11 Microwavable Mac and Cheese Cups, Ranked from Worst to Best

Mac and cheese is a quintessential American food, beloved both in the United States and far beyond. Though the concept of mac and cheese likely conjures up the familiar image of cheesy macaroni noodles in most people’s minds, there are actually quite a few ways to prepare and enjoy the cheese pasta dish. You can follow a decadent mac and cheese recipe for the coziest and tastiest results, or you can simply heat up a box of Kraft for a super simple and quick meal option. But then there’s the world of mac and cheese cups, similar to boxed mac and cheese, but in individual-sized portions, and microwavable ones at that.

Indeed, microwavable cups have revolutionized the way we can enjoy the cheesy pasta, but that doesn’t mean that every single brand on the market is necessarily worth it. I tried 11 types of microwavable mac and cheese cups, ranging from aged cheddar to white cheddar to goat cheese cheddar, to determine which cups are worth the few minutes they take to heat up, and which ones are best left on the shelves. Since all of the cups on this list require similar amounts of preparation and cooking time, I’m ranking them solely based on flavor, pasta texture, and cheesiness, with one cheesy cup proving to reign supreme far above the rest.

I am not someone who turns their nose up at Flamin’ Hot Cheetos — in fact, I happen to love the impossibly-red, spicy corn puff snacks, perhaps even more than I enjoy classic cheesy Cheetos. That said, too much of a good thing can easily become a bad thing, and I fear that this is exactly the case with this Cheetos Mac ‘N Cheese Flamin’ Hot Flavor. 

To start with the good, this cup successfully managed to capture the essence of the Flamin’ Hot flavor, for better or for worse. The color was also accurate to what you might see if you opened up a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, so I do have to give credit where credit is due in terms of color and flavor accuracy. The biggest issue here is that this didn’t taste at all like mac and cheese. As in, there was absolutely no cheesiness to be found in this cup, only an endless pool of spicy redness that didn’t taste that great in pasta format.

Another big issue is that the pasta and flavor packet didn’t come together to form a cohesive sauce, so the cup was quite watery. The result was a wet pasta that tasted like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos but didn’t taste cheesy or saucy. Ultimately, it tasted disappointing all around. 

Certain brands are popular in the mac and cheese world, and Annie’s is up there in terms of brand recognition. Though Annie’s boxed mac and cheese flavors may be the most recognizable, the brand does offer certain flavors in cup format as well, like its real aged cheddar flavor. The contents of this cup seemed safe and unassuming — you’ve got your classic, Kraft-style macaroni noodles and a cheese packet, and perhaps that’s all you need.

Well, maybe it’s almost all you need, because after tasting this cheesy pasta, I felt like something was missing. There was nothing offensively wrong with this cup, but it was mild and not too cheesy in flavor. The pasta also clumped together easily, which I can’t necessarily fault Annie’s for specifically, as other brands clumped too, but this one turned into a congealed glob pretty quickly, which wasn’t fun or tasty to eat. I didn’t hate this mac and cheese, but I didn’t love it, so the Annie’s real aged cheddar didn’t stick out enough to warrant a higher ranking. 

Of all the restaurant chains that have come out with a line of products to sell in grocery stores, for whatever reason, Cracker Barrel is one of them. And, for whatever other reason, one of the products that Cracker Barrel sells in grocery stores is mac and cheese cups, specifically a sharp cheddar flavor. Despite my confusion over why the brand sells such a product to begin with, I was quite excited to try the flavor, if only because the promise of sharp cheddar provided some much-needed flavor contrast amidst a sea of plain cheddar and white cheddar options.

Unfortunately, I can’t say that this Cracker Barrel sharp cheddar mac and cheese cup delivered anything special. It wasn’t different than any of the other nondescript yellow cheddar flavors on this list. The big issue here was the texture. Whereas most of the pastas on this list became thick and saucy after heating them and stirring in the cheese, this one stayed super watery; this meant that it wasn’t appetizing to eat, and it was hard to get a bite where the cheese sauce actually clung to a noodle. The flavor was fine, and I enjoyed the texture of the pasta, but the watery sauce made this one a pass for me.

Though I’ve had plenty of goat cheese in my life, I can’t say that I’ve ever tried goat mac and cheese, so naturally, I was intrigued to see such an offering at the grocery store. Technically a shells and cheese cup, this Funny Farm brand pasta certainly seemed like your average white cheddar cup at first glance, but the second I opened that goat cheese packet, it was obvious that this would taste different than your average mac and cheese.

And, ultimately, that flavor difference worked to this mac’s advantage. That goat cheese flavor was super apparent, adding a certain sharpness and perhaps a slight nuttiness to the pasta. I ran into issues with the pasta itself, as the shells became mushy, despite the fact that I added the correct amount of water and microwaved the cup exactly according to package instructions. I appreciated the unique goat cheese flavor that this cup had to offer, but the texture of the pasta definitely had some issues, meaning that I could only rank this one so high.

We’ve finally made it to the first Kraft-branded cup on this list, easily the most recognizable mac and cheese brand on the market. And, hey, simply because it has brand recognition doesn’t mean that it’s the best mac out there, but it is safe to say that Kraft has a formula that works well, as proven by its original cheddar flavor mac and cheese cup.

I enjoyed that this cheesy pasta hit all the right notes and provided just about anything you’d reasonably expect from a microwavable meal. This cup had those classic, skinny macaroni noodles and a cheese sauce that didn’t blow me away, but it tasted good nonetheless. The pasta cooked up nicely and combined with the cheese packet to create a sticky cheddar cheese sauce that got the job done. Though there was nothing revolutionary about this one, it’s a good middle-ground option for those who don’t want any frills or unique flavors, just a cup that heats up quickly and yields a consistently satisfying result, albeit one that’s perhaps a bit boring.

Though I wasn’t the biggest fan of Annie’s real aged cheddar flavor, I found the white cheddar flavor to be a vast improvement. Perhaps I’m generally partial to white cheddar flavors, but I found the white cheddar-ness in this mac and cheese to be nuanced. It wasn’t overly cheesy to the point of tasting artificial, but not so mild that it didn’t taste like cheese at all. This cup had a tasty flavor balance, which worked to its advantage.

I also found that the pasta didn’t clump up quite so much like it did in the other Annie’s flavor, so that was an added perk. Ultimately, the white cheddar flavor worked well here and paired nicely with the skinny macaroni noodles. That said, this was far from my favorite flavor, both in general and in terms of the white cheddar flavors. But it is a good option for those seeking out organic pasta or people who just want something simple. 

It’s no secret that the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos cup didn’t quite do it for me, but as for the bold and cheesy flavor? Well, I was somewhat surprised to find that I enjoyed it. Much like the Flamin’ Hot one had that distinct vibrant red color, the bold and cheesy flavor had an impossibly orange, almost neon look to it, and, once again, I have to award points for color accuracy.

The color of the pasta aside, I found this Cheetos pasta to taste a lot like, well, Cheetos. Moreover, it had such a distinctly cheesy flavor to it — perhaps a slightly artificial one, but cheesy nonetheless — that I found myself strangely compelled to go back in for another bite, then another one. This stuff had a certain oomph to it, and perhaps it’s just the fact that it truly did taste like Cheetos that made it so likable. Overall, however, I appreciated that this Cheetos mac didn’t shy away from bold flavor, and though I might not be seeking this one out above a more classic mac and cheese flavor, I still enjoyed it and was pleasantly surprised by just how much I did.

While I certainly didn’t hate the white goat cheddar mac and cheese cup from Funny Farm, I found the texture of the shells to be a bit disappointing. I enjoyed the goat cheese flavor, however, and that very same flavor is present in the Funny Farm Goat Cheddar Mac and Cheese, but in a classic yellow cheddar format, and with skinny elbow noodles instead of shells.

I found nearly every aspect of this goat cheddar mac and cheese to be an improvement from the white cheddar version. For starters, the noodles cooked up well, resulting in a pretty standard but perfectly tasty and non-mushy pasta. The goat cheddar cheese shone brilliantly here, with that distinctly sharp and somewhat tangy goat cheese flavor apparent in every bite. I also found the flavor of this pasta to have a nice nuttiness to it, making it more interesting than many of the other flavors on this list. 

Ultimately, however, I’m not sure how likely I would seek out goat mac and cheese over a classic version of the dish, because while I did enjoy the uniqueness of the goat cheese flavor, it’s not something I’d want to taste every time, hence why I’m only ranking it so high. Goat cheese lovers should definitely check this one out, though.

While Kraft has a plain, original mac and cheese cup with skinny macaroni noodles and cheese packets (which we’ve already covered on this list), it also offers a line of “deluxe” mac and cheese cups. So, what makes them oh-so deluxe? Well, there are two distinct differences here: First, the Kraft Deluxe cups have a thicker noodle, something more akin to what you’d get when you purchase a box of elbow pasta. Second, and perhaps most importantly, this cup comes with a cheese sauce packet as opposed to a powder packet.

While I thought the powder packet tasted pretty good as-is, the cheese sauce packet is better. The sauce adds a whole new level of decadence to the pasta, along with a distinct creaminess that isn’t quite as easy to achieve with powder. This Original Cheddar Deluxe Mac and Cheese pasta hits all the right notes thanks to that cheese sauce pouch, and the bigger noodles also help make this feel more like a homestyle macaroni and cheese as opposed to something you just heat up in the microwave. I don’t have anything bad to say about this one, but there were simply a couple of others on this list that were even better.

If there’s one Kraft product better than the brand’s Deluxe original cheddar mac and cheese cup, it would be the white cheddar version. Truthfully, there’s not a whole lot of difference in terms of sheer tastiness between this white cheddar and the original cheddar, but I am a bit partial to the former overall. There was a whole lot of savory, creamy goodness to be found in this cup.

Like the other Kraft Deluxe pasta, the white cheddar variation saw the larger elbow noodles and white cheddar sauce package as opposed to a powder packet. All of these components came together to create one tasty and solid mac and cheese cup, one that rivals a homestyle version of mac and cheese. I enjoyed the mild but super creamy white cheddar sauce in this pasta cup, which is what set it apart ever so slightly from the original cheddar version. Out of all the white cheddar mac and cheese cups I tried, Kraft’s Deluxe version is one that I’d keep stocked in my pantry.

While several brands on this list had some pretty tasty mac and cheese cups, nothing could beat or even truly compete with Velveeta’s shells and cheese. Velveeta may not be considered a genuine cheese by FDA standards, but it sure does manage to pack in a whole lot of cheesy flavor into a little cup of noodles; I’ll gladly take it, real cheese or not. Also, for those curious, this cup comes with a sauce packet akin to those in the Kraft Deluxe cups, as opposed to a powder packet. 

There was such a distinctly savory, richly cheesy, and incredibly creamy flavor to this Velveeta shells and cheese cup that it completely stood out above the rest. I’d had some issues with other shell pasta on this list, but these shells cooked up perfectly, and all of that luscious cheese sauce tucked into every nook and cranny like an absolute dream. As a result, each and every bite of this pasta was impossibly cheesy and delicious. Though other options on this list were perfectly cheesy, they just couldn’t compare to Velveeta’s shells and cheese, making this one an obvious front runner and one that any mac and cheese lover simply can’t go wrong with.

As I previously stated, all of these pasta cups heated up in similar ways and featured similar ingredients — some sort of noodle and either a cheese powder packet or sauce packet — so my ranking came down to flavor. For example, all of the cups called for adding water to the fill line and heating up the cup for about three minutes before adding in the cheese packet, so I really couldn’t fault or credit any of these for being particularly hard or easy to prepare.

So, when considering flavor, I paid attention to those macs that hit the ultra-cheesy, savory flavor profile. Most of these cups did boast a similar cheesiness, so it came down to those that had a little extra oomph, savoriness, or creaminess. It became apparent that those cups that came with cheese sauce as opposed to powder (like the Kraft Deluxe and Velveeta ones) hit on a cheesier and creamier flavor profile overall, and I think that these sauces made a pasta cup with better texture all-around. Though I did note that I generally tend to prefer white cheddar macs, I still kept an open mind to all flavors, as proven by the fact that a classic yellow cheddar option ultimately won the top spot.