Call me a little kid, but macaroni and cheese is still one of my favorite foods. I could eat it every day of the week. Boxed, homemade, deli section of a grocery store…you name it. I love mac and cheese in all its forms, including extremely unconventional ones.

In tonight’s blog post, I want to quickly rank the top five “out of the box” (pun intended) macaroni and cheese dishes/snacks I have enjoyed.

5. Mac and Cheese Wedges – I used to get these at the minor league ballpark in Missoula. Usually served too hot to eat, the filling looked and tasted like it was from a 10 year old box of generic mac and cheese that you would buy at a dollar store. But it was still (technically) macaroni and cheese so I didn’t care! Although I might not pop these back as frequently as I did several years ago, I thought they were pretty cool at the time.

4. Lays #DoMeAFlavor Bacon Mac & Cheese Chips – For those who want mac and cheese while on the run, eating cheesy noodles out of a bowl is tough. Thankfully, at least for a limited time, you could grab a bag of Lays bacon mac and cheese chips. I thought they were good and I could definitely taste the cheddar flavor. However, this macaroni and cheese incarnation only made it to the #4 spot because, as I said in my 2014 blog post, the chips tasted more like potato soup than mac and cheese.

Front and center, I am holding the bag of Bacon Mac and Cheese chips.

3. Cici’s Mac and Cheese Pizza – Genius. Pure genius. Cici’s, an all-you-can-eat pizza chain, combined my two favorite foods into one. How can you beat a pizza topped with macaroni and cheese? I saw this pie hit the buffet line a few years ago with Sidney and I almost lost it with excitement. Although it looked better than it tasted, it was by no means a complete disaster. At the very least I give it an A+ for effort.

It has been almost exactly three years since I ate macaroni and cheese pizza at Cici’s.

2. Mac and Cheese Burger – Believe it or not, mac and cheese burgers are not new or unique to any place. If you go to a gourmet burger joint, chances are they will have a macaroni and cheese burger on the menu. Some places will literally slap a layer of mac and cheese on top of the burger and call it good while other restaurants will place a deep fried helping between the patty and bun (my preference). The combination of pasta, cheese, meat, and bread is unbeatable.

I ate this mac and cheese burger at River City Café in 2015.

1. Macaroni and Cheese Egg Rolls – If you ever visit South Carolina, make sure to eat at a King Street Grille. Once at the restaurant, place an order for the macaroni and cheese egg rolls the moment you sit down. Prepare to enter mac and cheese Nirvana. Crispy, flaky deep fried dough surrounds creamy, delicious macaroni and cheese. It is a special delight that will most likely fill you up before you even have the chance to take a bite out of your entrée. Sidney and I made sure to get these during our anniversary dinner last week and they were just as good as we remembered them.

These are our mac and cheese egg rolls from King Street Grille last week.

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Macaroni and cheese was not on the menu tonight (in any form) but it sure sounds good right now. Is there a crazy mac and cheese dish I need to know about? Please let me know! Don’t Blink.