹⁰

Kodiak Cakes Protein Packed Blueberry Lemon Muffin Mix

This one contains:¹¹

100% whole grain wheat flour
Organic cane sugar
Wheat protein isolate
100% whole grain oat flour
Blueberries
Natural blueberry flavor
Lemon juice powder—lemon crystals (citric acid, lemon oil, and lemon juice), maltodextrin, and pectin
Leaveners (cream of tartar and baking soda)
Sea salt

Kodiak Cakes Protein Packed Blueberry Muffin Mix

These are similar but lack the molasses and lemon flavor.

These contain:¹²

100% whole grain wheat flour
Organic cane sugar
Wheat protein isolate
100% whole grain oat flour
Blueberries
Light molasses
Leavening agents (cream of tartar and baking soda)
Sea salt
Natural blueberry flavor

Kodiak Cakes Protein Packed Double Dark Chocolate Muffin Mix

These contain:¹³

100% whole grain wheat flour
Organic cane sugar
Wheat protein isolate
Dark chocolate chips (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, dextrose, soy lecithin)
Cocoa powder (processed with alkali)
Whole grain oat flour
Black cocoa powder
Natural flavor
Baking powder (cream of tartar, sodium bicarbonate)
Sea Salt

Kodiak Cakes Big Bear Brownie Mix

Yes, they make brownie mix too. While I’m sure the recipe on the box calls for eggs, these can be made completely vegan-friendly with an egg replacement.

Ingredients for these include:¹⁴

Organic cane sugar
100% whole grain wheat flour
Dark chocolate chips (organic cane sugar, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, soy lecithin
Vanilla
Natural cocoa
Natural vanilla
Sea salt
Leaveners (monocalcium phosphate and sodium bicarbonate)
Vital wheat gluten

That’s it for the vegan status of Kodiak Cakes. Thanks for reading.

You may also want to check out the following related articles:

References

Kodiak Cakes: Nourishment For Today’s Frontier™ https://shop.kodiakcakes.com/
Kodiak Cakes Frontier Flapjack And Waffle Mix Original 24.0 Oz. – https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kodiak-Cakes-Frontier-Flapjack-And-Waffle-Mix-Original-24-0-OZ/30952612
Why Vegans Can’t Decide Whether They’re Allowed To Eat Honey. Daniel Engber – https://slate.com/human-interest/2008/07/why-vegans-can-t-decide-whether-they-re-allowed-to-eat-honey.html
The Honey Industry. https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/honey-industry
What’s Wrong with Eating Honey? https://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/whats-wrong-with-eating-honey/
Buttermilk Power Cakes. https://shop.kodiakcakes.com/products/kodiak-cakes-buttermilk-power-cakes-flapjack-waffle-mix
Cinnamon Oat Power Cakes. https://shop.kodiakcakes.com/products/kodiak-cakes-cinnamon-oat-power-cakes-flapjack-waffle-mix
Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Dark Chocolate Pancake and Waffle Mix 18 Oz. – https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kodiak-Cakes-Power-Cakes-Dark-Chocolate-Pancake-and-Waffle-Mix-18-Oz/247590164
Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Peanut Butter Pancake and Waffle Mix 18 Oz. – https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kodiak-Cakes-Power-Cakes-Peanut-Butter-Pancake-and-Waffle-Mix-18-Oz/674470589
Kodiak Cakes Protein Packed Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix. https://shop.kodiakcakes.com/products/chocolate-chip-2
Kodiak Cakes Protein Packed Blueberry Lemon Muffin Mix. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kodiak-Cakes-Protein-Packed-Muffin-Mix-Blueberry-Lemon-14-Oz/153471423
Kodiak Cakes Protein Packed Muffin Mix Blueberry. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kodiak-Cakes-Protein-Packed-Muffin-Mix-Blueberry-14-Oz/886725427
Kodiak Cakes Protein Packed Double Dark Chocolate Muffin Mix. https://www.instacart.com/vons/products/17543510-kodiak-cakes-muffin-mix-protein-packed-double-dark-chocolate-14-oz
Kodiak Cakes Big Bear Brownie Mix. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kodiak-Cakes-Big-Bear-Brownie-Mix-18-Oz/132374343