Don't Be Fooled By The Pretty Box. This Macaroni And Cheese Is The Literal Worst

"The worst one? Bowl & Basket. Bowl & Basket mac and cheese failed our taste test criteria on all counts. The box is an eye-catching blue with a giant bowl of steaming mac and cheese depticted on the front, but looks were certainly misleading here. The type of pasta in the image on the Bowl & Basket box are spirals, which are a great pasta shape for catching cheesy, creamy sauces."

"They gave the sauce the best possible chance by mixing in both milk and butter, but were still left with an underwhelming taste. On top of a muted cheese flavor, there was an offputting earthy spiced aftertaste which we can only guess is from the turmeric listed as an ingredient on the back of the box. Bowl & Basket is the store-brand from ShopRite, a grocery-store chain in six Northeastern states."

Sixteen boxed mac and cheese varieties were tasted and ranked based on the flavor and consistency of sauce and noodles. Bowl & Basket ranked worst, failing taste-test criteria across multiple measures. The packaging shows spiral pasta, but the cooked pasta consisted of broken bits and oddly shaped shreds. Mixing milk and butter did not rescue the sauce, which had a muted cheese flavor and an offputting earthy, spiced aftertaste likely from turmeric. Bowl & Basket is ShopRite’s store brand and is priced lower than name brands; other store-brand boxed mac options scored much higher.

Read at www.tastingtable.com