By Geno McGahee
I love buffalo chicken. It’s tremendous. I’m also a fan of mac and cheese. So, the combination of the two seemed like a really good idea, but frozen meals can be disappointing.
The two Buffalo chicken mac & cheese meals I opted for were from DEVOUR and MARIE CALLENDER. I opted not to get the Banquet, but that’s not saying that I’ll never give them a try. Maybe they’ve improved. I’ve not had a Banquet meal in 20 years.
I nuked both meals. So, all of you that prefer to use the oven to bake their frozen meals, this may not be totally accurate. To those that use the microwave, this is for you. To accurately compare the two, I needed some categories. Keep in mind, this is my first food comparison review. So bear with me.
PRESENTATION
After nuking these things, I took a look and I was way more exciting about the Marie Callendar version. The mac and cheese was creamy looking and it looked quite good. The Devour looked mushy and not creamy at all. The chicken pieces were bigger in the Marie Callender version too and I expected the meal to be better just judging by the overall presentation.
Winner – Marie Callendar
SPICE FACTOR
If it’s Buffalo chicken and they are using Buffalo flavor, I expect a bite to it. Sadly, the Marie Callendar had zero bite. The flavor is barely there. On the other hand, Devour, although not really hot, had a much better Buffalo flavor.
Winner – Devour
CHICKEN
The chicken in the Marie Callendar looked very good, but turned out to be incredibly chewy and highly processed, obviously. The texture was horrible and, after eating a part of two different pieces, I could not stomach any more. This was terrible. Devour wasn’t too bad. I’m not sure if it’s processed or not, but it looked like real chicken and had good texture. Big win here for Devour.
Winner – Devour
MAC & CHEESE
The mac and cheese in Marie Callendar was very creamy and good, despite it lacking the spicy flavor that I expected. I could have eaten this without the chicken and that’s the only way I would ever eat this meal. Devour was mushy as hell. I wonder if an oven would give it better results. The noodles stuck together and was just a clumpy mess. It was tasty but the noodles were far better in the Marie Callendar meal.
Winner – Marie Callendar
VERDICT
Despite the better mac and cheese, the rubbery chicken ruins the Marie Callendar Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese meal. Had it had good chicken, this would have rocked, but it wasn’t to be. Devour, even though the mac and cheese was clumpy and mushy, still tasted very good and the chicken was rather tasty too. I would definitely buy the Devour again, but I can’t say the same for Marie Callendar. They have to get better chicken because that rubbery chicken that they supply ruins the meal.
