OrganicBunny.com Eating

The Great Mac & Cheese Test!

What’s the difference between an "organic" macaroni and cheese dinner and your everyday box of mac & cheese? We took the question to some hungry mac & cheese connoisseurs and the results are in! The answer: while "organic" varieties are generally more healthy, they’re not always more tasty. In fact, the hands-down winners for both healthiness and taste were "natural," rather than "organic" varieties. Who knew?

Most Healthy: Hodgson's Mill Whole Wheat Macaroni & Cheese Dinner Most Yummy: Annie's Bunny Pasta w/Yummy Cheese Lowest Price: Kraft SuperMac & Cheese

Most Healthy/Nutritious: OK, the wheat pasta made this one interesting and unusual - some tasters loved it, and some thought it was a little strange. Even so, no one could deny that it was quite a bit tastier than some of the others we tried. And hey, it was the most nutritious of all our varieties - so what they say about wheat being healthier for you must be true!

Most Yummy: Hands down the best on taste (even when made with soymilk!). This is actually the only pasta which tempted our tasters back for seconds and thirds! Also, when we checked out their website (www.annies.com), we had WAY too much fun. Did you know that they’re sponsored by Arthur the friendly Aardvark? If you or your kids are a fan of the show, you should also know that you can get the mac & cheese in Arthur or DW shapes - now THAT’S fun with pasta! If gluten-free is a concern for you, they also offer a gluten-free rice pasta & cheddar variety.

Lowest Price: Isn't Kraft Mac & Cheese the one we all grew up on?? But whoa, what neon orange pasta - we didn’t remember that! Kraft looked a whole lot yummier than its bland, pasty-looking brothers - until you put it into your mouth. How nice it is to be grown up and be able to choose your own, healthier AND tastier alternatives!

Methodology: We were so excited about trying new types of mac & cheese that we did two taste tests: one where we prepared the cheese sauces with soy milk, and the other with 1% organic milk. What kind of difference did that make? To the overall taste, not much, we found. There was a little difference in sauce texture, but not enough to dramatically influence the overall results. (Answers shown on the report are an average of the two taste tests.)

Also, we’ve got to be honest and tell you that we like a firmer pasta texture, and that’s reflected in the ratings (varieties that were mushy or gooey got low marks). Keep that in mind if you like mushy pasta (there's no accounting for taste)! Spirals or shells or other fun shapes were always preferable to boring old elbow noodles, both in visual appeal and in pasta texture (the elbow noodles usually tasted mushy, while the other kinds of pasta cooked better).

Other Notes: All the varieties were pretty easy to prepare in under 15 minutes - if you don’t mind mixing powdered cheese (honestly we prefer the creaminess of Velveeta to any powdered mix, but they don’t offer an organic option!). Want to make your mac a healthy dinner? Add veggies such as chopped broccoli, or peas and carrots, or whatever else tickles your taste buds!

Props go out to all the companies we tried, EXCEPT for Kraft, for using 100% recycled paperboard for packaging!