Macaroni and Cheese – Comparison

I’m pretty sure that most of you have eaten Kraft Dinner for days on end in your younger days. It’s probably one of the most iconic, easiest dishes that everyone’s learned when they first start cooking, but now there’s more packaged variations of this cheesy, creamy dish.

And guess what? Irresistables made a gluten-free version of macaroni and cheese!

Like I mentioned earlier here, if you seriously suspect that you’re gluten-intolerant, you may want to consider going to a doctor’s to get it professionally checked out.

But, if you’re like me and you’re curious about gluten-free pasta products, this one’s interesting since it’s actually two products in one!

The first thing I noticed about Irresistables’ gluten-free Macaroni & Cheese is that it’s much smaller at 168g per box compared to KD’s 225g.

The second thing I noticed was that the gluten-free version seems to have 0.5g of fat more than KD for the same serving size (56g) when their ingredients are virtually the same in respect to fat content. In fact, KD lists butter and actual cheese in their ingredient deck!

But, then I noticed something about their instructions…

KD lists their official cooking instructions as using 1 tbsp (15mL) of margarine and 1/3 cup (75mL) of skim milk and THEN writes their “classic cheese sauce” with 3 tbsp (45mL) of butter or margarine and 1/4 cup (50mL) of regular milk.

Irresistables just lists 1/4 cup (50mL) of skim milk and only 1 tbsp (15mL) of butter.

It looks like KD’s nutrition facts table was based off the recipe using margarine and skim milk! I should use that version!

HA HA HA

1/4 cup of 2% milk for each, 1tbsp of butter for Irresistables and 3 TBSP OF BUTTER for KD.

By following instructions for each package down to the minute, it’s easier to make comparisons since it’s technically supposed to reflect what the manufacturers actual product.

Details like cooking different products on the same size burner to get even heat distribution helps to make better comparisons, too!

In other words, if you make a crappy KD from the box, you have only yourself to blame. Or the other ingredients like milk and butter. But how often do they mess up when you keep them in the fridge?

Once, I was helping test a few different macaroni and cheese products and one particular brand (who shall remain nameless but comes in a bright yellow box) carried pink powdered cheese sauce. Yeah, pink. It turned yellow after mixing it in with margarine and milk, but… pink cheese?

Thankfully, neither KD or Irresistables had pink cheese powder and both came out looking rather tasty.

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Kraft Dinner

Appearance – 3.5/5

The noodles are straight, thin and about 2cm long with only a few breaks from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Their lengths are a little uneven, but it’s so few that it’s barely noticeable except to critics like me.

The cheese sauce turns a deep yellowy-orange hue and very evenly coats every single noodle’s surface after you mix it up. What results is a shiny, polished look to the dish.

But, the sauce gets fully absorbed by the pasta noodles, so it does congeal and looks a bit dry after a few minutes.

Aroma – 4/5

I was actually really surprised that KD has such a pleasant smell. I could actually smell the butter, the dairy notes and the distinctive but faint cheddar cheese right off the bat!

After a few sniffs, I could start to pick up a strange note that I associate with artificial cheese like with Cheetos and Doritos.

Taste – 4/5

Yes, I’m being generous with my grading this time. It will never hold up against a real macaroni and cheese casserole with real bechamel sauce with real cheddar cheese, gouda and a bit of mozzarella grated in.

But, damn it, there’s something about KD’s flavour balance between sweetness, buttery-ness, saltiness and cheesiness that’s kept it at the top of the macaroni and cheese mountain.

Texture – 3.5/5

At 7 minutes of cooking in boiling water, the noodles were chewy, tender, smooth and nicely al dente. Whoever does their pasta does it extremely well.

The sauce was smooth and had a very good mouthfeel because of the sheer amount of butter I added in, but there wasn’t any kind of cheesy or gooey texture and it got thin after a little while.

Overall – 15/20

The pasta’s smooth and perfectly al dente after 7 minutes of cooking and the sauce tastes exactly what it advertises (powdered cheddar cheese with buttery and silky mouthfeel), but you’re left wanting some more sauce and some actual cheesy textures to it.

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Irresistables Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese

Appearance – 3.5/5

Instead of straight noodles, Irresistables used traditional, small elbow macaroni instead. The shape makes it look more solid and pasta-like instead of looking like bits of noodly appendages.

The sauce doesn’t quite stick as well as KD, which led to some uneven coverage around each macaroni. The thing put me off a bit was how the sauce had a slight fluorescent tint to its orange hue. That’s just not appetizing!

Aroma – 3/5

This macaroni and cheese did have some cheesy, buttery notes in it, but it wasn’t as strong as KD’s. Especially the butter notes. But, it only had a third of the added butter, so…

Taste – 4/5

Like the aroma, the overall flavours were milder but it still wasn’t as sweet as KD. It was actually a bit saltier in terms of balance, but that made it taste cheesier and way more savoury.

Texture – 3.5/5

First of all, the instructions on the side say 6 minutes. It takes at least 8 minutes to cook, trust me! But, rice flour pasta does tend to be a little gritty when al dente and it turns into a goopy mess if you overcook it. Luckily, I managed to strain it before it started turning into mush.

Aside from the slight grittiness, the pasta was soft and chewy just like wheat pasta and it didn’t dissolve at all once I started to chew on it. The sauce was also a bit thicker than KD with a slightly cheesier mouthfeel, but it didn’t stick to the pasta and still lacked a real cheesy texture!

Overall – 14/20

It’s a very tasty product that almost makes you believe that it’s not something gluten-free. The cheese sauce tastes cheesier than Kraft Dinner, but its bright orange colour makes it look more artificial than it should.

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Kraft Dinner. It’s a Canadian thing. Everyone has their own version of this comfort food here. What’s yours?

Many thanks to Ann for the suggestion!

B.elle

Bella Tavola – Cheese Tortellini

I’ve made agnolotti (something like ravioli) from scratch before, so I can understand how hard it is to make perfect pasta that won’t toughen up in the machinery.

Not to mention, Bella Tavola had to figure out how to fill it, fold it, seal it and package the pasta without having the dough gum up on them or the tortellini exploding on them at any time.

On the back, they list 1 cup servings of pasta per person, which is 2 servings of grains according to Canada’s Food Guide. I know there’s cheese in there, but I’m a little hesitant to guess how many servings of dairy are in 1 cup. I’m going to say that there’s probably less than 1 serving (50g) of dairy per 1 cup.

If you’re like me and have 1 cup of pasta, it’s a decent lunch portion if you have it with some sauce and a green salad or with some vegetables inside the pasta dish.

I used about 2 tsp of salt for 1 liter of water for my pasta and it came out salty enough for me. But, I’ve been told that I’m very sensitive to salt and bitter tastes!

On the back of the package, it says the cooking time is 5-7 minutes. I thought it was 7 minutes…?

I cooked my pasta for just over 6 minutes since I knew I was going to cook them in a bit of sauce afterwards and here’s what they looked like naked.

While I was waiting for the water to boil, I prepped a clove of garlic and fresh curly parsley to add some flavour to my lunch.

After I cooked the pasta, I lightly sauteed the garlic…

… Added in some homemade tomato sauce…

… Tossed in the strained tortellini…

… Added in the parsley and mixed it up until everything warmed through!

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My judgement here is based off of the naked pasta without any sauce and keeping in mind that the pasta was slightly undercooked.

Appearance – 4/5

The pasta looked smooth, pale yellow and fresh for being a frozen product. The shell shape looked very cute with the crimped edges and showed off the slightly transparent pillow of ricotta in the middle.

The stuffing was pretty much gray. It was very underwhelming to look at.

The package showed flecks of herbs on the pasta, but the surface of the pasta was uniformly yellow. Although it’s inconsistent, I think I would mind it more if the pasta HAD herb flecks in it!

Aroma – 2.5/5

There wasn’t any aroma before or after cooking, so I simply gave it a neutral grading.

Taste – 4/5

The pasta had very little taste on its own, but it did have a mild egg flavour that can be difficult to retain after freezing.

The cheese filling actually tasted like ricotta! And, there was a nice kick of black pepper inside that helped boost the ricotta flavour.

But, I felt that there was too much pasta for the amount of filling. Again, I realize it’s very tough to actually accomplish that from a manufacturer’s point of view, but I strive for perfection, darn it!

Texture – 3.5/5

The pasta was already almost al dente after 6 minutes, which was chewy and very good already.

Although the filling was smooth, it ended up being pretty dry to the palate. It wasn’t terribly dry or unidentifiable like some filled processed pastas, but it wasn’t as moist and tender as I’d like it.

Overall – 14/20

It says 5-7 minutes on the back, which can be misleading to some consumers who may be rushing to get a meal on the table. They look very pretty and a perfect size for smaller mouths, but the filling tastes a bit dry and not enough for the amount of dough around it.

But, use this tortellini with fresh ingredients and a rich tomato sauce to brighten up the dish.

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I still have most of the pasta in the freezer, so I’ll definitely try this again with some creamy sauce instead!

B.elle