My 4-year-old and I tried boxed mac and cheese from Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Wegmans to find the best one

My daughter and I tried boxed mac and cheese from grocery stores like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Wegmans to find the best option for our family.

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Feb 13, 2025 - 09:50
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My 4-year-old and I tried boxed mac and cheese from Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Wegmans to find the best one
Boxes of store-brand mac and cheese from Wegmans, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods lying on a cutting board.
We tried to find the best boxed mac and cheese to buy at the grocery store.

Ted Berg

  • My 4-year-old daughter and I tried boxed mac and cheese from Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Wegmans.
  • Overall, they were all incredibly similar, and I'd buy any of them again.
  • However, the version from Trader Joe's was my personal favorite.

Like a lot of busy parents, I keep at least one box of mac and cheese in my cupboard at all times. It's inexpensive, easy to prepare, and something my kids will reliably eat.

However, practically every supermarket chain offers its own house-brand mac and cheese, so I was curious to see which one was best.

So, I grabbed boxes from Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Wegmans and tasted them with my 4-year-old daughter. Here's what we thought of each one.

The Trader Joe's mac and cheese was my favorite.
A box of Trader Joe's cheddar mac and cheese next to a bowl of the cooked product.
The sauce on Trader Joe's cheddar mac and cheese was nice and creamy.

Ted Berg

At first taste, my favorite was the Trader Joe's version. To me, it looked like it had the richest orange hue of the three brands and the creamiest, meltiest texture to the cheese sauce.

I thought it tasted like it had a hint more salt than the others, bringing out more of the cheese flavor.

My daughter preferred Wegmans' mac and cheese over the other two we tried.
A box of Wegmans cheddar mac and cheese next to a bowl of the cooked product.
The Wegmans mac and cheese had a buttery taste.

Ted Berg

My daughter liked the Wegmans version best, but personally, it was my second favorite.

The cheese powder didn't seem to dissolve as evenly in the Wegmans pasta as it did in the other two, which actually made it feel a little more like real cheese.

To me, it had a mellow, buttery taste that was a little less assertive than the Trader Joe's version.

The 365 by Whole Foods version was pretty good, too.
A box of 365 Whole Foods mac and cheese next to a bowl of the cooked product.
The 365 by Whole Foods mac and cheese called for less butter and milk.

Ted Berg

Although neither of us chose the 365 by Whole Foods mac and cheese as our favorite, it wasn't bad.

However, the Wegmans and Trader Joe's recipes called for the same amount of butter and milk, while this version called for less of both.

That said, it was similar enough to the other two that it felt reasonable to wonder if the only difference was how it was prepared.

I thought it had a milky flavor, was a touch less cheesy than the other two, and had the smoothest sauce.

Overall, I'd buy all of these again.
Three bowls of mac and cheese in front of boxes from Wegmans, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods.
We enjoyed all of the mac and cheese we tried.

Ted Berg

After tasting all the boxes of mac and cheese, my daughter and I conducted blind taste tests to see if we could correctly identify which was which. However, neither of us could identify them with any sort of consistency.

They were all incredibly similar and perfectly suitable for my boxed mac and cheese needs. Truthfully, I'd buy any of them again.

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