Maruchan Chedder Cheese Flavored Instant Noodles

Color: 1/5, this is as artificial as it gets
Texture: 4/5, good for top ramen
Flavor: 0/5, doesn't taste like cheese
Overall Rating: 1/5, it's the kind of thing you love to hate, or maybe hate to love?

This has to be the strangest mac n cheese product on the market. It's basically cheese flavored top ramen (I know, sounds really gross right). When you open the package it looks like cheeto powder sprinkled over dehydrated noodles (which is basically what it is), and it smells like it too.



Surprisingly, from the standard of top ramen, it's not as gross as it looks. In other words, using top ramen as a standard it doesn't taste much different than any other instant noodle product. It actually doesn't taste like cheese at all, it's just salty and MSG-ey.

I couldn't bring myself to finish the cup, but if cheetos and top ramen are you favorite foods in the world then this is the mac n cheese for you!

Safeway Eating Right Brand Macaroni and Cheese

Color: 3/5 stars, it's a bit pale
Texture: 3/5, not as thick as I like
Flavor: 3.5/5, not bad for a "healthy" product
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 stars,

This is Safeway's "healthy" version of mac n cheese, so my expectations going in are bit low. When you first take it out of the microwave it's quite watery; I imagine this can be attributed to it's "healthyness." After letting it sit and cool a bit it gets closer to a normal mac n cheese consistency.

Flavor-wise it's surprisingly okay for a product market towards healthy eating. It has a nice initial cheese flavor that unfortunately doesn't last very long; very sharp at first but then it fades into the typical artificial aftertaste.

The pasta texture is very good; al dente, just the way I like it. A lot of mac n cheese dishes have overcooked macaroni which, when coupled with poor flavor, is really unappetizing.

Overall I give it 3.5/5 stars. So, if you're looking for a "healthy" version of mac n cheese this one is definitely worth considering.

Safeway Select Triple Rich Macaroni and Cheese

Color: 5/5 stars
Texture: pasta texture 5/5 stars, overall texture 4/5 stars
Flavor: 3/5 stars
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This version of mac n cheese is similar to Safeway's other products of the same line; looks appetizing, overall texture and palatability is good, but the flavor is really lacking. It's as if they are playing it safe. The cheesiness is so close to being good, but they managed to just fall short of a satisfying mac n cheese experience. Despite it's shortcomings, this dish of mac n cheese is at least finishable and does not have the awful, artificial cheese product aftertaste so frequently found in mac n cheese products.

So, in a nutshell the only thing really lacking with this dish is the flavor. The color and texture are great and it looks appetizing, but I was too tempted to add salt while I was eating it (not that it would have helped that much, what this dish needs is more cheese flavor).