Park Street Deli Smoked Beef Brisket Mac & Cheese

My family is a big fan of macaroni and cheese. Some of us are also barbecue lovers. Combine the two and you can get something really delicious.

During a visit to Kansas City this past year, we did just that. K.C. is known for its many good BBQ restaurants. We ate our way through pulled pork sandwiches, ribs, burnt ends, and various meat platters, along with classic sides such as cole slaw, potato salad, and fries. (Joe’s is our personal favorite BBQ restaurant in Kansas City, by the way.) At some restaurants, you’ll find macaroni and cheese on the menu that includes a topping of some type of smoked or barbecued meat. This was a hit with some of the pasta fans in my family.

Then, I saw Aldi selling some brisket mac and cheese as a limited-time special, and I had to try it.

Park Street Deli Smoked Beef Brisket Mac & Cheese is an Aldi Find, so it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store receives one shipment, and after that sells out, it’s gone unless Aldi decides to bring it back at some later time. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products not currently in stock at your local store. When this is in stock, it’s in the refrigerated Aldi Find case.

This brisket mac and cheese cost $4.99 for 16 ounces at the time of publication. With three 3/4-cup servings per container, that comes out to about $1.66 per serving.

The package describes this as “smoked beef brisket teamed with creamy cheddar cheese sauce and cavatappi pasta.” Glancing at the ingredients list, this also contains jalapeno and bacon.

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

This also contains a fair amount of processed ingredients such as gums, maltodextrin, and carrageenan. It also has some preservatives. This packaged mac and cheese has the advantage of convenience, but you could make a healthier version of this if you took the time to make your mac and cheese from scratch and cook your own brisket.

As mentioned above, one package has three 3/4-cup servings. However, some people might be tempted to eat the entire package in one sitting, which would net you nearly 1,000 calories along with a lot of fat and sodium.

With that said, one 3/4-cup serving has 320 calories, 20 grams of total fat (29% DV), 9 grams of saturated fat (40% DV), 43 mg of cholesterol (13% DV), 693 mg of sodium (27% DV), 26 grams of total carbohydrates (8% DV), 1 gram of dietary fiber (4% DV), 2 grams of total sugars, no added sugars, and 10 grams of protein.

The package has directions for cooking this in the microwave or in a conventional oven. The label says to cook to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

To microwave, remove the label and plastic film from the plastic tray. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Carefully remove the tray from the microwave and stir the contents. Continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes. Carefully remove the tray and stir. Let stand for 2 minutes before serving.

To heat in the oven, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the label and plastic film from the plastic tray. Carefully place the tray directly in the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Carefully remove the tray and stir the contents. Let stand for 3 minutes prior to serving.

Brisket mac and cheese after microwaving.

I chose to heat this in the microwave because my oven was occupied with another dish. The cheese bubbled over the sides of the tray some, so I had to do a little cleanup in my microwave afterward. Because of that, and because I don’t really like heating plastic trays in the microwave, if I were to buy this again, I might empty the food into a larger microwave-safe bowl and heat it in that.

As far as how this tastes, the first thing you should know is that it doesn’t have large chunks of brisket meat. They’re more like tiny shreds mixed all throughout the mac and cheese, so if you are expecting this to be meaty, you may be disappointed.

The second important thing to know about this dish is that it’s mildly spicy. It has a lot of more sliced jalapeno peppers than I expected. Besides adding spice, they add some interesting texture to the pasta and are almost a little crunchy.

This has plenty of creamy, cheesy sauce and a few small pieces of smoky bacon bits for extra flavor. I like the fun corkscrew shape of the cavatappi pasta. It is a bit greasy, so keep some napkins handy.

My family didn’t like this enough for me to want to buy it again, but it was fun to try.

The Verdict:

Park Street Deli Smoked Beef Brisket Mac & Cheese is sold in the refrigerated Aldi Find section and features corkscrew-shaped cavatappi pasta, creamy cheese sauce, plenty of sliced jalapeno peppers, a little bacon, and tiny shreds of brisket. It is a bit spicy. While the mac and cheese part is great, we felt like this skimped on the brisket. This isn’t bad, but it didn’t impress us enough that we want to buy more.