Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese…The Homemade vs. The Microwave Version

I love Trader Joe’s. Well, to be fair, its a love/hate relationship, but they have been my go-to grocery store since I moved back to California in 2003.

Why love and hate? Well, you gotta love the prices. 19 cent bananas, 2 dollar bags of spinach…everything at Trader Joe’s seems to be at least a dollar less than the same items in grocery stores like Ralphs or Vons, or even 2 dollars less or more than your grocery stores like Whole Foods and Erewhon. I love that they always keep up with what is trending, creating their own versions of trending items, like cauliflower pizza crust and zucchini spirals, and they will always let you try items you aren’t sure of or bring something back if it didn’t work out for you.

I really shouldn’t use the word hate, but there are some things I find less appealing about the store. However, these are things I can control. One is the amount of treats they have. Yes, I do LOVE all the goodies that come around during the holidays, but I feel like they take over the store, and as a family of one, keeping bags of candy corn popcorn and pumpkin mochi ice cream…let’s just say they don’t last long.

So this isn’t a huge deal, but another thing I have grown to find somewhat disappointing is the frozen foods. Don’t get me wrong, I see the convenience aspect of frozen meals, and I do understand being a busy person, having a family and a commute, but just hear me out…

A few weeks back I posted a copycat recipe of Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Rice Bowl. I had found it in the frozen section and it looked like a fun, relatively healthy item to try, so I bought it. I came home and was looking at the ingredients on the back, and I suddenly realized…hey, I could make this just as easily. So I went back to Trader Joe’s and bought the fresh ingredients that most closely mimicked the ingredients on the frozen version and recreated it.

I got a lot of positive feedback from that recipe, so I thought it would be fun to do it again. Hey…maybe this will become a thing!

So this time around, I decided that it would be fun to recreate Trader Joe’s popular seasonal item, Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese.

So here is the back of the box with the nutrition label and ingredients. To be honest, this isn’t TERRIBLE. Ingredient wise, they take each ingredient and break it down in parentheses , so it looks like a lot. It’s kind of terrifying for someone to see that, but breaking down every single thing even in the gouda cheese, it just looks like a lot. Plus cellulose powder adds dietary bulk and can act as a laxative, so…not sure that’s necessary.

So this is what it looks like cooked ( I did add the parsley to make it prettier). It doesn’t look bad, right? But a few things…this is considered TWO servings. Kind of small, right? I would probably eat two servings very easily if I was hungry, and then look at the sodium intake for two servings. 41 percent seems like a lot for this dish. Again, I am sure the salt helps to preserve it, since it’s frozen, but…not necessary.

Also, I can’t detect a butternut squash flavor. I get that they may have mixed it in with the cheese, because that is what I did in my recipe, but my gut tells me there is VERY little. If I am going to buy a mac and cheese that is called BUTTERNUT SQUASH mac and cheese, I want to taste some butternut squash…otherwise I can just buy the plain one, right? So, in making my own version, that is going to be fixed.

So, first and foremost, in making my version, there is definitely actual fresh butternut squash. Yes, I did buy the already chopped up chunks, but that is the beauty of Trader Joe’s and one of the things I love…they have fresh and healthy convenience items too.

Also, important…cheese. REAL cheese. Of course, cheese is high in fat and can be salty and tends to be overeaten by a fair amount of the population, but this is MACARONI and CHEESE. While, I could do a vegan version, I wanted to replicate the frozen version here. I figured there is no better way to do so than to go buy the actual bricks of the different cheeses used in the Trader Joe’s version, grate them and use them. Plus, I can delegate how much goes into my recipe, so because Gouda and Parmesan are more sharp cheeses, I can use less and they will still add significant flavor.

I also decided I wanted to use a heartier pasta with more protein and fiber. What better pasta than Banza? I do some work with this company, so I have an excess of it in my pantry, so using this as my base was a no-brainer. One serving has 25 grams of protein and 13 grams of fiber, so it is definitely more filling than the whole wheat rigatoni, which has some fiber and protein, but not quite as much as Banza.

So, when all was said and done, my recipe made a good 6-7 servings, as you can see here.

Here is a better photo, once I plated it. I do think it looks similar to the Trader Joe Version, but it has a lot more butternut squash flavor, less salt and one serving is much larger.

Another thing I liked about making a larger batch is that even though people buy the frozen, microwavable one for convenience, if you knew you could make this and have it for several meals during the week, with added vegetables and/or ground turkey/bison/chicken, wouldn’t that be convenient enough to convince a busy person to make their own once in awhile?