Scott & Jon’s makes a whole line of frozen meals containing rich, juicy shrimp. However, they also dabble in non-shrimp-filled foods, and we’ve been meaning to check out one of their shrimp-less dishes for quite some time now. Well, today is the day, dear readers. Today we’re checking out the Scott & Jon’s Cheddar Mac & Cheese with Broccoli, which contains not a single shred of shrimp.
We were super excited to get this mac and cheese onto our forks, and thankfully, Scott & Jon’s didn’t make us wait long. To cook this, all you need to do is cut a slit in the film and microwave it for three and a half minutes. It’s so fast and so easy! (If you want to read the cooking instructions straight off the box, check out the package scans at the bottom of this review.)
Despite not having any shrimp (which is pretty potent in the odor department), this came out of the microwave with a strong smell. Believe it or not, that scent was from the cheese sauce rather than the broccoli. We would have expected the broccoli scent to overpower the dish, but it doesn’t here.
So how does that broccoli taste? Well, it’s pretty good, actually. It doesn’t have a strong flavor, like some broccoli, but it does taste somewhat fresh. It also has a nice crunch to it — this broccoli is pretty much the perfect fit for a macaroni bowl.
The pasta here is spiral-shaped rather than our true macaroni favorite, the almighty shell. Still, spirals ain’t a bad substitute; they can be pretty fun! Here, they work out just fine. We have no complaints about the pasta.
However, we do have some complaints about the cheese sauce. While it tastes pretty decent, with a creamy, cheddary flavor, it’s also super watery. This watery consistency gives the whole dish a somewhat soup-like quality, which doesn’t work well with the mac and cheese vibe. It’s also kind of grainy. Now, we’ve had some issues with gravelly sauce in past Scott & Jon’s bowls, so this isn’t something new for the brand. Still, it’s not appealing, and we’re not sure what causes this to happen.
We should point out, however, that our issues with the sauce are purely about texture and consistency. The flavor is still pretty good.
The Scott & Jon’s brand is very good about keeping their calorie counts low, and this meal is no exception. With just 290 calories, this is a bowl of mac that won’t bust a diet. It does contain 750 mg of sodium, however, which is just a touch higher than average for a frozen meal.
The Scott & Jon’s Cheddar Mac & Cheese with Broccoli is an almost-perfect bowl of macaroni with one glaring flaw: the watery, gravelly sauce. If this one flaw could be addressed, we could see this becoming one of our favorite frozen macaroni dishes. As is, we still think there’s a lot to enjoy here, but all of that comes with the sauce caveat.
Please, food creators at Scott & Jon’s, take a second look at this. You were so close to greatness here that it’s a shame to see you fall short. This meal has so much potential; don’t let that go to waste!
To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for this frozen mac and cheese, check out our package scans below.
