Macaroni and cheese lovers know that some chefs throw a handful of Cheetos crumbs into their dish to give the pasta dish a little more flavor, and PepsiCo is now releasing a Cheetos brand macaroni and cheese that is much cheaper than the gourmet alternatives.
On Wednesday, PepsiCo announced that Cheetos Mac ‘n Cheese will officially release on Saturday, August 8th in the United States at Walmart (and on their website). PepsiCo Foods North America anticipates the full launch of the product nationwide next year.
You will be able to grab the Mac ‘n Cheese in boxes or single-serving cups, and both products have a suggested retail price of 98 cents. Die hard Cheetos fans may end up buying all the stock available if you’re not the first one in the aisle.
The three flavors arriving are Bold & Cheesy, Flamin’ Hot (a fan favorite), and Cheesy Jalapeno. Each flavor includes the brightly-colored flavoring we all know and contains corkscrew noodles – inspired by mascot Chester Cheetah’s tail.
I decided to run a poll to see what my audience thought about the new option:
Many people are thrilled with the arrival of the new product as most consumers are cooking at home far more often. Even before the release of this product, people are cooking Mac ‘n Cheese topped with their chosen Cheetos products.
Joseph Mallozzi tweeted, “Cheetos Mac and Cheese? Yes or no?” and the replies started coming in.
“HELL YEAH!!” said two fans with GIFs.
However, not everyone felt like this was a huge win for their home cooking or their stomach. James Fonda said, “Ew… Kraft is fake enough, though I enjoy it, but that’s even faker.”
Rachel Ferdinando, SVP, CMO Frito-Lay North America said in a press release, “We’ve seen incredible culinary creativity form our Cheetos fans through the years, taking our product and using it as an actual ingredient in recipes – whether at restaurants, or now more than ever, at home. Cheetos Mac ‘n Cheese borrows that culinary inspiration to provide a mischievous mashup of an ordinary fan favorite.”
Will this new Mac ‘n Cheese launch end up flopping or becoming a huge success? We’ll have to wait to find out.
