So a few weeks ago, Arby’s recently debuted a new side item for people to try, and that is the new Fried Mac ‘N Cheese Bites.
Seeing this on the menu got me very excited as Mac and Cheese is one of my all time favorite foods to eat, and to see it fried and made into a small ball shaped appetizer just sounds absolutely delicious. Now I know Arby’s gets a lot of hate from people, but it also gets a lot of love too. When it makes things right, it really is right and hopefully this new item will taste absolutely delicious.
Although, I’m a few weeks late to trying this item out, I am still very excited and hopefully you all will be too! So lets head on over to Arby’s and get the Fried Mac ‘N Cheese Bites to do a review.
Buying The Fried Mac ‘N Cheese Bites
I got in my car and drove all the way to the Arby’s, and when I got there, it was quite crowded with people. Didn’t help that I came during lunch time, so a lot of the customers were probably here on their lunch break buying their meals.
Either way, the wait wasn’t too bad, as shortly after it was my turn to order.
And immediately I saw on the sign that it says Fried Mac ‘N Cheese Bites! And under the sign it says you could make it a meal too, which was great for me as I was hungry.
I spoke to the intercom and asked for the new Fried Mac ‘N Cheese Bites and to make it a meal, but was surprised when they said that it doesn’t come in a meal and I could only get it as a side item. Which was weird, because the sign I saw next to the intercom literally says you could make it a meal.
Either way, I didn’t want that to deter my experience, so I ordered one order of the Mac ‘N Cheese Bites and a large Coke Zero. I then drove to the window and the price for my order was around $7.23 with the Mac ‘N Cheese Bites costing around $3.89 for 4 pieces. I think that price point was pretty fair.
After I paid, I waited around 2 minutes and then my food came, and I was excited!
Lets go do the review!
What Does The Fried Mac ‘N Cheese Bites Look Like
Taking the Fried Mac ‘N Cheese Bites out of the bag, I noticed that it came in the typical box that usually holds your fries in.
And looking at it, it carried four bite sized Mac ‘N Cheese Bites which looked great.
They were a bit on the darker shade of brown, but you could instantly smell the cheese and it was glorious. Although in my opinion, even being bite sized, they were really small. I was expecting them to be a bit bigger, but I guess for $3.89, you can’t really complain.
Other than that, I was surprise there was no sauce to pair with it.
Usually when I get Mac ‘N Cheese Bites, they would usually pair together with some type of sauce to help it in flavor and wetness, but I guess Arby’s made these Mac ‘N Cheese Bites differently.
So with that being said, I can’t wait any longer.
Lets go try the Mac ‘N Cheese Bites!
What Does The Fried Mac ‘N Cheese Bites Taste Like
I grabbed one of the Mac ‘N Cheese Bites and it was piping hot!
I had to blow on it for a few seconds to cool it down as it must have been freshly made and just came out of the fryer. Anyways, after it cooled down a bit, I took a bite.
“Crunch”
Texture wise, this thing had amazing texture all around. Outside batter was thin but super crispy all around, and the macaroni was cooked just right. It wasn’t too soft and wasn’t too hard with a bit of a toothsome feel.
However, I noticed that the cheese flavor was pretty light and you could barely notice it.
Like, it was weird to describe because I could literally see the cheese and how stringy the cheese was, but when I was chewing it around, it felt pretty bland. The cheese flavor was so light I literally felt like I was just chewing on raw macaroni without any type of flavor.
Not only that, but after chewing for a few seconds, I noticed it was starting to be somewhat dry in your mouth. Which wasn’t pleasant when you’re wanting to eat Mac and Cheese.
Which led to my previous question of wondering why they didn’t provide a sauce.
Because as good as the texture is, this Mac ‘N Cheese Bites definitely needed some type of sauce to help elevate it to the next level. And it could be any sauce in that matter, in fact, if they just provided a simple marinara sauce, it would be so much better.
Just adding some type of sauce could give it more wetness to help offset the dry texture as well as provide some type of added flavor to pair with the cheese and macaroni.
The Mac ‘N Cheese Bites were okay, but I feel let down a bit as I was definitely expecting it to be so much better.
How Can The Fried Mac ‘N Cheese Bites Be Improved
In my opinion, I think the Fried Mac ‘N Cheese Bites needed a lot more cheese inside them.
When I was eating it, I could barely feel any cheese flavor whatsoever. I’m not sure what kind of cheese they used, but they should probably switch to a cheese with a stronger more robust type of flavor.
Also, they should add some type of sauce as well.
Similar to what the Cheesecake Factory does, where they serve their Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls with Marinara, Arby’s should do the same.
If Arby’s added some type of sauce like Marinara or something similar, I can see this being so much better.
Overall Thoughts
At the end of the day, the Fried Mac ‘N Cheese Bites are just okay for what they are.
At around $3.89, you can’t really ask for much, but I would like to see them be improved. They definitely do have potential and can be a great success if they made the flavor much stronger or at least added some kind of sauce to pair with it.
But if you have an itch for Mac and Cheese and want to settle for Arby’s, this may help you out but I would personally pass on these.
Overall Rating: 6.0
Lets hope Arby’s improves the Fried Mac ‘N Cheese Bites later on and make it better, because as it is right now, it definitely needs some help.
