The Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese’s history is one worth telling. Trader Joe’s product developer presented an organic butternut squash sample to the tasting panel and turned it into a homemade butternut squash mac and cheese to show the panel how to use the purée. Not only did she convince the panel that the butternut squash purée was a great product, but also made the panel fall in love with her mac and cheese recipe!
Why Did We Try Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese?
We’ve been hearing so many good things about Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese that we had to try it ourselves! The pasta is made with rigatoni noodles, classic béchamel sauce, three different kinds of cheese, Trader Joe’s butternut squash purée, and seasonal spices like nutmeg, sage, and thyme.
Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese: How Many Stars?
Our 5-Star Rating
Flavor: 4/5
The butternut squash mac and cheese is creamy and delicious. And, it’s just a bit spicy as well! The ingredient list includes seasonal spices like turmeric, nutmeg, sage, black pepper, thyme, and cayenne pepper. However, it’s quite salty, with a one cup serving packing in 480 mg of sodium. The pasta is made with three different types of cheese – gouda, cheddar cheese, and parmesan cheese.
Nutrient Density: 2/5
Based on the mac and cheese label, the box has two servings and the serving size is a cup. One serving of mac and cheese has 11 g of protein, 38 g of carbohydrates, and 8 g of total fat. Each serving also has 180 mg of calcium, which is 15% of the recommended daily intake.
As mentioned earlier, one serving (a cup) contains 480 g of sodium, which is 21% of your total daily sodium intake, making this a high sodium food. Be on the lookout for our DIY butternut squash mac and cheese recipe coming soon with less salt but all the flavor!
Value: 5/5
You can get a box of this Mac and Cheese for $2.99. Each 1 cup serving is $1.50, making this a reasonably priced product!
Total Score: 3 / 5
Where To Find It:
You can find this product in the frozen aisle at your local Trader Joe’s.
How We Enjoyed It:
You can cook the mac and cheese in the microwave or in a conventional oven. We cooked ours in a conventional oven and served it with some fresh thyme as a garnish and a side salad.
We hope you are enjoying our McDaniel’s Bite-Sized Reviews series as much as we are! This is a series dedicated to testing out products in the market and giving our honest, expert review so you know exactly what to look for next time you’re at the grocery store. Let us know what products you would like us to review in the future!
FYI – these posts aren’t sponsored. They are opinions of unpaid tastebuds.
Check out some of our past reviews:
Chobani Complete Yogurt Review
Perfect Bar Review
Siete Foods Almond Flour Tortillas Review