Costco Macaroni And Cheese - Price, Cook Tips, + Flavor Hacks
Kirkland Signature Macaroni and Cheese at Costco
Costco sells 3.75-pound packages of Macaroni and Cheese for $3.49 a pound. The macaroni and cheese sells for approximately $13 and can be found in the prepared meals section of the warehouse near other items such as the garlic drumsticks, taco kit, and bulgogi beef.
Costco’s mac and cheese is made with a creamy alfredo sauce as well as with romano, parmesan, and shredded cheddar cheese.
Costco Sized Macaroni and Cheese
As expected, this Costco mac and cheese is going to be Costco sized.
I usually feel pretty confident about finishing most of Costco’s prepared meals because, typically, they are entrees, but this side dish of mac and cheese will be a challenge.
3.75 pounds of mac and cheese is quite a lot, and this prepared meal is better suited for a party or and is a great option to pair with Costco’s party platters.
Costco Cost Comparison
Costco sells their mac and cheese for $3.49 a pound and each package costs about $13-$14. This is a little pricey but is definitely still fair value.
This massive side dish can easily feed 8-10 people, if not more!
Costco vs Sam's Club
Sam’s Club sells their macaroni and cheese for the same price at $3.48 a pound. I haven’t tried it and can’t speak for the quality, but 9 times out of 10, I will go with the Kirkland Signature product over the Member’s Mark item.
Costco Macaroni and Cheese Taste Test
I followed the instructions on the packaging and baked the mac and cheese at 400°F for about 45 minutes or so.
Great Looking Cheese
The mac and cheese came out looking beautiful, with perfectly melted cheddar cheese on top.
I could have left the mac and cheese in the oven for a few more minutes to get a crispier layer of cheddar cheese, but the cheese I had was more than satisfactory.
Lacking in Flavor
The macaroni came out great, and there was plenty of cheese and creamy sauce in every bite, but unfortunately, the Costco macaroni and cheese was quite bland.
The ingredients are there, but for some inexplicable reason, the flavor isn’t. The macaroni has plenty of creaminess, but it just doesn’t do much for me.
I would have liked much more depth to the flavor and intensity.
The dish is bland and won’t turn anybody off, but also won’t wow anybody. It’s a very forgettable dish.
I ate the Costco Macaroni and Cheese with some super tender Tri-Tip.
If I were to serve this at a party, I would need to modify the dish to boost the flavor significantly. I have included a couple of serving suggestions and ideas below.
How to Cook Macaroni & Cheese
Packaging Changes
Be aware of the packaging for the Costco macaroni and cheese. It seems that Costco has gone away from aluminum foil trays and has transitioned to mostly all plastic containers for their prepared meals.
I’m not a fan of the change, as foil trays bring more of a feeling of quality while also being more convenient as they can be put directly into the oven.
The new plastic tray can not be used to bake this macaroni and cheese. Costco has even included a large sticker stating so on the package.
In order to bake the mac and cheese, you would have to transfer it from the packaging into an oven safe dish. This isn’t the end of the world, but you are going to have an appropriately sized dish on hand.
I used a glass pie plate that turned out to be a great size for this mac and cheese from Costco.
Presentation is sacrificed, and there is also one additional dish that needs to be washed now as well.
How to Cook Costco’s Mac and Cheese
Aside from finding a suitable oven safe dish and transferring the mac and cheese, the dish is rather easy to make. You simply need to pop it into the oven for 40-60 minutes.
- Preheat Oven to 400°F.
- Remove from the package.
- Place into an ovenable pan and cover with foil.
- Place onto a baking sheet.
- Place on the center rack of the oven.
- Bake for 40-60 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
Macaroni & Cheese Serving Suggestions
The Costco mac and cheese is bland and definitely needs some help. Luckily, there are a lot of options that will really go well with side dishes to spruce it up.
Seasonings
If you want to keep it basic, the mac and cheese will go well with some common seasonings. Any of these would add another layer of flavor.
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Smoked Paprika
- Oregano
- Basil
- Crushed Red Peppers
- Chili Powder
- Cayenne
Macaroni and Cheese Balls
I originally intended to use a few of these recipes to spruce up the mac and cheese, but because none of us enjoyed the dish the night before, my wife took the liberty and used all the remaining mac and cheese to make mac and cheese balls.
Spicy Mac and Cheese
Mac and cheese is good, but spicy mac and cheese is great. Crushed red peppers are a great option, but so is hot sauce. Tabasco or buffalo sauce would be great with the mac and cheese.
Bacon Ranch Macaroni and Cheese
A favorite of mine is going to be bacon, ranch macaroni and cheese. Fresh bacon is excellent, but bacon bits also work as well.
Combine the bacon with the macaroni and cheese and mix in some ranch for a delicious entree or side dish.
Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese
You could add some pulled pork to transform the mac and cheese from a side dish to an entree. There are many options to make your own pulled pork or buy some from Costco.
Chicken Sausage Mac and Cheese
Sausages are another great option to turn the Costco Mac and Cheese into an entree.
The sweetness of the Aidells’ Chicken Apple Sausage would be a perfect addition to the meal.
Other Options
For simple combine and eat options, mix the macaroni and cheese with some 505 hatch chiles or even some basil pesto.
Costco Nutritional Information - Macaroni and Cheese
Nutritional information can be hard to find for Costco items made in-house. This goes for both the bakery items and deli-prepared meals.
Thanks to Reddit, I have Costco’s macaroni and cheese nutritional information.
How Many Calories in Kirkland Signature Macaroni and Cheese?
One serving of macaroni and cheese will be 1 Cup or 4.5 ounces. There are approximately 12 servings per container of mac and cheese. Each serving will have the following nutritional information:
Calories: 290
Total Fat: 18g
Cholesterol: 50mg
Sodium: 410mg
Carbohydrates: 23g
Dietary Fiber: 1g
Total Sugar: 1g
Protein: 10g
Nutritional Analysis
This is actually a slightly better nutritional label than I expected for this Costco mac and cheese. I knew the fat would be slightly high because of the cheese, but the carbs were a little surprising to me as I thought there would be more carbs per serving.
23 grams of carbs isn’t great, but it also isn’t bad for this macaroni and cheese.
The 10 grams of protein are as expected and help make this a slightly more well balanced side dish in terms of macronutrients.
Sodium!
Each serving will also contain 410 mg of sodium, or 18% of the recommended daily value.
This isn’t the worst, but given that this is more of a side dish, the sodium will add up when combined with an entree.
Final Thoughts
I didn’t care for the mac and cheese from Costco. The price is ok for the dish, but not stellar.
The dish is very very light on flavor and needs a lot of help. Thankfully mac and cheese is pretty easy to improve with some seasoning or toppings.
This is only a buy if you have a specific plan for the mac and cheese.
A heavy, hearty helping of mac n cheese. For me, the taste was very bland. I had to add 1 T of garlic powder, 1 T of onion powder, salt/pepper to taste, and 1 t of curry powder to get some flavor added. I also added 1 Cup of water and 1 Cup of whole milk in an attempt to loosen it up and make it creamier.
I waited for this to appear at Costco in the metal pan and then cooked it in the oven covered with foil.
Overall very good. Just be aware that you may be doing some work to get some flavor into the mac n cheese. Try it with some of the 505 chopped Hatch chiles.