this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
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For example, if you insist on buying Advil instead of store brand ibuprofen. I mean, you’d be wasting your money in that example, but you do you

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[–] SexyTimeSasquatch@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Kraft mac and cheese, all the store brands are superficially similar but taste bland and or have weird textures.

[–] pimeys@lemmy.nauk.io 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What about Annie's? Or call we even compare them?

[–] SexyTimeSasquatch@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I was really just comparing to generic. Annie's isn't generic. I still prefer Kraft, but I'd take Annie's over generic too.

[–] pimeys@lemmy.nauk.io 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yep. I'm from Europe and of course this is kind of not understanding American culture enough to not compare different qualities of mac&cheese. That reminds me, we came back home from the US and had mac&cheese in a restaurant in Germany. They served us Kraft with fried onions and parmesan flakes on top. At that moment I understood Germans will never understand American cuisine...

[–] SexyTimeSasquatch@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You should never ever in a million years find restaurants serving Kraft mac and cheese in America. That's wrong. It's a cheap food you fix up at home when you're feeling too lazy to cook for real. Most of us like it because we grew up eating it. Real Mac and cheese is so much better.

[–] HakFoo@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 year ago

Exception: some places explicitly put it on the kids' menu as something that even finicky eaters will find familiar.

[–] pimeys@lemmy.nauk.io 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, well we were a month in KC just before and ate the most amazing food. It was so crazy to get that thing from the restaurant when we got back.

[–] garbagebagel@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Annie's is next level.

[–] dewritoninja@pawb.social 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Growing up I always saw kids in American shows/movies enj it so I assumed it was delicious. I was 10 when the finally began selling it here, my parents were also curious so they bought enough for 5 people. IT TASTES LIKE VOMIT. My parents never bought it again. 12 years later my sister bought it again because she didn't remember the taste and I gave a try again because I thought maybe just maybe I would like it better since my tastes hace changed, AND IT STILL TASTES LIKE VOMIT. so we ended up making our own with real cheese and pasta and it was actually cheaper than the boxed crap

[–] EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago

I had the exact same experience when they first started selling pop tarts here. I guess american nostalgia food only tastes good when you actually grow up with it. Even grilled cheese tasted only ok to me

[–] Fullest@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Epicurious put out a fun video last week having a few chefs compare boxed mac and cheese products. You might find it interesting https://youtu.be/uambW2W6zmQ

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[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I prefer Velveeta shells and cheese to all the other boxed Mac and cheese dinners. That said, if I have someone to act as a dishwasher, I will make a banging baked Mac and cheese that blows any box out of the water. I don't mind the cooking, or prep. Cleanup is always a chore.

No doubt. Homemade is infinitely superior. Almost a different kind of food. Just comparing it to generic store brands.

[–] ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

What about compared to homemade Mac and Cheese?

Well I mean it's hard to compare. Homemade is clearly on another level. The boxed stuff is a very quick meal to put together out of the box. Homemade takes a while to do properly. I almost see them as like different foods.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Homemade mac n cheese tastes like regular old cheese. Kraft’s got something extra in there that makes it better.

Kenji’s 3 ingredients Mac and cheese. As fast (almost faster), as KD. Way better.

https://www.seriouseats.com/ingredient-stovetop-mac-and-cheese-recipe