Here at Freezer Meal Frenzy, we really love a gimmicky mac and cheese. The Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese by Devour is one of our all-time favorites, and we also really love Evol’s Truffle Parmesan Mac and Cheese. But sometimes, a plan ol’ mac and cheese is exactly what you’re craving, and that’s why Dan’s Gourmet has the Plan Jane Macaroni and Cheese in their lineup.
Now, we have to come clean here. This isn’t exactly a plain plain mac and cheese, like Amy’s Macaroni and Cheese or the Lean Cuisine Favorites Macaroni and Cheese. It’s more than just a yellow cheddar cheese sauce and noodles. This has a four-cheese blend — aged cheddar, gouda, asiago, and fontina — and it’s coated in Panko bread crumbs. So, while the box proclaims “Plain Jane,” this is anything but — it’s a gourmet-level macaroni dish from one of the masters of frozen gourmet mac and cheese.
The four-cheese blend is delicious. Don’t expect this to be a kids’ meal, because the cheese sauce has a sharp, aged flavor that will have your kids running for the door. This was clearly designed to appeal to adults rather than the little ones.
We love the pasta here. These noodles are the classic shell shape, but they’re actually much bigger than the traditional shells. Since the cheese sauce is nice and thick, the shape and size really help scoop up massive amounts of cheese with each shell. Even so, you’ll be scraping the bottom of the bowl long after the noodles are gone to get another taste of that delicious cheese blend.
Now, one thing you should be aware of is that one bowl of this is considered two serving sizes, even though there’s no simple way for a single person to split it into two. We suppose you could eat half and wrap the bowl in some sort of clingwrap and toss it into the fridge. But it’s too hard to stop eating for that to be a realistic option.
And that means one box of this has 440 calories and 640 mg of sodium. That’s not too bad, all things considered, but it’s double what’s listed on the box.
Dan’s Gourmet Plain Jan Macaroni and Cheese is an excellent mac and cheese for adults. We can’t imagine children enjoying this, but grown-ups will go wild for its sophisticated flavor.
If you’re curious about the nutrition info or ingredients in this frozen macaroni dish, check out our package scan below.
