Mac n' Cheetos are a

deep-fried Deep frying (also referred to as deep fat frying) is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, traditionally lard but today most commonly oil, as opposed to the shallow oil used in conventional frying done in a frying pan. Norm ...

macaroni and cheese Macaroni and cheese (also called mac and cheese in Canada and the United States and macaroni cheese in the United Kingdom BBC, RecipesMacaroni Cheese/ref>) is a dish of cooked macaroni pasta and a cheese sauce, most commonly Cheddar sauce. Th ...

product based on the

Frito-Lay Frito-Lay is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-fla ...

snack

Cheetos Cheetos (formerly styled as Chee-tos until 1998) is a crunchy corn puff snack brand made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the U.S. The in ...

. Mac n' Cheetos were introduced in late June 2016 and sold at

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant c ...

in limited supplies. The original product contained five pieces and was served with a side of

ranch dressing Ranch dressing is an American salad dressing usually made from buttermilk, salt, garlic, onion, mustard, herbs (commonly chives, parsley and dill), and spices (commonly pepper, paprika and ground mustard seed) mixed into a sauce based on mayonnais ...

. Today, Mac n' Cheetos are available frozen at grocery stores around the United States. Many publications have pointed out that Mac n' Cheetos is part of a larger trend of blending fast foods with well-known snack foods, as well as reflecting the current state of fast food alliances.

Product description

Mac n' Cheetos are fried macaroni and cheese bites shaped and coated to resemble Cheetos brand

cheese curls Cheese puffs, cheese curls, cheese balls, cheese ball puffs, cheesy puffs, or corn curls are a puffed corn snack, coated with a mixture of cheese or cheese-flavored powders. They are manufactured by extruding heated corn dough through a die ...

. The fried shell of a curl is crunchy, and is flavored and colored like Cheetos. Burger King president Alex Macedo described the food item as a "triple threat", because it combines Burger King, Cheetos, and macaroni and cheese. ''Mac n' Cheetos'' is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words

History

Fried macaroni and cheese had existed prior to the introduction of Mac n' Cheetos.

The Cheesecake Factory The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. The company operates 219 full-service restaurants: 206 under The Cheesecake Factory brand and 13 under the Grand Lux ...

and

Wayback Burgers Wayback Burgers, previously known as Jake's Wayback Burgers, is an American fast casual restaurant chain based in Cheshire, Connecticut. Wayback serves typical hamburger restaurant foods such as hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, milkshakes ...

have sold similar products in the past. Other fast food restaurants like

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, incl ...

have previously employed a similar strategy. In 2012, Taco Bell, which is owned by

Yum! Brands Yum! Brands, Inc. (or Yum!), formerly Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., is an American fast food corporation listed on the Fortune 1000. Yum! operates the brands KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill, except in China, where the ...

, introduced the Doritos Locos Taco, whose taco shell is composed of the Doritos chip. Offshoots followed as Cool Ranch, Nacho Cheese, and Fiery Doritos. ''Consumerist''s Laura Northrup compared them to

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. ...

's Doritos Loaded and

Hostess Brands Hostess Brands is an American-based bakery company formed in 2013. It owns several bakeries in the United States that produce snack cakes under the Hostess and Dolly Madison brand names and its Canadian subsidiary, Voortman Cookies Limited, pr ...

Twinkie A Twinkie is an American snack cake, described as "golden sponge cake with a creamy filling". It was formerly made and distributed by Hostess Brands. The brand is currently owned by Hostess Brands, Inc. (), having been formerly owned by privat ...

s sold at participating

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

locations. In 2015, Burger King entered into a partnership with

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the man ...

, which also owns the

Doritos Doritos () is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced since 1964 by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The original Doritos were not flavored. The first flavor was Toasted Corn, released in 1966, followed by Taco ...

and Ruffles brands. On June 22, 2016, Burger King announced that they would begin selling the product the next week. The product was test-marketed at Burger King restaurants during a product trial in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

. Mac n' Cheetos were introduced nationwide on June 27, 2016. In an interview, Burger King president Alex Macedo said, "We’re partnering up with one of Americans’ favorite brands. It's quite unique." Later, Burger King offered Cheeto Chicken Fries, based on their

BK Chicken Fries BK Chicken Fries are a fried chicken product sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King. At the time of their introduction in 2005, the company had intended Chicken Fries to be one of their larger, adult-oriented products ...

. Mac n' Cheetos, including other Burger King products like the recently introduced

Oscar Mayer Oscar Mayer is an American meat and cold cut producer known for its hot dogs, bologna, bacon, ham, and Lunchables products. The company is a subsidiary of the Kraft Heinz Company and based in Chicago, Illinois. History Early years German ...

hot dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...

s, reflects the fast-food alliances restaurants have with other companies. While

owns

, the American restaurants sell

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atla ...

beverages. Despite this recent product, Macedo remarked, "It’s not a plan for us to migrate to Pepsi. Our relationship with Coke is as good as it is with PepsiCo." However, Macedo has also said, "We’re working on a few other menu items. There’s room for us to do more together in the future." Mac n' Cheetos have also been sold at U.S. convenience store/

gas station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasol ...

Sheetz Sheetz, Inc. is an American chain of convenience stores and coffee shops owned by the Sheetz family. The stores sell custom food, beverages and convenience store items, with all locations having offered 24/7 service since the 1980s. Nearly all o ...

stores in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

and

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. On May 18, 2017, Burger King returned the Mac n' Cheetos to its menu for a limited time. Frito-Lay also introduced a "Flamin' Hot Mac n' Cheetos" based on a spicier variant of Cheetos. In response to fan interest following the popularity of the Burger King limited time releases, Frito-Lay released frozen Mac n' Cheetos in grocery stores.

Reception

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...

'' described them as "bright orange" with a "pretty unusual" shape. The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

''s Joseph Hernandez called the color of the menu item "neon-orange". ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outl ...

''s Ben Kaye remarked that they were "new cat poop-shaped fried mac and Cheeto cheese curls". ''

Consumerist ''Consumerist'' (also known as ''The Consumerist'') was a non-profit consumer affairs website owned by Consumer Media LLC, a subsidiary of ''Consumer Reports'', with content created by a team of full-time reporters and editors. The site's focu ...

''s Ashlee Kieler perceived its color as "glowing, orange-ish". ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...

''s Dami Lee commented that they were "coagulated orange clumps of processed cheese". ''

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...

''s Leslie Patton said it was "portable macaroni-and-cheese bites are similar to mozzarella sticks". ''

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and sea ...

''s Mike Pomranz said "Like a car crash, this bizarre mashup is just too intense to ignore." ''

The Raw Story ''Raw Story'' (also stylized as ''RawStory'') is an American progressive news website. It was founded in 2004 by John K. Byrne and is owned by Byrne and Michael Rogers. History Byrne, the former editor-in-chief of '' The Oberlin Review'', ...

''s Brad Reed saw it as "radioactive-orange" and "

Trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...

-colored", but remarked "do look marginally more appetizing than the terrifying bright-red Whopper Burger King released earlier this year". ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or Habit (psychology), habit generally considered immorality, immoral, sinful, crime, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refe ...

''s Alex Swerdloff noted the product as "a chode-like mass" and resembling "the lovechild of E.T.’s finger and a bloated corpse that was given a spray tan". ''Yahoo! Style''s Claire Lower called them "orange nuggets". ''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

''s Megan McArdle reported it "bearing the same resemblance to real food as a plastic Lego tree does to a stately elm". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

''s Joshua David Stein said the Cheetos crust was "bright orange". ''

The Capital Times ''The Capital Times'' (or ''Cap Times'') is a digital-first newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by The Capital Times Company. The company also owns 50 percent of Capital Newspapers, which now does business as Madison Media Partners. The ot ...

''s Rob Thomas said they were "five stubby cylinders that look like mozzarella sticks, dusted heavily with orange Cheeto dust". ''

Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German pub ...

'' performed a blind taste test for Mac n' Cheetos. About half of the testers were repulsed by the product.

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...

's ''Chew On This'' enacted a blind taste test for Mac n' Cheetos in the streets of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Reception proved positive. In the web series ''Juggalos Review Foods'', two

Insane Clown Posse Insane Clown Posse, often abbreviated as ICP, is an American hip hop duo. Formed in Detroit in 1989 as a gangsta rap group, ICP's best known lineup consists of rappers Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (originally 2 Dope; Joseph Utsl ...

fans (or

Juggalo A juggalo (feminine juggalette, or juggala in Spanish) is a fan of the hip hop group Insane Clown Posse or any other hip hop group signed to Psychopathic Records. Juggalos have developed their own idioms, slang, and characteristics. T ...

s) tried the Mac n' Cheetos with a more mixed reception. One of the hosts appraised the food product with "this tastes like processed weird gross mac and cheese-like gimmicky piece of crap food item from Burger King". ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...

''s Ted Berg said "they’re not good" but also "not totally awful" either. ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

''s Mike Fahey said "pleased to report that Mac n’ Cheetos taste much better than they look" but also that they do not taste like the cheese puff but rather like the

Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toas ...

cracker

Cheez-It Cheez-It is a brand of cheese cracker manufactured by the Kellogg Company through its Sunshine Biscuits division. Approximately , the rectangular crackers are made with wheat flour, vegetable oil, cheese made with skim milk, salt, and spices. ...

. ''

''s Joseph Hernandez described the meal as "gritty, fried nugget of Easy Mac, rolled in the remains of the bottom of a bag of Cheetos". ''Yahoo! Style''s Claire Lower said "I liked them but, maybe this is because my standards for stunt food are much too high, I didn't love them." ''

''s Rob Thomas reviewed the interior of the Mac n' Cheetos favorably stating "does indeed have the satisfying cheesy blandness of a container of quick-zapped microwave Easy Mac, salty and starchy". However, Thomas was critical of how it did not taste like Cheetos saying " ’s very disappointing". When the menu item was brought back in October 2016 by Sheetz, ''Consumerist''s Laura Northrup described them as "orange breaded carbohydrate globs." '' Fortune''s Michal Addady called it "essentially fried mac and cheese coated with flavoring from Cheetos, a PepsiCo brand." ''

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. ...

''s Claire Warner described Mac n' Cheetos returning via Sheetz as "the Internet basically threw a party." When the food item returned to the Burger King menu on May 18, 2017, ''Eater.com''s Amanda Kludt described it as "novelty dish and

millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 20 ...

-bait." ''

Brit + Co Brit + Co is a website and lifestyle brand targeted at women. The company was founded by Brit Morin in 2011. History Brit + Co was founded in late 2011 by Brit Morin Brittany "Brit" Morin (born 6 December 1985) is an American venture capita ...

''s Maggie McCracken ranked Mac n' Cheetos #1 on the list "10 Most Popular Mac and Cheese #Cheatday Meals on Instagram" with "a WHOPping (get it?)" 35,000

like In English, the word ''like'' has a very flexible range of uses, ranging from conventional to non-standard. It can be used as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, particle, conjunction, hedge, filler, and quotative. Uses Comparison ...

s on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. ''

''s Claire Warner said "it sounds like what happens when you accidentally drop a glob of macaroni and cheese into a half-consumed bag of Cheetos resting on your lap, and a few hours later, you decide to eat said glob because it's 2 a.m. and nobody's watching. You already know if this is something you're into."

Price

Mac n' Cheetos contains five pieces and was originally priced in

at about $2.50 In New York City, the total cost including

New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a U.S. state, state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the List of U.S. ...

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a gove ...

is $3.26. ''

''s Ted Berg was critical of the price choice, as he thought it would be 99¢ at Taco Bell. When the food item was brought back in October 2016 at

, it was priced at $2.99. Sheetz offers it available for pickup via the Sheetz Apps menu. However, it costs $3.49 in

Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 Census, making it the eighteenth most populous city in Pennsylvania. ...

. In May 2017, the Mac n' Cheetos was priced $2.69 at Burger King.

Advertising

Burger King called its product a "dangerously cheesy re-imagination". In May 2017, a press release described them as "cheesiest, most amplified version of mac n’ cheese imaginable." In June 2016, a commercial featuring

Chester Cheetah Chester Cheetah is a fictional character and the official mascot for Frito-Lay's Cheetos brand snacks as well as Chester's Snacks which consists of flavored fries, popcorn and puffcorn. History 1985–2003: Traditional animation Cheetos' orig ...

unboxing Unboxing is the unpacking of products, especially high tech consumer products, where the process is captured on video and uploaded to the internet. The item is then also explained in detail and also can sometimes be demonstrated as well. Yaho ...

the Mac n' Cheetos debuted. In May 2017, David Miami created a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

starring The Burger King and Chester Cheetah dancing to the

Mark Morrison Mark Morrison (born 3 May 1972) is a British R&B singer. His single, " Return of the Mack", became a No. 1 or top 10 hit in several European countries in 1996. The song peaked at No. 2 in the United States the following year. Career Mark M ...

R&B song "

Return of the Mack "Return of the Mack" is a song written and recorded by British R&B singer Mark Morrison, released as the third single from his debut album by the same name (1996). It topped the UK Singles Chart a month after its release, then became a Euro ...

", remade as "Return of the Mac n' Cheetos".

References

External links