Backpacker's Pantry Three Cheese Mac & Cheese - 2 Servings
A great meal at home, on the trail or in the dorms, this Backpacker's Pantry Three Cheese Mac & Cheese becomes a hot, savory and hearty dinner for two in just 15 minutes.
- Features elbow pasta, cheddar cheese, Romano cheese and Parmesan cheese
- Backpacker's Pantry is a 1% for the Planet member
- Made in Boulder, Colorado
- Nutrition facts and ingredients displayed here may differ from what is printed on the packaging; information on packaging reflects actual contents
Made in USA.
| Best Use | Backpacking |
|---|---|
| Servings per Container | 2 serving(s) |
| Serving Size | 60 grams |
| Calories per Serving | 260 |
| Total Fat | 9 grams |
| Saturated Fat | 5 grams |
| Trans Fat | 0 grams |
| Cholesterol | 10 milligrams |
| Sodium | 670 milligrams |
| Carbohydrates | 32 grams |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 grams |
| Total Sugars | 3 grams |
| Protein | 12 grams |
| Potassium | 46 milligrams |
| Vegetarian | Yes |
| Meat | None |
| Contains | Eggs Milk Wheat |
| Net Weight | 4.2 ounces |
Review this Product
Adding a review will require a valid email for verification
Most Helpful Favorable Review
Most Helpful Critical Review
Customer Images
Good flavor, mixes oddly
What a great mac n cheese that is ready to go into the mountains with you. I want to start by saying I received this as a product advisor from REI. I do not purchase a lot of prepackaged foods for backpacking since they are often filled with junk and taste horrible. When REI sent and asked for my review I was hesitant to try off on a big hike or backpack trip, since my experience with these bag foods is not the best. I mean who wants to hike 5 hours to eat paste, liquid eggs or gross noodles. Not me. Well well, I was surprised, this was pretty good. I opened and checked it out smell first. Not bad, smells like cheese. Boiled up 1.5 cups water. Dumped the bag into my backpacking ziploc twist lid cup, added boiling water, stir'd. Let sit 5 minutes, stir'd again. Waited 7 minutes and then removed lid. It was too hot to eat, so let sit another 5 minutes, stir stir and EAT. This mac was very tasty. The noodles were cooked and the cheese was good. However the powdered cheese is flaky and not the creamiest. It would be on par with instant mac from the rest of the instant mac family of to go cheesy goodness. I would purchase if in a hurry and did not want to make my own backpacking meals. The time to cook, wait to eat was acceptable. Say from boiling water (3 minutes), mixing and waiting (5 minutes), mixing again (5 minutes) and waiting to cool (5 minutes). Could have ready from bag to mouth in 20 minutes. Not too bad. For trips I would remove from bag and put in a smaller ziploc baggie since I do not like to eat out of a bag and always have a ziploc twist lid to eat out of (or bowl). It would also save weight, the Mylar bag is heavy in comparison. Overall, a meal I would take hiking or backpacking for sure.
Good flavor and texture, doesn't mix well
This one tasted pretty good. The texture was nice and was pretty convincing Mac and cheese. Pros: packaging was super thin and small, packs much smaller than mountain house Flavor and texture was good Enough for 1 person Cons A bit too salty, I would like the option to have less salt or a salt package to add more as needed There needs to be a line on the inside of the package to show how much water, always hard to measure it out in a Jetboil Cheese clumped a lot so you get some cheese in some bites but not all Overall an pretty tasty and satisfying meal after a hard day of paddling and I would recommend it!
Filling but not creamy
I tried to make the 3 cheese Mac & cheese as directed but may have added a bit too much water. I’m camping so measuring 1.25 cups is hard in the field. The pasta cooked perfectly and it was vey easy. I expected more of a creamy texture but it ended up somewhat watery without cheese coating the pasta. The taste is great and very satisfying. If I used this on a bikepacking or backpacking adventure I wouldn’t want to share - 550 calories for the package hits the spot for me. Given its light weight and ease of preparation I’ll add this to my pack on a trip
Return of the MAC
I almost didn’t buy this because of the other ratings. I’m glad I ignored them and this means you should only listen to this far superior review. This Mac and Cheese is dope. With most backpackers panty, you want to use a little extra water and a little extra time to get that dish just right. I was in the middle of work on a property and set this bad boy up with boiling water and let it sit for an hour. I didn’t even stir it, because I’m a G like that. It was honestly delicious. It’s not creamy but it’s better than home cooked vegan Mac and cheese. Add a little cracked pepper and you’re really cooking. I’m adding this as a staple in my camping gear. 11/10 Will eat again.
Great meal for my hike
This product came in a resealable package and good for resealing so the product could be cooked for the prescribed time. After the first heating it was a little difficult to get all the ingredients mixed up because of the crease in the bottom of the bag. After the prescribed cooking time I found the noodles to be aldenta but all the cheese powder didn't desolve completely. As for the taste it wasn't to bad. On the second reheating of this Mac & cheese survived the second reheating and it didn't lose any flavor or consistency. This is really pretty good and filling. I would also recommend this product to my friends. There is one recommendation I would like to make and that would be change the cheese powder to paste. This would cook and devolve completely and cover the noodles better. I gave it 4 stars because the powder didn't devolve completely.
Cut the Size and Kept the Price
This is my favorite meal, but they followed the trend of mountain house and cut the size and kept the price. In fact this was always more than mountain house. For those of us doing long backpacking for days, we need the calories. This now is effectively for car camping. I feel this way about all of the new Backpackers Pantry items. Great quality meals, but come on, didn’t you think we would notice?
THE BEST, UNTIL SOMEONE STEALS IT FROM YOU
The 3 Cheese Mac & Cheese is the best backpacking dehydrated meal I've ever found. OK, that's not saying much, but it really is my favorite. It's so good, I once spent an entire day summiting San Jacinto in winter dreaming about it and the mere thought of enjoying the cheesy, gooey goodness later definitely kept me going through a couple hours of groveling in snow. And then I got back to camp and found out my buddy who left early had taken his canister away... and with it all my food INCLUDING MY MAC AND CHEESE. To this day I'm still mad at him. My grandchildren will likely still hear about it. No but really. Just the right amount of salt, and it actually tastes like pasta and cheese. It says two servings, that is a lie. You will eat it whole. Trust me.
Good Flavor Mac and Cheese
I ate this on my last night of a 6 day backpacking trip. I followed the instructions regarding the amount of water and the hydration times. The noodles hydrated perfectly - they came out al dente, which is better than a mac and cheese from a different maker I had the night before that had noddles that were a bit crunchy. When I opened the bag I immediately smelled the cheese, and thought that it smelled good. This was further confirmed when eaten - the cheese flavor was very good, and in combination with the noodle quality make this a dinner I would purchase. Note, though, that the cheese was a bit clumpy rather than a creamy cheese sauce. In all, a good dinner at the end of a long day.
May as well rebrand to Car-campers Pantry
*Check the nutritional info before ordering this!* About 6 months ago Backpackers Pantry remade a ton of their recipes to remove around 300 calories from them while keeping them the same price. HELLO, if your audience is backpackers, we need more than 500 calories for a dinner and will accept inflation to keep getting meals in the 700-900 calorie range. Please stop calling a 510 calorie meal two servings. Pre-2022 vs. current nutritional info for BP Three Cheese Mac & Cheese, for anyone who is curious: Weight: 7.1 oz (201g) vs. 4.2 oz (119g) Calories: 860 vs. 510 Fat: 30g vs. 18g Carbs: 106g vs. 64g Protein: 40g vs. 24g PS, no shade at car-camping :) I just know the average person typically burns fewer calories when car camping, and has extra food sitting around in case we're still hungry after dinner.
Kids like it but serving size was reduced
I think it's just OK, nothing special, but we have been buying this for a few years because the kids like it when we backpack. However, the serving size has been significantly reduced while the label still says 2 serving. What use to feed 2 kids with some leftovers now barely feeds one. If they are going to reduce the serving size then they should change the label to say one serving.