Review: Knorr Hot Ones Cheesy Cheddar Pasta

Bottom Line: Hot Ones Cheesy Cheddar Pasta from Knorr delivers some pretty darn good instant mac and cheese that brings quite a kick.

Hot Ones has been teaming up with all sorts of restaurants and food producers lately to help get the word out about its brand of hot sauces, and the latest collaboration is with Knorr, maker of bouillon, pastas, instant rice, and more. The two new items they recently put out are the Mexican Rice, kicked up by the Hot Ones Los Calientes Verde Sauce (which the package rates at Medium heat), and the Cheesy Cheddar Pasta, which has more than a few drops of the scorching Last Dab Sauce added (and the package touts that as Hot). I purchased both from Amazon.com and decided to give the pasta the first try.

They give this the rather fancy-sounding name of “Cheesy Cheddar Pasta,” but for all practical purposes, it is the same as boxed macaroni and cheese. The package has the dried noodles along with cheese powder and spices, and you boil up some water, milk, and butter and pour in the ingredients to make the final dish. And while the prep is pretty similar to the boxed stuff that kids love, this is not your ordinary instant mac and cheese.

First of all, you can see the flecks of chili peppers amidst the noodles, and when you take a whiff, it definitely wakes up your nose with the spices. And while it has been some time since I made the boxed stuff for my kids, the sauce came out different than I remember, cheesy and quite gooey. It has an immediate tang to it, along with the sharpness from the cheddar and a nice richness. There is also a notable peppery kick that lets you know you are eating something with heat. The noodles were a little tougher than I prefer, and next time I will probably add a bit more water and/or milk. But that wasn’t a deal breaker, and this is the first bowl of instant mac and cheese I can remember really enjoying since my starving-student days in college (a long time ago).

As for the heat, buckle in because this stuff delivers. I took one bite, and already my mouth was burning. After a couple more, this spicy cheddar pasta was above Hot on my scale and approaching Fiery. I even added some shredded cheese to temper the heat, but that did not cut the fire by much. My goal had been to eat the entire portion for lunch, but I decided to bail a little more than halfway through. This one probably works better as a side, maybe with a grilled chicken breast or some smoked sausage, because it is quite rich and will set your mouth on fire. But if you want to eat the full portion, prepare for quite a burn in your belly (which I already had halfway through).

As for the calories, the entire bag totals up to 470 fully cooked. (I have no idea why they also give the calories for the product uncooked. Who’s going to eat it that way?) And while coming in under 500 cals total may sound like a decent number for a meal, as mentioned above, you may have trouble finishing this. It could easily be portioned into two or three sides, though, and should work quite well that way.

The Cheesy Cheddar Pasta and the Mexican Rice are limited editions, and they are exclusive to Amazon at this point. A three-pack of each (4.6 oz. per pack for the former and 5.7 oz. for the latter) goes for $8.99, and an eight-pack goes for $14.99. They also had a sampler with two of each for $9.99, but for some reason that is unavailable now. I did that, but I will probably be ordering the eight-pack of the pasta (less than two bucks per package) to have this as a standby in the pantry because it is quite good. Stay tuned for an upcoming review of the Mexican Rice.

Nutrition Info:

Ingredients: pasta (durum flour, wheat flour), cheddar cheese blend (cheddar cheese [pasteurized milk, salt, cheese cultures, enzymes], whey, maltodextrin, salt), butter (cream, salt), silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent), disodium phosphate, hot sauce seasoning (spices [including mustard], vinegar powder [maltodextrin, white distilled vinegar], salt, natural flavors, turmeric, extractives of paprika, calcium stearate), cornstarch, monosodium glutamate, nonfat dry milk, natural cheddar cheese flavor (autolyzed yeast extract, whey powder, corn starch, natural flavors, corn maltodextrin, salt, silicon dioxide), sodium citrate, salt, maltodextrin, onion powder, annatto (for color), sunflower oil, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, potassium chloride, citric acid, silicon dioxide, vitamins and minerals: niacin, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin b1), ferrous sulfate (iron), riboflavin (vitamin b2), folic acid. contains: milk, wheat. also contains mustard.

Serving Size: 1 Package (129g)
Calories: 470
Fat: 5g (1.5g Sat/0 Trans)
Protein: 8g
Carbs: 44g
Sodium: 560mg