Ranking Every Boxed Mac & Cheese | Bonus Babish

sweet mother of holy mac and cheese

every mac and cheese that's what we're

doing today we have 50 plus mac and

cheese that we're trying and I'm going

to taste every single one of them we're

all going to die but this is going to

speed things up tremendously I want to

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squarespace.com babish the whole

spectrum of the mac and cheese rainbow

is proudly on display and I'm ready to

start eating some so we're starting with

craft the original blue box mac and

cheese standard issue Baseline this is

it this is what box macaroni and cheese

tastes like let's Tastee

it this tastes exactly the way that it

did when I was a kid I grew up eating it

I love it I want to give it a six but I

I love it too much my my Nostalgia loves

it too much I got to give it a seven

it's a seven I've just learned something

Earth shattering folks from our newest

team member Sylvie that this is not only

the first ever iteration of boxed

macaroni and cheese but it originates

from the year

1937 the middle the heights of World War

II right so just before just 37

39 that's pre-World War II this was

being made on mass for 19 cents a pop

it's beautiful I almost want to bump it

up to an eight for that reason but I

won't it's a seven next up macaroni and

cheese spirals which not only is a

different shape Kendall informs me it's

a different formulation two tablespoons

less of butter to what end

it tastes sharper because there's less

butter to cut through the citric acid I

think I I have to be objective because

this is better than the last one but

it's not an eight not by a long shot so

that means that I need to adjust my

expectations a little bit craft original

I'm going to bump it down to a six this

is a seven because it's a better shape

and it's better for you too I guess

because there's less butter in it it's

really incredible so seven next up in

the craft shapes lexicon Paul controll

special edition this calls for fat free

milk specifically and half a tablespoon

of butter what's going on

here o that is the least flavorful mac

and cheese I've ever had in my entire

life the sauce might as well not be

there it's a bummer it's a huge bummer

and I'm going to have to knock it down

to a three it hardly qualifies as mac

and cheese next up craft mac and cheese

SpongeBob Edition we got four shapes

SpongeBob Patrick Squidward and Gary

this one calls for even less fat-free

milk than Paw Patrol which has an e of

the butter this is getting a little

convoluted oh no I don't know where Gary

went oh SpongeBob's going to be so mad

ow little

Gary enough theator and try to get one

of each shape

here the flavor is better like it's it's

not as good as as craft original but

it's better than Paw Patrol would I

rather have a bowl of this than of craft

original the answer to that is no this

guy gets a five craft unicorns same deal

more milk less butter that looks like a

penis I mean sure it's a rainbow but it

also kind of looks like a medical

cross-section of a of a of a male

genitalia let's see if there's literally

any difference

here

M that's good schlong this tastes only

like pasta just like the PAW Patrol that

being said the texture is better they're

not falling apart so for that I will

award them a four not quite so magical

is their penis headed mascot original

with cauliflower the original mac and

cheese has 9 g of protein this has n g

of protein in fact they're exactly the

same across the board apart from fiber

this has 2 gr of fiber this has a

whopping three it calls for one

tablespoon less butter and milk so it's

going to be a little bit less buttery

and milky and a little bit more

cauliflower let's see if it translates

in the final

product oh what the devil it tastes

distinctly of cauliflower has almost the

exact same nutritional value and it

tastes worse I don't see why it exists

three three stars out of 10 get this out

of here three all right folks this is my

home court okay I grew up eating shells

and white cheddar here we

go oh oh yeah oh yeah no that's really

good the sauce is more flavorful it's

sharper I really really prefer this to

everything that we've tried so far I

have to give it an a three cheese with

shells this looks Saucy this looks the

sauciest of the day I need to take

smaller bites I'm going to have eaten

like four bowls of mac and cheese by the

end of the

day flavor texture

fireworks put fireworks behind me in

post it's incredible it's it's fun it's

all right doesn't taste like there's

more kinds of cheese in there it just

kind of tastes like they just put like

more powder in there or something it's

just the the original flavor that's

always there is just stronger and it's

got shells which I prefer the original

is a six this this scores it a seven

it's a seven craft thick and creamy

interesting that they went with actual

macaroni this calls for half a cup of

milk so it's largely being thick and

creamy by virtue of you adding more

stuff to

it yeah it's better than the original it

is yeah and the the elbows and the sauce

is better than the original so this is

also a

seven next up craft KD from the strange

and exotic land of

Canada it has a lot less like fake stuff

in it there's like eight ingredients and

um it sounds like it's a lot less

horrible for you but at the same time it

is soupy look at how soupy do you see

the soupy do you see the soupy

[Music]

bread how

Dreadful it tastes like the box that

came in oh tastes like cardboard this is

bordering unoffensive it's it's it's I'd

rather eat nothing than the thing so I

think that puts it down to territory

goodbye next up we're moving away from

cheese powders and into cheese sauce

territory craft original Deluxe mac and

cheese and if I remember correctly they

taste worse so let's see what goes down

here you like it I mean oh not as well

okay I'm definitely being way too

dramatic right now it's not like

disgusting but like it is a packet of

movie theater nacho cheese I'm quite

sure I'm not crazy about it I like that

the pasta is ridged it picks up more

sauce but I don't like the sauce so yeah

no I'm inclined to award this four if

these cost more which I assume they do

it's you're wasting your money on

something that that tastes patently

worse than the stuff out of the box so

four

Cheetos mac and cheese got yellow six

isn't that the one that gives you bald

stuff I feel like this is a actually a

good General color to not put in your

body but here we are

Jesus God Almighty it tastes like the

pure powder that is on the Cheetos

liquefied concentrated and just thrown

at your mouth at full speed I almost

want to give it a two but it's novel

it's a three you okay it's a three this

is a three we have two more to go so

it's a three Cheeto jalapeno who wants

someo

sorry it's spicy it's actually spicy

that's fun I appreciate that it's spicy

but it's still insane I couldn't eat

this cup it's too strong I appreciate

that it's spicy I like it better than

the other one but it's still insane so

I'll give it a four I'll give it a four

oh my God it's

electric you know the internet's

responsible for this existence this is

your guys's

fault wow it's actually spicy it's

actually spicy it somehow somehow tastes

better than the other ones did they make

this product just like to be memeable is

this like so ridiculous that it sells

I'll give these a four cuz I like them

better than the original Cheetos best I

do is a four our very first entrant into

the healthy Arena goles cheddy Mac the

noodles are made from wheat flour

chickpea protein wheat protein and

nutrients extracted from broccoli

spinach kale pumpkin sweet potato

sunflower seed cranberry chlorella Mai

mushroom shitake mushroom

let's see what it tastes

like that ain't half bad little Funk to

it but really negligible the texture is

not as good as straight up pasta again

it's a protein pasta but the cheese

sauce was pretty on point the fact that

it gives you all this great stuff and

that it's doesn't taste terrible as a

result is very impressive so I'm going

to give it a

six next up in the goodles Lexicon shell

good

good yeah the sauce tastes great the

sharpness of the cheese sauce really

compensates for the kind of little funky

off flavor with the pasta the texture

still is not quite right this is a seven

it's a seven it's very impressive thank

you goodles this is huge Cracker Barrel

sharp cheddar macaroni and cheese dinner

Cracker Barrel is where you go when

you're on the highway and you're like oh

what should we eat oh we should probably

go to crack ma Barrel again yeah chicken

and dumplings macaroni and cheese fried

apples license plates on the

wall so it doesn't taste anything like

the actual Cracker Barrel mac and cheese

which I've had many many times and the

cheese flavor is just like it's just so

off because of all the preservatives

it's much better than the standard

squeeze cheese mac and cheese I think I

have to award it no better than yet

another a five I'm sorry next up we have

Far and Away the ugliest mac and cheese

it just looks like plain noodles uh it

is also Far and Away the most fibrous in

one serving there is 24 G or 86% of your

daily fiber intake this is to clean out

your

system okay here we

go gnarly it's like sour the pasta is

tender but stiff so like it's not El

Dente the cheese sauce is water and it

tastes awful super impressed by its

stats but it's not pleasant to eat

whatsoever I'm afraid it gets a three

all right muscle

M musle milk 1,00 calories in this box

but there is 20 gram of protein per

serving let's see if it's worth getting

swole over it's cool it's got so much

protein but it is very Bland and the

sauce is really watery yeah I'm not

crazy about it but I don't hate it like

I wouldn't stop eating it right now if I

needed food I'm going to give it five

five is what it gets banza I remember

when this stuff came out and I tried it

and it was bad so let's see if it's any

better oh

what the was that there was something

gelatinous and big I thought it was like

a warm I'm going to really try to not

let that horrifying first experience

color my opinion all I taste is the

chickpea flour the texture of the pasta

is bad uh it's not as healthy as the

goodles and it's not nearly as good uh I

I'll give it a four because it's not

totally horrendous for you to eat wacky

Mac it's got all different kinds of

shapes and that's it it's wacky it's Mac

it's wacky Mac Four shapes one awesome

taste it does have wagon Wheels which

are represented here on my

skin that is wacky the flavor is not

great still eating it but yeah the sauce

is a disappointment it's not watery

there's just not much of it if a classic

craft blue box is a six there's no way

that this is a six so I think the best

that I can possibly give it and it's

mostly getting these points for Whimsy

is a five Nature's promise what is

Nature's promise anyway what what does

it promise US other than Decay and death

I guess that is a promise that it does

keep it's never broken that

promise I would have genuinely guessed

that that was a protein pasta cuz the

texture is so not good and the cheese

sauce is very nondescript again like

there's really little flavor to it I'd

give it a five if it uh I don't know if

any aspect of it was like good but it's

not so I think that puts it in four

territory Market Pantry this is the

ugliest mac and cheese of the day it's

like there's this suggestion of yellow

to it it was yellow at one time or

something let's actually eat it and see

what you know the fuss is all

about God what is that flavor am I just

losing my mind cuz we had too much mac

and cheese it's kind of sweet it's very

sweet yeah I was going to say it's like

sweet hamster food this is bad I don't

like it doesn't hit me like a punch in

the tongue but it's um so so horribly

boring and boring looking dear God I

feel I feel like when we get down the

three that's when we like I'm angry at

it it's so ugly though it's a three it's

a three it's disgusting looking whoa

okay what does that smell like it smells

insane but also it is insane because

what we have here is Guinness mac and

[Music]

cheese

wait

who here we

go what

the that is that is as sour as a Sour

Patch Kid I you not that is the

most sour tart thing what am I eating

here this is insane today has been the

most absurd flavors I've ever

experienced as a human being like I like

it kind of but it's also weirding me out

the pasta is like great the I haven't

mentioned actual flavors and stuff in a

while the pasta is really fantastic

that's the cheese sauce that's

absolutely insane it's so weird but it's

also kind of good but it's also terrible

but it's also kind of good it's also

pretty gross that's a five if I ever

heard one cabbins classic yellow cheddar

shells and cheese

that's it is also uncharacteristically

like tart I'm eating a bunch of it but

it's also CU I've had a whiskey and I'm

a little hungry G sauce is fine it

tastes more like natural more like

cheese than your craft blue box but I do

like shells six I think we got a six on

our hands okay folks this is my favorite

cheese okay cabat pepperjack is my

favorite cheese okay and I'm not just

trying to get a sponsorship even though

I totally am C it hit me up I'm a bigan

anyer products even though I just gave

you bad ratings for the other ones just

pretend that didn't happen so if this

isn't awesome frankly I quit YouTube

Forever it's a reasonable thing to do I

it you did I did I did severely

undercooked I did it put the same the

other one pasta D this aside it

is fine it's not as spicy as I would

like it to be there's like a barely

detectable tickle of a whisper of a

mention of a hint of spice and it's just

not

enough man what a disappointment

honestly it's not spicy enough and it's

too sharp five at best and that's cuz

I'm being

nice this is my nice

face diaa deliciously dairyfree Dia this

is a squeeze

cheese that is

objectionable it a bitter aftertaste it

was bad enough to begin it's like

nutritional yeast and mustard and

cardboard and then it ends on a bitter

note just to say you vegan life is hard

enough you don't need to also have this

going on that's a hell of a combination

dairyfree and gluten-free like woof that

you made a product at all is frankly

fascinating that earns it a three even

if I were gluten-free and dairy free I

would not opt for this it's a three

great value mac and cheese this is

Walmart's in store brand if I am not

mistaken whoa that sucks I was fully

expecting this to be a perfect blue box

competitor that's awful the texture of

the pasta is okay but there's just no

flavor it's not enough sauce if craft

blue box is a six I guess this is a true

five because it's like it's just food

yeah it's not very good it's five Great

Value thick and creamy this is the

thicker creamier cousin to the Great

Value classic

whatever it's thicker and it is creamier

but it tastes the same just thicker so

that's an improvement but not much the

image on the box is straight up

disgusting it looks so

gross have you seen this it looks like

like coagulated like they overcooked it

or

something I don't know what to do with

it I really don't know what to do with

it cuz I still don't like it it doesn't

deserve a six if anything wants me you

know what I'm revising Great Value

original goes down to a four this holds

strong at a five I hate to revise I'm

very sorry but this isn't good enough to

Warrant a six it's simply not

five just one great value macaroni and

cheese original Teenage mutant ninja

turtles mutant Mayhem Edition I can't

make out a single shape at all

presumably there're supposed to be

Teenage Mutant Ninja

turs I mean I've all my life I've said

shape makes a difference in the way

pasta tastes I just I I I believe that

I'm having so much more fun right now

I'm having so much fun right now it's

thanks and no small part to the shapes

but also I don't know if the sauce is

thicker or if the shapes all the holes

in the shapes capture more of it but

it's more evenly Sauced sauce isn't as

good as craft blue box but the shapes

are better which I think Nets it out to

an even six it's a six it's great values

version of the deluxe mac and cheese

dinner which comes with a squeeze cheese

packet I do not have high hopes for

this o wow that garbage it is all the

preservative Laden flavors of

prepackaged squeezed cheese sauce plus

an element of cardboard and a bitterness

about it this undoubtedly gets a three

if anything no I'm so offended by it I'm

I'm going to give it a two I'm going to

give it a two it's horrible

horrible macaroni and cheese tasting day

two I gave up I everything started

tasting the same the room started

spinning I decided to call it I felt

like my pette was starting to just like

dissolve and everything just tasted

insane and uh and I had had a whiskey or

two so we're going to get started with

vita Vita shells and cheese one of my

very least favorite mac and cheese is

growing up let's see if my opinion has

changed yeah Kendall undercook these by

2 minutes and they're still overcooked

and the cheese sauce is gnarly it's uh

it's just that nacho cheese fake cheese

squeeze cheese flavor I would give this

a five but I don't want it like I'm

hungry right now it's my first mac and

cheese of the day and I do not want any

more of it probably just a four Vita

shells and cheese with broccoli now I

love Vita when you add you know rotell

chilies to it and you make some easy

queso so maybe broccoli will save this

God aul

sauce yeah not doing any favors um not

even enough to earn it an extra point it

doesn't even look like there's broccoli

in there you have to like look for it

staying at a four sorry not doing enough

for me Vita shells and cheese mini will

a different shape change it probably

not yeah it's the same it feels like

there's more sauce so it's just stronger

it's the exact same thing though so for

for

gain Vita shells and cheese with bacon

courtesy of Oscar May hair I think this

is the only one that has a chance of me

giving it a higher score because I

really don't like the sauce and I think

bacon could actually make it a lot more

bearable we's see what

happens now it only tastes like bacon

but not very good bacon like it's it is

an improvement I have to concede even

though I still don't like it it's an

improvement so that's going to bump it

up to a five 365 Whole Foods owned brand

the coastal Elite mac and cheese if you

will it's almost exactly the same as

blue box but slightly worse less sauce

and the sauce has a very slightly like

bitter quality to it it's blue box but

it's worse and presumably more exp

probably what twice if not three times

the price coming from Whole Foods it's a

four it's four it's not good

HB a distinctly Texan brand made with

pride and care for HB in San Antonio

Texas it's undercooked it is it is we're

not going to hold that against then I

will say I really like the sauce it is

the least Tangy of the sauces that we've

had thus far I don't think they put as

much citric acid in there to sort of

emulate like a sharp cheese it's very

round and sweet soft like blue bux it

doesn't really tastes like cheese it

just tastes like you know what box mac

and cheese tastes like which is good I

think I will give it the same score of

six I like this you know what no I'm

giving this a seven I like it I like it

too much to give it a six ladies and

gentlemen we have entered the Annie mac

and cheese extended Universe my

preferred brand growing up it cost a

little more so it it drew the IR of my

parents who were the ones spending the

money I loved their gels and white

cheddar so much that I just cried until

they gave it to me just same as I do

today how do you think we get anything

done around here it tastes like blue box

but there's less sauce there less flavor

the noodles are also in inconsistently

cooked some are L Dente some are

straight up mushy uh I don't hate it

enough where I would give it a four but

I there's no way it deserves better than

a five off to a uh pretty so so start

there thank you ooh I know oh

boy uhhuh yeah see that's what we're

dealing with here folks need I say more

any sh shells in real AG cheddar there's

a there's a there is a cardboard element

to it it's uh it's too watery um it's

got the little pockets of powder but it

is a very nice nostalgic flavor I think

I think I got to go five on this um cuz

if blue boxes a six this is absolutely a

step down Annie's super Mac this is

their protein and fiber infused macaroni

and cheese uh let's see how it

performs this is like almost

indistinguishable from the regular

that's really cool so you know what that

I mean that gets it an extra point

because it's just it's almost the same

but it's better for you so that's going

to be a seven am I

insane am I

insane yes it's seven somebody call Fat

Boy Slim because I just found my weapon

of choice

I'm old this is my favorite mac and

cheese from childhood this is the one

that I cried and cried and cried until

they would buy for

me and I love it I do love it my

Nostalgia is definitely doing cartwheels

in my prefrontal cortex probably I can't

stop that unfortunately that's just the

reality of the situation so these are

going to tie with

craft version of white shattering shells

uh we which is an eight this is um one

of the higher expressions of good that

can come from a box what do we got here

this one is spirals with butter and

Parmesan

huh it is quite buttery and as a result

the parmesan flavor is really nice and

muted I was expecting almost like more

of a catcho Pepe VI in

fact it's like a cheaters KET Pepe

it's pretty good wow how about that I'm

hesitant to go crazy but I kind of want

to give it a nine I really enjoy this

one the sauce is not watery it's

clinging nicely to the noodles this is a

winner this is a allaround winter in

terms of box mac and cheese this is this

is a nine I I love it I love

it still going to hit it oh next up

Annie's organic shells and alfredo

cheddar what and and there's the the

there little bits of Herb in there it's

basil none of this makes sense it's a

weird syntax right yeah maybe it's

amazing dried basil taste like fish food

to M it's it's got this very off-putting

stale flavor to it it's a five I'd say

this is a five cuz like it's interesting

it's different but I don't like it this

is definitely a five Annie's pen and

four cheese this is a different entry

into the world of mac and cheese hen

huh the sauce tastes like some familiar

snack food it tastes like goldfish white

Parn gold or white cheddar goldfish yes

it tastes like the dusty goldfish

fascinating though that is I I can't say

as though I really like it despite