I'm all for fast, convenient lunches.  Especially hot, delicious ones.  But today I tried one that was definitely not delicious.  In fact, I would call it "barely edible".  I'm talking about Kraft Easy Mac Cups in the Alfredo flavor.  In general, I like Kraft products, including their Easy Mac line - where you place contents into your own bowl, add water, and microwave.  But, somehow, this product, which comes in its own bowl so you only have to add water, just doesn't do it for me.  At least not in this flavor; but I haven't tried any other flavor to compare.

I will give credit for this product being easy to prepare.  The bowl comes with macaroni inside, and a cheese powder packet.  Remove the packet, then add water to the fill-line and microwave for 3 1/2 minutes.  The fill-line was very well marked - even my 40+ eyes could see it, with no problem.  The bowl is quite a bit taller than the fill-line, but that turns out to be a good thing.  I watched as the water boiled and came very close to spilling over - but never doing so.  Take it out, add the cheese powder, and stir.  That's it.  The sauce is supposed to thicken upon standing, and I suppose it did, to some extent, but not enough for my taste.

After letting the product stand for a couple minutes, I gave it a try. And boy was I disappointed. The macaroni was a bit chewy, and the sauce a bit runny.  Not a good combination at all!  Furthermore, the flavor was very bland.  If you didn't tell me this was supposed to be "Alfredo" I'd never have known.

The finished product turns out to be about one cup of food, which is not enough for an adult lunch, that's for sure.  But for a kid's lunch or quick snack, it's not a bad size.  The product contains 220 calories, 4.5g of fat, 1g of fiber, and 590mg of sodium. 

Sold in bulk, or costing less than a dollar each at my local supermarket, it's certainly a cheap enough product.  But for me, taste is very important, and this product completely fails on that level.  Add to that, the fact that it's fairly high in calories, and you can bet I won't be buying this product again.


Kraft Easy Mac Cups - Cheesy Pizza Flavor

Kraft Easy Mac Cups - Original Flavor

Kraft Easy Mac Cups - Triple Cheese Flavor




Happy to be Lean-n-Mean!

Recommended: No