Trader Joe’s Hatch Chile Mac & Cheese
One of my kids is a mac and cheese fiend. She’d eat it every day if we let her. It doesn’t matter if it’s boxed Kraft macaroni and cheese, Aldi-branded boxed mac, the frozen Stouffer’s stuff, or homemade.
I admit macaroni and cheese is a delicious comfort food. It’s also more versatile than you might think. You can add diced cooked chicken or peas. You can top it with a bit of salsa and sour cream for a Tex-Mex style meal. You can even top it with barbecued pulled pork and slaw, which is how my family enjoyed some mac and cheese in Disney World’s Animal Kingdom during our vacation this past summer.
While my daughter and I were recently browsing the aisles at Trader Joe’s, which is a cousin to Aldi, she found a frozen spicy mac and cheese option we simply couldn’t leave without. The package describes it as “mac & cheese with roasted chiles from Hatch, New Mexico.”
Trader Joe’s Hatch Chile Mac & Cheese cost $3.29 for a 12-ounce package at the time of publication. That’s about 7 cents per ounce.
If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains wheat and milk.
The full ingredients list includes cooked elbow macaroni, milk, cheddar cheese, roasted hatch chile peppers, chile, unbleached enriched wheat flour, butter, salt, modified rice starch, and spices.
There are two 1-cup servings per package. One 1-cup serving has 260 calories, 10 grams of total fat (13% DV), 6 grams of saturated fat (30% DV), 430 mg of sodium (19% DV), 31 grams of total carbohydrates (11% DV), 1 gram of dietary fiber (4% DV), 3 grams of total sugars, no added sugars, and 11 grams of protein.
The serving sizes are small enough that you might want to eat the entire package as a full meal. In that case, the entire tray of mac would net you 520 calories, 20 grams of total fat (26% DV), 12 grams of saturated fat (60% DV), 860 mg of sodium (38% DV), 62 grams of total carbohydrates (22% DV), 2 grams of dietary fiber (8% DV), 6 grams of total sugars, no added sugars, and 22 grams of protein.
The box has directions for heating this in the microwave or in a conventional oven. Whichever way you heat it, it comes in its own microwave-safe and oven-safe tray.
To microwave, remove the tray from the box and puncture the film several times. Microwave on high for 5-6 minutes. Let stand 1 minute. Remove the film, stir, and serve.
To bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the tray from the box and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25-30 minutes. Let stand 1 minute, stir, and serve.
We heated ours in the microwave and it came out great. This is on the mild end of spicy, which was just fine with us. It’s cheesy, and the hatch chiles add just a bit of texture. Overall, this was a fun twist on a traditional pasta dish. I’d buy it again.
The Verdict:
Trader Joe’s Hatch Chile Mac & Cheese is made with classic elbow macaroni noodles covered with cheese, with hatch chiles mixed in. It’s mildly spicy and great if you’re looking for something a step above regular mac and cheese.