Chick-Fil-A pushed out their new Mac n Cheese into all their franchises yesterday after a successful test-launch in five markets: Baltimore, Houston/San Antonio, Phoenix, Nashville and Greensboro, NC.
I decided to be a smarty pants and do a blind tasting with The Man to determine which was better: Chick-Fil-A or my homemade mac n cheese.
To make mine I used half Jarlsberg and half sharp cheddar following the cheese sauce recipe in Kurt Dammeier’s Pure Flavor. (One of my favorite cookbooks – actually it’s more than a cookbook; it’s Kurt’s philosophy regarding food.) It’s the same recipe used to make Beecher’s “World’s Best” Mac n Cheese. I also used the same cheese sauce to macaroni ratio in the Pure Flavor recipe. (These are my “go-to” recipes when making mac n cheese – the cheeses change, depending on what I have on hand or need to use up.)
I bought the large size Chick-Fil-A mac n cheese (Six bucks and change) which made two side dish sized servings.
To make it fair and to get an honest response from The Man, I served both in identical dishes with similar serving sizes. I marked the bottom of the Chick-Fil- A mac n cheese with “C”.
I knew which was which but The Man did not see them before I served him.
First, The Man’s thoughts and then I’ll add my own:
- The Man liked them both and would be happy eating either.
- The Chick-Fil-A had less sauce – he was correct, it did have less.
- He thought the macaroni in mine was a better quality, “toothier”. I agree.
- He thought mine needed more salt – I never add the salt the recipe calls for; usually the salt in the cheese(s) compensates. This time they didn’t; mine did need more salt. We added a little salt and then The Man thought it might be a “tie”.
- But before adding the salt, the Chick-Fil-A was his favorite.
And now for my thoughts:
- Considering the creaminess of the Chick-Fil-A, I would think they use a blend of cheeses than includes either American Cheese or Velveeta. The sauce’s color would also suggest the same. (An article I read states the cheeses used are “a cheddar blend, parmesan and romano cheeses. In the South, a lot of people consider American Cheese a cheddar. I don’t, mainly because it isn’t. Heck, it isn’t even cheese. I’m not claiming that the “cheddar blend” contains American Cheese, just passing along an observation as a Southern.)
- Not sure if it is made or assembled on the franchise premises or comes in already made, requiring just heating. There was a thin crust mixed into the tub I brought home.
- Frankly, I liked it. I prefer my own, but that might be prejudice toward homemade versus fast food. I know my ingredients and my problem with fast food, and most restaurants in general, is not knowing what’s in the dish.
- As for the salt issue, this is another problem I have with restaurant food – two hours after eating out, I’m dying of thirst from the amounts of salt added to dishes to give them more flavor.
The Lavonia Mac n Cheese Smackdown was a draw.
Beecher’s Handmade Mac n Cheese, which Martha Stewart called “The World’s Best Mac n Cheese”, can be purchased online by clicking here.
I’ll be at Blue Haven Bee this Saturday 8/17 from 1 to 6pm with my cheese plates. This week I’ll be showcasing my new fig spreads made from Jan Taylor’s figs which she and I picked this past Saturday. As always the plates will be $10. Also available will be my Creamy Cheddar and Spicy Pimento Cheese Spreads.
In addition to being an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, 
cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.
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