We were pressed for food one week, having ignored the need to go to the grocery store for a couple days, when I stumbled upon this beauty. We had bought it a couple months back, and somehow it slipped through the (metaphorical) cracks of our pantry. Being hungry, and with no other options, I figured it would be a great thing to eat, so I did. And now I’m sharing that experience with all of you faithful readers.

Anyone who’s had this type of product before will no doubt be familiar with the prepwork: Cheese packet out, water to fill line, microwave 3.5 minutes, add cheese. It’s so easy to do anyone can do it, which is probably why it’s referred to as “easy macaroni”. It all went according to plan, except for me dropping a noodle on the counter after it was made. Oops! No big deal though; I simply used a tissue (it was the first thing I found) to wipe it up. No harm done.

This is okay, offering up some occasional bursts of cheesy goodness, but not as many as the name would have you imply. Actually, most bites after the first one, I just get salt. Does anyone else feel the same way about these? Like, every pre-cupped macaroni product will taste cheesy on the first bite, and then I just get saltiness. That doesn’t happen to me with stovetop macaroni. Speaking of which, how they can’t get these cups to taste closer to boxed mac and cheese seems weird to me. Does the microwave really give it a different type of boil? That’s probably a dumb question, but it just seems like they should be able to replicate that here in 2022.

These come in at $2.72 per four-count package, which is about half off of the name brand. That’s some pretty solid value, no matter how you look at it. The contents inside aren’t all that great, but it’s about on par with other name brands. And, it’s edible and it’s food. For those of us who aren’t particularly picky, that’s good enough. Sometimes. 

Overall: 5.5/10. You know what you’re getting with these…which isn’t much. A cheesy first bite gives way to salty remaining bites. It’s edible and inoffensive, but it’s also not very good. The $2.72 retail price (for a four-pack) is a couple bucks off the name brand, and comparable to other store brands, which also works in its favor. If you need a quick bite, this could do the trick. But so could millions of other things.