While none of the Freezer Meal Frenzy staffers are gluten intolerant, we’re not opposed to eating gluten-free meals from time to time. Sometimes, these meals really impress us. When we saw the new Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Mac & Cheese, we were eager to heat it up and dig in.
We were a little nervous when this meal came out of our microwave. The pasta looked fine, but the sauce looked thin and watery. Thankfully, after a few minutes — and some vigorous stirring — it thickened up nicely. By the time we were ready to eat, it looked like a homemade bechamel sauce.
Like many of the gluten-free pasta dishes we’ve tried, the texture of the rotini noodles is a bit off. The pasta has a slightly hard, al-dente like texture, but it’s also a little bit chewy. While we would have preferred a more standard pasta, these texture issues are pretty minor, and they weren’t enough to put us off of the dish.
Any problems with the pasta are more than made up for by the cheese sauce. This is an incredible blend of cheeses. The cheddar cheese gives it that classic mac-and-cheese flavor, but the Havarti cheese makes the sauce feel rich and decadent. We savored every cheesy bite, and we couldn’t help but feel sad when we scraped the last of the cheese out of the side of the container.
Of course, all that cheesy goodness comes at a price. This meal is a calorie monster; there are 600 calories per container. While Trader Joe’s says that there are two servings per container, we can’t imagine anyone splitting this dish up. Half a dish is itty bitty; this is clearly designed to be a meal for one.
Because of the high calorie count, this isn’t something that we’d eat every day. That said, this is more than tasty enough to be a rare treat. If you’ve given up gluten, and you miss meals like mac & cheese, Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Mac & Cheese could easily become a guilty pleasure.
To learn more about the nutrition content or ingredients in this Trader Joe’s macaroni dish, check out our package scan below.
