There’s also no denying the fun and ease of scooping up those mini macaroni noodles with a spoon.
Plenty of restaurants and chains offer their own gourmet, gussied-up versions of the dish.
But is it truly the best boxed mac out there right now?
Zoe Strozewski / Eat This, Not That!
Here’s what I thought about each option, ranked from my least favorite to the absolute best!
Velveeta Shells & Cheese
The preparation forVelveeta’s Shells & Cheeseis extremely straightforward.
A 10.1-ounce box cost me $4.49.
Zoe Strozewski / Eat This, Not That!
However, it easily coated all of the little shells and looked extremely thick, creamy, and luxurious.
Each bite was almost overwhelmingly salty, which makes sense considering this option had the highest sodium levels.
Cracker Barrel Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
Cracker Barrel’s Macaroni & Cheese Dinnercomes in several flavors.
Zoe Strozewski / Eat This, Not That!
I opted for the sharp cheddar variety.
A 14-ounce box cost me $4.79.
On the positive side, these were my favorite noodles from the whole taste test.
Zoe Strozewki / Eat This, Not That!
They were chewy and boasted plenty of little ridges to grab onto the sauce.
I also got some of that same slightly bitter aftertaste.
A 7.25-ounce box cost me $0.99.
Zoe Strozewski / Eat This, Not That!
This makes sense considering the dialed-up sugar content in the Bowl & Basket version.
Overall, though, the taste was better when compared with the liquid cheese sauce options.
It contains no artificial flavors, preservatives, or dyes.
Zoe Strozewski / Eat This, Not That!
A 7.25-ounce box cost me $1.39.
The taste:Like childhood.
This one also had a noticeable underlying sweetness to it, but it wasn’t quite as strong.
It doesn’t contain any artificial colors or synthetic flavors, plus it contains real cheese and organic pasta.
The preparation method was slightly different from the other powdered mac options.
A 6-ounce box cost me $2.59.
To be clear, I didn’t think Annie’s mac is absolutely perfect.
I love strong flavors and I could have gone for an even bigger punch of cheese in this option.
