The Frozen Mac And Cheese Brand You Should Leave Out Of Your Cart

It's hard to come up with any meal tastier and more comforting than good old-fashioned, simple macaroni and cheese. You can't go wrong with starchy, carby noodles and ooey, gooey, buttery cheese. While there are plenty of great recipes for decadent mac-and-cheese dishes, sometimes, you need that delicious dish in a hurry, and that's where store-bought frozen brands come in. A frozen macaroni and cheese could be your dinnertime hero — but, it could also ruin everyone's meal if it's subpar. That's why Tasting Table ranked 13 frozen macaroni and cheese brands. We wanted to find the best of the best, the purchases you can rely on for instant mac-and-cheese goodness, but we also wanted to save you from the worst. We can now confirm we've found that "worst," and it's Lean Cuisine.

We appreciate that Lean Cuisine aims to take a healthier approach with its mac and cheese. Its offering has 280 calories and no added sugar, and does provide some protein and calcium. But that's where the benefits end. Both the flavor and the texture are lacking in Lean Cuisine. The noodles somehow come out both rubbery and mushy — if they don't just fall apart, you'll get too much bendy chew in each bite. Then there's the flavor. You'd expect some sharpness from the Vermont White Cheddar variety, some tang, and some nuttiness balancing buttery richness – but this thin cheese sauce is just bland. Plus, there's not a hint of seasoning.

Target customers who bought Lean Cuisine's Vermont White Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese, an edition with a "protein kick," spell out their disappointment in their reviews. They say it's mushy and bland and even call it "yucky," "nasty," and "gross." In addition to not finding any flavor, these buyers seem disappointed in the soggy noodles. Meanwhile, on Amazon, the consensus seems to be the same. Shoppers bemoan the lack of taste, the thin sauce, and the noodles that seem overcooked. Some even found the sauce to have a gritty or chalky consistency.

While some consumers point out Lean Cuisine's frozen mac and cheese isn't terrible for the low-calorie count and low price — $3.89 at Target in New York and $3.47 at Walmart — others argue that standard noodle consistency and some flavor aren't too much to ask for, and that's the side we fall on. Just look at the brands we ranked at the top of our list. Beecher's, Kidfresh, and Devour nail a combo of chewy, starchy noodles and creamy cheeses with tangy-sharp, nutty-sweet, buttery flavors. Beecher's even kicks things up a notch with chipotle, garlic, and chili powder. If you do have some Lean Cuisine left in your freezer, by the way, that's the secret to improving it: Add mix-ins to your mac and cheese, whether it's garlic, broccoli, chicken, or hot sauce.