In our Taste Test series, BA editors conduct blind comparisons to discover the best supermarket staples (like vanilla ice cream or frozen pizza). Today, which boxed mac and cheese should be your comfort food go-to?
Macaroni and cheese has gone through generations of iterations. References to combining pasta and cheese date back to 160 BCE, while dishes more closely resembling what we now call mac and cheese are as old as the 14th century. After the dish took hold in Europe in the 18th century, an enslaved James Hemings was one of the first cooks to bring it stateside when he served it to Thomas Jefferson and his guests. From there it became ensconced in the hall of fame that is the soul food cannon. In the early 1900s Kraft introduced the first boxed macaroni and cheese with Kraft Dinner. It was a cheap way to feed a family, became massively popular, and mac and cheese has been a comfort food staple ever since.
On the record, I will always recommend you make your own stovetop macaroni and cheese because a béchamel and some gooey cheese (i.e. a mornay sauce, for you sticklers) is a combination that’s hard to beat. Off the record, between us girls, I understand that life sometimes gets in the way. Maybe it’s raining out, or you don’t have all the ingredients. Maybe you’re too tired after work to spend more than ten minutes on dinner. Maybe it’s just a Tuesday. Whatever the incentive, boxed mac and cheese is a craving all its own, separate from its homemade counterpart—but finding the best, coziest, simplest boxed mac and cheese is important.
To make sure your mac and cheese plans turn out as creamy and cheesy as possible, we put eight brands of boxed mac and cheese through a blind taste test. Our editors judged on the consistency and flavor of the sauce, the bite and shape of the noodle, and how visually appealing each bowl was. We cooked each according to package instructions, adding butter if suggested on the packaging. Most importantly we let the bowls cool for a few minutes before digging in, just like we would at home in order to avoid any scalded tongues.
Our tasters had high hopes for their childhood favorites (the Kraft vs. Annie’s battle rages on), and we introduced a few newcomers, hoping to discover a star on the rise. Did we? Read on to find out.
The Waxy Letdown: Original Velveeta Shells and Cheese
What’s inside: While every other boxed mac and cheese asked us to mix a cheese powder with other ingredients (usually milk and butter) Velveeta provided a packet of sauce. This contains a few unique thickeners and preservatives, like sodium alginate and sorbic acid, to keep it squeezable.
The verdict: The problems started almost immediately. Velveeta’s shells were oversized—close to half an inch long. That meant they were limp, and stuck together, one inside the other, so that the pasta to cheese ratio was totally off. The sauce looked waxy as it sat in its bowl, too. First bites didn’t offer much improvement. Associate social media director Urmila Ramakrishnan described the viscous sauce as “pasty, gloppy, and rubbery,” and both digital production assistant Li Goldstein and recipe production assistant Carly Westerfield declared it bland and flavorless. The floppy noodles offered almost no resistance, so every bite turned into a gunky, mouth-coating mess.
The Cheeseless Wonder: Kraft Original Macaroni and Cheese Dinner
What’s inside: Tapioca flour, a thickener, ensures the bright yellow sauce can cling to the noodles. We were pleasantly surprised to see recognizable ingredients used for color: paprika, turmeric, and annatto. These were among common coloring agents in most other mac and cheeses we tested with the exception of Cheetos and Trader Joe’s.
The verdict: We agreed that this school-bus-yellow mac and cheese was striking in color, but that’s where the compliments stopped. Carly said the sauce has “more of a synthetic cheese flavor,” than any real cheesy tang, and Urmila felt the sauce was too buttery. Ultimately tasters agreed that we want more bite from our cheese sauce, whereas Kraft’s bordered on sweet. It’s a sad day when a titan in its field like Kraft disappoints, but such is the justice of the blind taste test.
Strangely Sweet: Kroger Original Macaroni & Cheese
What’s inside: Modified corn starch is included to thicken the cheese sauce. Beta carotene, the same natural pigment found in carrots, is a means of adding color to the mix. Kroger’s packaging asks you to add a ¼ cup of milk, but we mistakenly used ⅓ cup (oops), about a tablespoon of extra liquid in the pot.
The verdict: You might be tempted to assume Kroger’s boxed mac and cheese is like most others—it does, after all, look almost exactly the same. Its straight tube of a noodle is a faint buttercup yellow, and the slight sheen suggests a decent amount of sauce has managed to cling on. But upon first taste, you’ll see why Kroger is different: Its sauce is so sweet, we wondered if this was truly meant to be a savory dish.
Somehow Sauceless: Whole Foods Macaroni and Cheese
What’s inside: A relatively long list of ingredients here, with guest stars like silicon dioxide and titanium dioxide. The former is an anti-caking agent, and the latter adds a white-ish color to the sauce.
The verdict: This mac and cheese looked mysteriously sauceless. That’s because the thin sauce had trouble grabbing on to the smooth noodles and instead pooled at the bottom of the bowl. In the end, tasters were grateful that there was less sauce because it had a strange artificial twang—like cheddar that was left uncovered in the fridge for a week. Associate cooking editor Antara Sinha noticed a “slight pepperiness” after each bite that didn’t compliment the cheese and, to Carly, it tasted sour.
The Impressive Upstart: Goodles Cheddy Mac
What’s inside: Goodles is a relatively new macaroni and cheese brand, which offers an updated, nutrient packed take on classic boxed macaroni and cheese. Its whole deal is that it contains more protein, fiber, and nutrients sourced from plants. That’s probably why their noodles are made from wheat flour, chickpea protein, and wheat protein. It also explains why the ingredients list features “nutrients extracted” from a whole host of sources (broccoli, spinach, kale, pumpkin, sweet potato, sunflower seed, cranberry, chlorella, maitake mushroom, shiitake mushroom, to be exact).
The verdict: The first thing our tasters noticed was the darker color of the noodles. Some assumed it was a whole wheat noodle (wrong), and we all noticed a nuttier flavor and firmer texture. The sauce was brighter and cheesier than most, with a hint of vegetal something-something. Carly noticed a note of “sweet bell pepper.” While our minds weren’t blown, we all enjoyed our Goodles.
Bright and Punchy: Cheetos Mac ‘n Cheese Bold & Cheesy
What’s inside: Gosh, where to start on this rollercoaster ride of an ingredients list? Our old friend monosodium glutamate (who you may know as MSG) makes an appearance. Also: blue cheese! That’s bravery. That’s innovation. Name another mac and cheese breaking boundaries like this. Cheetos also features coloring agents like Yellow 6, a.k.a. “sunset yellow,” an ingredient which is also found in crunchy Cheetos as well. In the EU, this ingredient necessitates a food label that alerts buyers it “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.” Do with that what you will.
The verdict: Over millenia our brains evolved to associate the glowing, nuclear, unnaturally red color of Cheetos mac and cheese with danger. Maybe that’s why our editors were nervous to take their first bite. “This scares me and excites me at the same time,” said Carly as her fork swooped into the bowl. The large rotini weren’t our favorite because they felt unwieldy, but besides that, Cheetos mac and cheese was…good? You really can taste the Cheetos seasoning (not a bad thing!) and there’s also the slightest hint of a pungent cheese funk, as if someone were enjoying a charcuterie plate in the next room. Cheetos was an unexpected third place.
The Cheddar Bomb: Trader Joe’s Organic Shells and White Cheddar
What’s inside: A distinctly short ingredients list, and strikingly similar to that of Annie’s. Trader Joe’s boxed macaroni and cheese does not feature butter on its ingredients list, but after adding in the two tablespoons called for in the preparation instructions, we didn’t feel the cheese sauce was lacking.
The verdict: Each bite of Trader Joe’s boxed mac and cheese was a blast of sharp cheddar. Our tasters loved the loud cheesiness, and appreciated that an ample amount of sauce clung to each noodle. The sauce took a few extra stirs to become smooth and glossy, but once it incorporated, we couldn’t get enough. Ultimately, the group determined that Trader Joe’s mac and cheese was a touch too sharp, which is why, in a photo finish, it took second place.
Classic for a Reason: Annie’s Shells and Real Aged Cheddar
What’s inside: A highlight on Annie’s relatively short list of ingredients is butter—real butter—which, with the butter we add per package instructions, creates a thoroughly rich dish. Other ingredients are easily recognizable: dried cheddar cheese, whey, and salt.
The verdict: Shells! Glorious shells! Our tasters loved how each piece of pasta acts as a tiny spoon in which a bit of cheesy sauce can pool, and the ridges on the outside of the shell provide even more surface area for yet more sauce. Smaller shells means more shells per spoonful, and a more satisfying bite. Tasters loved the cheddary, sunshine yellow sauce that was sharp but not too sharp, and came together to just the right consistency—creamy without getting gluey. Sorry, Kraft lovers—Annie’s triumphs this time.