Review: Knorr Pasta Sides - Cheesy Bacon Macaroni

Yes, I did open it before snapping a shot of it. I'm hungry!

For this review, although we're staying in the packaged mac & cheese realm, I'm moving onto something I've never tried before. I love bacon. And I love Mac & Cheese. So checking out some reviews of Knorr Pasta Sides - Cheesy Bacon Macaroni, I was a little distraught to find that this one isn't exactly winning the hearts and minds of bacon / cheese lovers everywhere. Still, I was hopeful that this side could prove to be mildly interesting tasting as well as passable on a make-me-quick level...

...Well, I was partially right on the former. Onward...

What I expected: Gooey spiral elbow noodles with bacon bits adding a mild hint of bacon flavor to the cheesiness. 

What I got: Dry, sticky spiral elbow noodles with little to no bacon bits, yet ironically with the bacon just about taking over the cheese flavor. 

Pair-ability:Corn, Fried Shrimp (with Coctail Sauce), and Chicken Nuggets (with BBQ Sauce)

Not pictured: Delicious BBQ & Coctail sauce to go with the shrimp & chicken.
Pictured: Much drier mac & cheese than expected

Preparation: 
Used the stove method (combine 1 1/2 cups of water + 1/2 cup of milk with 1 tbsp. of margerine into pan & boil on high for 10 minutes with package ingredients while stirring). Easy enough to make, not too many extra ingredients (just the milk, water and optional margarine/butter). Unfortunately, the cleanup was less than optimal. Despite stirring constantly for 10 minutes on boiling like the instructions directed, much of the cheese and noodle mass ended up sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning, leaving a sticky mesquite residue that's very tough to get rid of. This takes away some of the serving size as well since several noodles are now encrusted to the pan. Compared to many other packaged mac & cheese dinners, this part could go a lot smoother.


Shape-o-meter:
These noodles were actually decent in both texture and shape. I've always loved the spiral elbow noodles (spinning around but with a hole in the center like the regular elbow noodles). These have never failed my preference as far as the hardness goes. Even if they get a little softer through the cooking process, they still hold a certain amount of firmness to them. Knorr, you get a point!

Size-o-meter:
It was a smaller package, so for its serving size, it doesn't feed very much. Still, the package did prominently state it as a "Side" and not a main course (Kraft family size mac & cheese, this is not), so I'm more forgiving of this factor here. It'll only feed about two, and with our other dinner items, it definitely qualified more as something to top off the meal as opposed to making or breaking it.



Flav-o-meter:
I'd give it a medium strength rating overall, although I was disappointed in the cheese. While cooking, the ingredients combined had me believe that this meal would have some actual sauce to it. Especially with the way it was boiling:

Seriously, Just look at how bubbly that is! Quite deceptive...

Not to mention, there was no draining whatsoever. Since this was an additionally-flavored side, I fully expected the bacon to influence the flavor some. However, the bacon ended up overpowering the cheese almost to the point where I couldn't tell if there was any. Only the color orange saved it from making me go "what is that?". It was akin to something of a bacon cheeseburger, minus the burger. And the ketchup. And much of the yum. The bacon flavoring itself wasn't too bad. It tasted about how a package-dried bacon flavoring would be expected to taste (this isn't grilled bacon afterall!) Surprisingly, there were very few actual bacon bits in the meal, despite the package's boasting of "bacon bits" not only in the phrasing but the package picture... they must've been lost in the burnt sanctums of the pan's bottom, which I'll have to go clean soon...

Nutriti-o-meter:
Being a smaller package (not to mention, splitting this already small package with someone), this actually doesn't do too bad in the nutritional department. The only concern would be the sodium (36% of daily value), but aside from that, there is very little fat in this one. From that standpoint, if you're concerned with keeping off pounds and you have a mac & cheese craving, you could do much worse than Knorr's Cheesy Bacon Macaroni (Especially if you decide to forgo the margarine).

Overall:
It's simply okay, not as bad as the amazon reviews would have you believe, although certainly not the best packaged mac & cheese item either. You can definitely do better. I like that it adds bacon flavoring as its main attraction (this opinion will vary depending on whether or not you like bacon... it's important here because it makes up the primary flavor). It delivers some of what the package tells you it is, although don't expect the Cheesy Bacon Macaroni to have much in the way of "cheesy" sauce to it (it might be preferable to take it out of preparation a few minutes early). The preparation itself is straight-forward and doesn't take long, although you'll have to watch it like a hawk if you want your pan to end up without any burnt food to scrape off (big no no). In all, I'd only recommend this one to those who want something very quick and don't necessarily care about how high quality the taste is. Parents, I'd suggest microwaving this one to avoid burning the dish. Everyone who is one the go, this would be a quick dish to make that you don't need to feel guilty eating, although don't expect this one to fill you up entirely either.

Anyway, I hope this review was helpful. Thanks for reading, and until next time... Cheers!