» Meet 
To find the most outstanding box of mac and cheese, we at Yahoo! Food invited a trusted panel of mac and cheese enthusiasts to a dinner party taste test. Noodle by noodle and box by box, we tasted seven of the most common macaroni and cheese products on the market. Our mission was to get beyond brand loyalty and find the best box of mac and cheese, based on taste alone. You may be surprised by some of our findings...
THE QUICK RUNDOWN
The Winner at #1: Pasta
Roni Shells and White Cheddar
#2:
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner Original
Flavor
#3: Kraft Macaroni
& Cheese Dinner Premium Thick ‘n Creamy
Tie for #4:
Kraft Velveeta Shells & Cheese Original
Tie for #4: Back to Nature Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
#5: Annie's Shells & Real Aged Cheddar
#6:
Generic Store-Brand Macaroni & Cheese
THE PANEL
Zoe Estrin: The organic traditionalist.
Griff Foxley: The home chef with a taste for gourmet.
Raul Gasteazoro: The hungry man.
Marguerite Moreau: The home baker with a scientific approach.
Chris Redman: The most likely to consider every angle.
THEIR REACTIONS...
The Winner: Pasta
Roni Shells and White Cheddar
Up-side...
Marguerite: "Knocks Kraft right out of the water. Tastes like fettuccine Alfredo. So thick, so creamy, delicious! The shells hold
lots of sauce and are substantial and filling."
Raul: "It tastes more like real
cheese than Kraft."
Down-side...
Zoe: "Great but
heavy. And gross when it cooled down!"
#2: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner Original Flavor
Up-side...
Chris: "Good
texture and color, cheesy, buttery flavor. Solid, middle-of-the-road choice."
Marguerite: "Not soupy, so it creates a great big bite on the fork."
Down-side...
Griff: "Nostalgic,
but pretty flat and standard. Not sharp enough."
#3: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner Premium Thick ‘n Creamy
Up-side...
Raul: "A little
bland and watery. Good texture. Could use more cheese. Nice
color."
Chris: "Really mild flavor. Noodles tasted good. Overall, a safe bland choice. 5 out of 10."
Down-side...
Marguerite: "Thick?
Nope. Creamy? Sure, kinda."
SPLIT DECISION: Kraft Velveeta Shells & Cheese Original
Up-side...
Marguerite: "Ate all of
it and I went back for thirds. The best lukewarm choice. Superior [to most of the
others]. It left me wanting more."
Zoe: "Fake-y.
Like E-Z Cheese! But kinda good."
Down-side...
Chris: "Thick, very
‘cheesy,' if that's what you want to call it. Heavy. Tastes cheap. Still, at
3am...it's probably amazing. I give it a 4 out of
10."
Griff: "Potent flavor made the first two bites fantastic, but the gummy, fake thing got worse as it cooled."
SPLIT DECISION: Back to Nature Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
(No artificial
preservatives or flavors)
Up-side...
Chris: "Smelled like childhood and tastes
nice. Very mild but silky and felt lighter than the
rest."
Griff: "Silky goodness. Cheese flavor is rather light, but quite tasty. Pasta felt lighter and less hearty, in a good way. Good balance of flavors."
Down-side...
Zoe: "Watery
without any cheesy flavor. Kind of light. The noodles are flimsy and small. But
it is natural-looking"
Marguerite:
"Unappetizing color. It's like cardboard. I do NOT want to finish it. I will
not! Did I say cardboard?"
THE WORST WITH THE BEST INTENTIONS: Annie's Shells & Real Aged Cheddar (Made with real cheese and 100% organic pasta)
Griff: "Piddley little shells with soupy sauce, but somewhat tasty. I could tell it was real cheddar."
Marguerite: "Real? ...Tastes like chemicals. I felt like I needed a spoon to get a good bite. Two words: watery chemicals."
THE VERY WORST:
Generic Store-Brand Macaroni & Cheese
Marguerite: "A coated noodle but with no taste whatsoever."
Zoe: "Just wrong. Can't eat even two bites."
Chris: "No mac ‘n' cheese should be called ‘Ralph's.' Massively lacking in taste, any taste."
Have your own
dinner party taste test and let us know your findings, or if you're thinking of making some from scratch, take a look at
these
4 great ways to make mac ‘n'
cheese.
1259 Comments
LEAVE YOUR COMMENT
You must sign in to leave a comment