GF Boxed Mac ‘n Cheese
Favorite Boxed Macaroni & Cheese Options
In my last article, I gave you our families favorite homemade version of Gluten Free Mac ‘n Cheese. I want you to know that it is not a frequent visitor to our dining table! Mainly because it is not a recipe for the quick cooking needs of our fast paced days. Most of the time, when hard pressed to get “something” on the table, I turn to the little yellow box… Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Rice Pasta & Cheddar. I then dress up the cheesy pasta with something nutritious along side, such as a salad or side veggie. Or, there are the times when I choose to use it as the starchy side along with a roast, grilled chicken or, totally kid friendly, with hot dogs. I am not sure if you have found a replacement yet for that little yellow box containing all of your childhood memories. If not, here are a few that we highly recommend:
- Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Rice Pasta & Cheddar – four stars in our book. Plus, it helps that our favorite grocery store has lots of this cheesy pasta at a really great Gluten Free price! Usually found near the GF pastas at your local Trader Joe’s for around $1.99 a box.
- Pastariso Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese Boxed Dinners from Maplegrove Foods – Hands down, this is our favorite. The “white cheddar” variety is the best and it always cooks up consistently well. We get rave reviews from every guest at our table when we serve cheesy pasta from Maplegrove Foods. The down side is that it has become harder to find and a little pricey. Our local Woodman’s stocks some of their products for around $2.69 a box.
- Annie’s Homegrown Gluten-Free Rice Pasta & Cheddar Mac & Cheese – This one is usually easy to find in the gluten free section of most grocery stores. Annie’s too makes a good, consistent product. We also like that the proportion of pasta to cheese sauce is very well balanced. They tend to be a little pricey (around $2.99 a box) but probably is the easiest to find!
While only one of these products come in the beloved little yellow box… we have found that any of these are really great additions to our lunches or dinners. Kid’s and kid’s at heart can still enjoy this “made at home, out of a box” favorite! Plus, there is help for gluten free mom’s everywhere trying to put something fun on the table that everyone can enjoy. One of the reasons I tried just about any box of GF Mac ‘n Cheese that I could find had to do with play-dates for my oldest child. I so desperately wanted to offer something familiar to the kids who venture to play and stay for lunch. I started searching for a brand of cheesy pasta that would match what kids eating traditional diets are used to. One child in particular specifically requests playing at our house for the boxed Mac ‘n Cheese I serve. This friend loves our families “choice” in cheesy pasta from a box so much that I was requested to tell the mom where to go to get it!
If you find that your local stores do not carry a box of cheesy pasta that you like, hopefully you can check out one of the products I mentioned above. Trouble finding any to try? Check out Amazon.com! The links I provided for all but the Trader Joe’s product are from Amazon.
Do you have a favorite Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese from a box? If so, share it with us! We would love to discover something new with you.
