Trader Joe’s Mac ‘n Cheese

December 16, 2006 | Reviewer: Abi

Trader Joe's Mac 'n Cheese

Price: $3.89 (worth it!)
Serving: 1/2 tray, 7 oz.
Calories: 360
Fat: 23%, 15g
Sodium: 25%, 590mg
Protein: 24g
Carbs: 14%, 42g
Fiber: 4%, 1g

Trader Joe says: Four Cheese: Cheddar, Swiss, Havarti, Gouda

Abi says: I was skeptical when I opened this box of TJ’s macaroni and cheese; it contained nothing more than a bunch of macaroni piled high with shredded cheese. That and butter.

“Ha!” I thought with awakening memories of Girl Scout camp. At the age of 10 I attended Girl Scout camp in rural Oregon and spent a week learning how to take care of and ride horses. Everything but the food was great and I learned some interesting lessons:

It isn’t that fun or nutritous to eat Girl Scout cookies for dessert every day for a week
Campfire songs are overrated
People from the city don’t know how to whittle
Just because you mixed cooked pasta and shredded cheese together doesn’t mean you actually made mac and cheese

I was a picky kid and didn’t eat much at camp. That was partly due to my macaroni and cheese preferences and partly due to the fact that I am a picky eater. I enjoy mac and cheese baked or from a box, but the prospect of just mixing some hot noodles with cheese in the hope that it would make some luscious comfort food seemed more than a bit absurd. By ‘more than a bit absurd’ I mean ‘disgusting’.

So when I opened up this box and found a bunch of shredded cheese over noodles, my hopes fell precipitously; I popped the tray in the microwave expecting nothing more than a mediocre noodles+cheese=lunch experience.

I could not have been more wrong in my assumptions. Trader Joe’s Macaroni and Cheese is clearly the best microwaveable macaroni and cheese in existence. If it was legal (and sane) to marry food, you’d see me walking down the aisle with a box of Trader Joe’s Macaroni and Cheese.

The cheese melts perfectly to become one with the noodles. I have seriously contemplated buying a couple of boxes of this, topping it with seasoned panko, broiling, and calling the whole thing my own homemade mac and cheese creation. This macaroni and cheese is so freaking good that if you are anywhere near a Trader Joe’s you need to buy it right now.

Eagerness aside, this is not a healthy meal. It is full of buttery cheesiness and delightfully firm noodles. Just 7 oz. will run you 360 calories. But when you think about it, there are about 360 calories in 2 small cookies. Go for the mac and cheese!

comments

29 Responses to “Trader Joe’s Mac ‘n Cheese”

Colleen on December 16th, 2006

Mmm. I’ll try that.
Ace N. on December 16th, 2006

I once tried making mac and cheese by throwing a block of cheddar into a frying pan. This was long before I knew what a roux was so I assumed it would just melt. Bad, bad, bad idea.

I will definitely pick this up next time I go down to Trader Joe’s. That picture looks pretty damn yummy.
Marvo on December 17th, 2006

Four things:

1. Bah, kumbaya!

2. I think marrying food is legal in Canada.

3. Comfort food should never be healthy.

4. I think reading all these mac and cheese reviews has made me sick of mac and cheese for a little while.
Matthew Oliphant on December 17th, 2006

I was at TJ tonight looking at this exact package thinking, “What would Abi do (WWAD)?”

Since I didn’t have your guidance with me at that moment, and also couldn’t get “Here comes the bride” out of my head for some reason, I didn’t buy it.
tg on December 18th, 2006

can i be your maid of honor, huh, please please PLEASE?
Heather B. on December 18th, 2006

Two things:

1) I’ve been eyeing TJs mac & cheese for months now, but just bought it yesterday and I’m so looking forward to it now

2) If it’s as good as you say it is, and it comes down to the last box at the TJ’s in Foggy Bottom, then I might have to fight you for it.
Jeri on December 19th, 2006

Maybe I did something wrong…my TJ’s mac and cheese was disappointing…like cheese melted over macaroni. But you are mistaken about it being the best frozen mac and cheese. It’s expensive and a heart attack on a plate, but Beecher’s is food of the gods. Available at http://www.beechershandmadecheese.com, in some gourmet-type catalogs and select stores (at least in the Seattle area). No affiliation, I’m just a dedicated mac & cheese fan.
Jeff on December 19th, 2006

I just bought a box today after reading what everyone else wrote about the mac and cheese. I am really looking forward to having it for lunch tomorrow. Now, I need to know… should I bother baking the mac and cheese or just pop it into the micro?
Jeri on December 20th, 2006

Abi nuked it…I baked mine and wasn’t impressed. I think this is one case where the microwave gives better results…and it’s lots quicker!
LauraFries.com on December 24th, 2006

Dude. It’s 6 am in Portugal on Christmas Eve and I just read a bunch of mac and cheese reviews, which pretty much makes my stomach want to book a flight back to Alessi’s deli in Tampa, Florida which has the best mac and cheese I’ve ever encountered.

Damn you and your mac and cheesiness. I’m going to have to whip up a batch of homemade delight in order to satisfy my urges.
Liz on December 27th, 2006

I bought this Mac ‘n Cheese based on the review, and OH JEEZ IT’S AMAZING. One word of advice - I cooked it in the toaster oven (I know, blasphemy) according to the oven directions and it came out brown with crispy, crusty cheese on top. Perfect.
Juanita Cherrix on December 30th, 2006

I live in Florida and wold like to know if you have a catolog or if you ship any of your food products.
Emiyl on January 6th, 2007

I read this review recently, and because of my love for all things cheesey and also for my love of Trader Joe’s, I rushed to the store to pick this up. After reading the nutrional info, I convinced my brother to split the tray with me for lunch (I ate some yogurt with it.) I really wish I had eaten the entire thing myself.

This is the best microwaved mac and cheese I have ever consumed. It’s a good thing that the Trader Joe’s is near my parents house, 2 hours away. Otherwise I would a freezer full of this meal, and always a belly full of it.

Thanks for recomending this!
trader joe fan on February 15th, 2007

I am actually eatign this mac and cheese for lunch as i type this. Boy oh boy is it good.

I nuked it and put it in the toaster for 5 minutes to just get that crispy top. OH MY GD!!!! one of the best mac and sheese i ever had. You can add another cup or two of your own pasta and mix it all in and claim it as homemade. (very cheesy)

A co worker of mine was dissing microwave food as i was eating it. till i gave me a spoonfull tos hut him up and the next words out of his mouth was “im going to trader joes this saturday”

awsome!!!
RaslDasl on February 16th, 2007

I baked mine in the oven only to have it come out looking like it did right out of the freezer - no crusty top! I went back to the box and saw that you have to stir it up. I did and it was amazing. Should have put it under the broiler to get crusty but by that time was too impatient. I think the microwave plus the broiler would be the quickest, best way. Baking it for 25 minutes added nothing.
No Pasa Nada » Blog Archive » Taste test on February 22nd, 2007

[…] yes, food. I feel passion for chevre, Trader Joeâ€™s mac and cheese and the avacado. var sc_project=862352; var sc_partition=3; var […]
topGrubs.com on March 1st, 2007

Trader Joeâ€™s Mac â€˜n Cheese: Reviewed…

I was skeptical when I opened this box of TJâ€™s macaroni and cheese; it contained nothing more than a bunch of macaroni piled high with shredded cheese. That and butter…
Kristin on April 4th, 2007

I, too, would marry this frozen meal. It is the most amazing frozen mac and cheese in the world, and anytime anyone mentions ‘mac’ or ‘cheese,’ I immediately suggest it. I recommend stirring in some fresh baby spinach, if you have it on hand, after you pull it from the oven or microwave, or adding some broccoli (nuke some frozen broccoli and stir it in). It makes me feel just a tiny bit better about eating a bowl of carbs and fat.
Chris on April 13th, 2007

Well dammittohell! No Trader Joe’s restaraunts or stores within several hundred miles of where I am here in Denver, CO. Guess I’ll have to check it out next time I’m in Tucson?? Dallas would work as I’ll be there next month for a few days but there’s nothing in Texas either! Just goes to show you, Texas aint as great as they say it is. Case in point: The majority of newcomers to Colorado come from 2.) California and numero uno? Texas of course.
Always in search of two things. The best mexican food on the planet and bitchin’ mac and cheese. I can’t wait to check out Trader Joe’s.
Bon Appetit all.
No Pasa Nada » Blog Archive » Comfort food on May 6th, 2007

[…] and havarti, two of my favorites and butter, my second favorite food group behind fermented grapes. Abi wrote a review about it and since then Iâ€™ve been hooked. Itâ€™s become my go to food when I need […]
dbasta on May 26th, 2007

I like trader joes, but stoffers has better mac and cheese
Top Ten Macaroni and Cheese Dinners | HeatEatReview.com on July 10th, 2007

[…] Trader Joe’s Mac ‘n Cheese […]
Dashrashi on October 17th, 2007

Oh my god, this stuff is the best. I can hardly eat Stouffer’s anymore, let alone Kraft. Best easy mac and cheese in existence.
Biffy on November 15th, 2007

I am always on the never ending quest to find the perfect mac and cheese. I have several recipes I make myself but none are quite what I’m looking for. Stouffer’s puts out an o.k. version but I ran across this at T. J.’s the other day and thought, what the heck. Wow, this is the best frozen mac and cheese I’ve had. I love it! I just wish they carried bigger trays of it. Of course, because I like it so much, they will probably stop supplying it in our local store. Waaaa. I’m now on a quest to find a recipe with all 4 of these cheeses in it. Enjoy!
Johnny Beane on February 2nd, 2008

Im eating some right now!
Yumms!!!!
Ive bought it a few times now and think it’s one of TJ’s better items.
JB
Katie on February 7th, 2008

I’m eating a big forkful of this right now and love it so much I decided to Google it. I stumbled upon a veritable fan club here. Clearly I’m not alone in my adoration. Happy Cheesing!
Amelina on March 5th, 2008

I have to agree…..I just had this for the first time last week (baked and stirred…sounds like we are making martinis!) AND I was looking on the web to see if I could find a homemade version. Now I am thinking i just need to get in my car and drive the 15 miles to TJ’s. Screw it. I am putting on my socks and shoes now. I’ll run it off at work tonight, anyway.
margot on March 26th, 2008

This sounds great and I can hardly wait to buy a box–and I’ve been a TJ. fan for almost 20 years.

I wonder if it is as good as I think CooCooRaCoo Restaurant’s (spelling) mac and cheese is. I was devastated when they no longer operated in No. California.
Lynn on April 21st, 2008

Wonderful, excellent, delicious and amazing that it came from a microwave!