Chef’s Cupboard Hot Honey Mac & Cheese

A couple members of my household like spicy foods, with some of us having more tolerance for heat than others. My oldest child loves Takis and hot Cheetos and adds jarred jalapeno peppers to all sorts of foods, from nachos to macaroni and cheese. My youngest child and my husband don’t care as much for spicy food. I fall somewhere in between. I like Thai food, and I like the kung pao tempura cauliflower Trader Joe’s sells, but I’m not a fan of Takis.

When some hot honey macaroni and cheese showed up as a limited-time special in the middle aisle at Aldi this week, I picked up a box for the family to try. The box states “fire up your tastebuds,” and it has an image of two hot peppers, indicating it’s spicy. The ingredients list states this contains chili and cayenne peppers.

Chef’s Cupboard Hot Honey Mac & Cheese is an Aldi Find, which means it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store should get one shipment, and after that sells out, it’s gone unless Aldi decides to bring it back later. Aldi does not offer online ordering for this if it’s out of stock at your local store.

I bought this myself and paid $1.79 for a 12-ounce box in 2025. That’s about 15 cents per ounce.

This is sold under the Chef’s Cupboard brand, which is not a company. Instead, it’s an Aldi private label that focuses pantry staples such as canned soups, onion soup mix, and stuffing mix.

If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains wheat and milk.

This has a lengthy ingredients list with its share of processed ingredients. It also has plenty of sodium and carbs. One box contains about three 4-ounce servings. One serving has 370 calories, 12 grams of total fat (15% DV), 3 grams of saturated fat (15% DV), 890 mg of sodium (39% DV), 55 grams of total carbohydrates (20% DV), 1 gram of dietary fiber (4% DV), 7 grams of total sugars, 2 grams of added sugars (4% DV), and 12 grams of protein.

The box has directions for cooking this on the stovetop. In a large saucepan, bring 8 cups of water to a boil (I used about half that amount of water and it was fine). Add pasta. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until tender. Drain; do not rinse. Add cheese sauce and stir until creamy. Refrigerate any leftovers promptly.

As I was stirring the cheese sauce into the pasta, I noticed a slight sweet scent from the honey powder the sauce contains. As for flavor, this is definitely spicy. I’d say it’s firmly in the medium or higher spicy range, and it’s close to the upper end of what I will eat. In terms of sweetness, it’s not overly sweet, but there are noticeable, subtle sweet notes.

My oldest child and I both liked this mac and cheese, and it didn’t last long. Even though it has a lot of heat, it was creamy, cheesy, and unexpectedly good.

The Verdict:

Chef’s Cupboard Hot Honey Mac & Cheese lives up to its name, as it is both spicy and mildly sweet. We think this is medium-range spicy. The cheese sauce is creamy and delicious, and we liked this.