I’m not a huge pizza person, so most pizzas aren’t huge winners for me. I am, however, a big fan of pasta. I like making mac and cheese for lunch, and I’m a big fan of Aldi pesto when it comes around. So when Aldi released a different kind of pizza, getting the random idea to combine pizza and macaroni and cheese, we gave it a go.
The Mama Cozzi’s Macaroni & Cheese Take & Bake Pizza is currently $5.99. It is an Aldi Find, so it’s in stores for a limited time and once it’s gone, it’s gone. You can’t order it online if it’s not in your local store.
This isn’t the only mac and cheese pizza we’ve seen Aldi sell. We’ve also reviewed a limited-time frozen macaroni and cheese pizza from the discount grocer.
This particular take and bake pizza has 4 servings. It’s a pizza, so of course it’s not good for you. One serving has 340 calories, 18g of total fat, 9g of saturated fat, 590 mg of sodium, and 30g of total carbohydrates. If allergens are something you look out for, this pizza does contain wheat, milk, and soy.
Nutrition and ingredients. (Click enlarge.)
The baking instructions are extremely simple. You preheat the oven to 425 degrees and take the pizza out of the plastic and off of the cardboard tray. After the oven is preheated, you put the pizza in and bake it for 10-13 minutes or until the cheese in the center is melted and the crust is golden. The directions say to let the pizza stand for 5 minutes before slicing.
Macaroni and cheese pizza after baking.
So how is this pizza? There’s a cheese sauce on the crust, and mozzarella and cheddar cheese along with the macaroni noodles have been layered on top. I thought some of the noodles were a bit hard. The cheese sauce is cheesy and very gooey, which I liked since it resembles some of the sauces you get with actual macaroni and cheese. We found that sometimes when we would go to take a bite, it would end up pulling a portion of the cheese off the pizza. The crust was on the thinner side, but I liked that more than a thicker crust. Everyone in our family liked it, so it’s a thumb’s up from us.
The Verdict:
This pizza was truly made for macaroni and cheese lovers. The sauce was fun, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else make a pizza quite like this. It’s good enough that if Aldi sells it again in the future, I wouldn’t pass up buying it. It’s still a debate whether this is the strangest pizza Aldi has ever sold.
A carb, salt, and grease overload. Pass.
Love this pizza! I buy in bulk when it’s available and freeze them. So good!
I love this pizza! I buy one every time they have it. I cut it into servings with my kitchen shears, right through the cardboard and plastic wrap and freeze them in a freezer bag. They cook well from frozen. I cook the individual serving in the toaster oven. WE have a local chain called Ian’s Pizza that has sold a Mac & Cheese pizza for years that is very popular and this one tastes like theirs. Toppers which might be a national chain also has Mac & Cheese pizza but it’s not as good as this one.
The pizza buffet chain CiCi’s has had a macaroni and cheese pizza on their menu since they’ve opened. I first saw it and tried it about 10 years ago with one of my nephews who LOVES macaroni & cheese AND pizza–and not much else. They use a long corkscrew tube pasta, so it looks different, but it’s basically this.
It’s a change of pace from typical pizza, but it wouldn’t be my personal favorite. With this Aldi one, the 45% daily dose of saturated fat per 1/4 of the pizza that gives me a reason to avoid it.