For many of us, mac and cheese is one of those dishes that we remember fondly from childhood, and we indulge in every now and then to bring us back to the good old days. But for anyone avoiding gluten, mac and cheese is mostly off the table. Mostly.
Amy’s Kitchen’s Gluten Free Rice Mac & Cheese gets around the gluten problem by using rice noodles for its pasta. Since we love mac and cheese here at Freezer Meal Frenzy, we were pretty curious to see how this stacks up against a more traditional mac and cheese dish.
As you can see in the image below, this can get a little messy in the microwave. The cheese is relentless about getting everywhere, so if you take this completely out of the wrap before you cook it (which you’re instructed not to do), you might have to scrub your microwave afterward. So you’ll definitely want to keep this in the wrap until it’s done cooking.
The real star of this show, of course, is the pasta, which has the potential to make or break this dish. We found it to be quite good. It’s not as solid as a real pasta — instead it has a melt-in-your-mouth quality to it, which we actually found to be appealing. While you’re not likely to think this is a real pasta, the substitution is pretty seamless.
The cheese is cheddar, though it has a very Velveeta-ish taste and consistency. It’s thick and creamy and is smooth rather than sharp. It’s not the sort of cheese we’re used to in adult macaroni dishes, but it’s still pretty darn good.
This is a little higher in calories than many of Amy’s lighter dishes, containing 410 calories (160 from fat). It’s also got 690 mg of sodium, which isn’t super high for a frozen meal, but it’s still a pretty heavy dose of sodium. You might want to keep your eye on this.
Even with its gluten-free focus, Amy’s Gluten Free Rice Mac & Cheese is one of the better macaroni dishes we’ve tried. If you’re worried that Amy’s had to sacrifice quality t keep this free of gluten, you can rest easy. This is a high-quality macaroni dish that even gluten lovers can enjoy.
To learn more about the nutrition and ingredients in this gluten free mac and cheese dish, check out our package scans below.
