The Absolute Worst Boxed Mac And Cheese Is Made By A Chip Brand
Cheesy. Creamy. Cheap. Boxed macaroni and cheese has been feeding budget-conscious families since the Great Depression, when Kraft dropped its first run at just 19 cents a box. An impressive nine million boxes were sold in that first year of production.These days, Kraft sells about one million boxes every day.
But we're not here to talk about Kraft. If the iconic blue and yellow boxes are a staple in your pantry, you may be relieved to learn that, when Chowhound writer Katie Melynn enlisted the help of her kids to taste test 12 varieties of boxed mac and cheese, Kraft came in at number four. Trailing far behind at number 12, Cheetos' "bold and cheesy" mac 'n cheese flavor was so disappointing, Melynn and her family couldn't even finish it. Yikes.
While many of the brands on Melynn's list were downgraded due to a lack of flavor, Cheetos had the opposite problem. True, it tasted "exactly like a bag of Cheetos," but the bold flavor was overwhelming — and definitely not in a good way.
Too much flavor, too many ingredients
Beyond flavor, Katie Melynn was also conscious of ingredients when making her ranking. Here, too, Cheetos over-delivered, bearing "a long list of unrecognizable ingredients, including artificial flavoring and colors." While Melynn acknowledges that this isn't uncommon for boxed mac and cheese, Cheetos went a step further in the wrong direction by actually tasting artificial.
Simpler ingredients lists, ideally incorporating organic components, were preferred. Brands like Trader Joe's and Annie's rose toward the top due to their balanced flavor and higher quality ingredients.
The one thing Melynn applauded Cheetos Mac 'n Cheese for was the shape of the noodles. A solid tip for making homemade mac and cheese taste even creamier is to think outside the box in terms of pasta shape. Skip elbow macaroni and reach for something with ridges and crevices for the sauce to seep into. Cheetos Mac 'n Cheese uses a spiral-shaped noodle, which performs well when it comes to maximizing sauciness. But, as Melynn said, that's not necessarily a good thing if the sauce that's clinging to the noodles is deemed inedible.