Trader Joe's Hatch Chile Mac and Cheese

The pros:  Trader Joe's Hatch Chile Mac and Cheese is tasty, mildly spice mac and cheese ready from freezer to microwave in about 5 minutes.

The cons:  I found 5 minutes was too long for my microwave. I would start at 3 minutes check on it, then add more time if necessary.

The verdict:  For $2.99 this is enough for one person for a lunch/dinner or for 2 people to split as a side dish. It was slightly spicy, but nothing that is going to set your mouth on fire unless you are very sensitive. It was a nice change to regular mac and cheese.

It may not be something that you reach for every time, but it is a nice change of pace. Unlike the diet reduced guilt mac and cheese there is enough here to split between 2 adults as a side for dinner.

I don't care for the fact that they list this as two servings. Let's be honest, there is probably a chance you might just bring this for lunch. It goes in the microwave and is quicker and far tastier than most microwave meals I've had.

However, you are also downing over 500 calories in one sitting.

But to be fair, this is cheesy and has a nice heat to it. It tastes almost homemade. I really like this one. There are very few bad choices in the freezer aisle.

Here is a quick visual rundown of this product before I give my final assessment.

The box of Trader Joe's Hatch Chile Mac and Cheese in the freezer aisle:

The nutritional information:

The ingredients:

How to prepare:

After being cooked you get (a bit crispy around the edges):

Would I buy this again?  For me this is a yes, but not every week. It was cheesy, tasty and slightly spicy. It's worth a try.

Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe's for a searchable list.

Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!