Annie's Super Mac Shells & Real Aged Cheddar: Nutrition & Labelgrade B- (73/100)
B- 73 / 100 — Annie's took ordinary boxed mac and engineered in real macros: 15g protein and 6g fiber per serving, thanks to added organic pea protein and a wheat base. Genuinely strong for the category. The structural catch is sodium — 660mg per serving in the dry mix alone, before you add the butter and milk the box calls for.
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Annie’s Super Mac Shells & Real Aged Cheddar delivers 15 g of protein and 6 g of fiber for 280 calories in a 2.6 oz (74 g) dry serving — roughly double the protein and triple the fiber of an ordinary box of mac and cheese (USDA FDC 2746554). That is the entire reason the “Super Mac” line exists: it’s Annie’s higher-protein mac, engineered by making organic pea protein the second ingredient rather than leaning on cheese alone. It earns a B- (73/100), with B+-or-better marks on protein, fiber, sugar and saturated fat. One dimension drags the whole grade down, and it’s structural to the format.
Why the B-
| Dimension | Grade | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein density | B+ | 80 / 100 | 20 g per 100 g of dry mix — excellent for mac and cheese, about double a conventional box. The added pea protein, not the cheddar, does the work |
| Ingredient quality | B- | 72 / 100 | A recognizable 10-item label led by organic wheat flour, organic pea protein, real aged cheddar and whey; sodium phosphate is the one flagged additive, and there are no artificial colors or preservatives |
| Saturated fat load | B+ | 82 / 100 | 2 g per dry serving — moderate, and lower than most cheese-powder mac. Climbs once you add the called-for butter |
| Sodium load | F | 20 / 100 | 660 mg per dry serving (~29% of the daily limit), before any butter or milk — the clear weak point, and baked into the boxed-mac format |
| Sugar load | A+ | 100 / 100 | ~5 g, none added — incidental sugars from the wheat and dairy |
| Fiber | A- | 87 / 100 | ~6 g per serving — outstanding for mac and cheese, and the formula’s quietest win, riding on the same pea-and-wheat base as the protein |
The honest read: five of the six dimensions are genuinely good, and the protein and fiber numbers are real engineering wins, not label spin. The F on sodium is what costs it a full letter grade — 660 mg is a lot for a single dry serving, and it’s there because cheese-powder mac uses salt to do the flavor work that fresh cheese and fat would otherwise provide. You can’t cook that out, but you can avoid making it worse (see prep, below).
The pea-protein move, and why it matters
What separates “Super Mac” from regular Annie’s isn’t a better cheddar — it’s a deliberate macro engineering decision. Pea protein sits at the #2 spot on the ingredient list, ahead of the cheese, which is unusual for a product whose whole identity is “real aged cheddar.” That ordering is the tell: the protein bump is formulated in, not a side effect of a cheesier recipe.
The payoff shows up in two numbers a normal box can’t touch:
- 15 g protein clears the FDA’s “high in protein” bar (30% of the Daily Value) — most boxed mac sits around 9 g and doesn’t qualify for the claim at all.
- ~6 g fiber is the sleeper stat. Mac and cheese is normally a fiber desert (refined wheat, ~2 g); the pea-and-wheat base here lands an A- on fiber, which is the kind of number you’d expect from a bean pasta, not a wheat one.
Put differently: the cheddar is what makes you want to eat it, but the pea protein is what earns it a place on this site.
Dry vs. prepared — read the panel honestly
Every number on this page is the dry mix as USDA lists it. That’s the fair basis for grading, but it’s not what lands in the bowl. Annie’s prepared directions tell you to add butter and milk, and both push the finished dish up:
- Saturated fat is the most sensitive — the dry mix is a modest 2 g, but butter is nearly pure saturated fat, so a full tablespoon meaningfully raises it.
- Calories and sodium climb too, though sodium is already high before you start.
The practical move, if you want the cooked dish to track the panel: prepare it with a splash of milk and little-to-no butter. The pea-protein-and-cheddar base carries enough flavor that you can go light on the add-ins without it tasting bare — and that’s the single highest-leverage thing you can do to keep this closer to its B- than to something worse.
How it compares to Banza chickpea mac
The natural rival is a chickpea mac, and our verified data point is Banza Shells + Vegan Cheddar (USDA FDC 2756179). The comparison is closer in spirit than in raw numbers, because the serving sizes differ (Annie’s 74 g vs Banza 64 g dry), but the picture is clear:
- Protein: Annie’s Super Mac roughly doubles Banza Vegan Cheddar per serving — 15 g vs 7.7 g. Even adjusting for the serving-size gap, Annie’s is the denser protein.
- Fiber: Annie’s wins here too — ~6 g vs ~3.8 g.
- Where Banza wins: it’s gluten-free and fully vegan, with lower saturated fat from a coconut-oil-based sauce instead of dairy butterfat.
So the decision is really about constraints, not protein: if you need gluten-free or dairy-free, Banza is the pick despite the lower protein. If you want the most protein and fiber in a box that tastes like real cheddar mac, Annie’s Super Mac takes it. Both carry the boxed-mac sodium load (Annie’s 660 mg, Banza 371 mg per their respective dry servings), so neither escapes that knock — it’s a wash as a tiebreaker.
(Note: this compares the vegan Banza in our catalog. Banza’s real-dairy cheddar SKU posts different numbers; we only cite the product we’ve verified.)
Who it’s for
A genuinely smart upgrade to a junk-food staple — and the best-fit shopper is honest about what it is. It’s for the household where mac and cheese is going to be on the table regardless, especially with kids, and you’d rather it deliver 15 g of protein and 6 g of fiber than 9 g and 2 g. It is not a lean, low-sodium protein source: 45 g of carbohydrate and 660 mg of sodium per serving keep it firmly in comfort-food territory. Buy it as better comfort food, prepare it with a light hand on the butter, and it earns its B-.
Ingredients
Organic wheat flour, organic pea protein, cheddar cheese (cultured pasteurized milk, salt, non-animal enzymes), whey, salt, corn starch, sodium phosphate, silicon dioxide (for anticaking), lactic acid, annatto extract (for color). (Verbatim from the USDA Branded Foods entry, FDC 2746554.)
Read in plain English: a wheat pasta with pea protein added high in the deck for the macro boost, real aged cheddar plus whey for the sauce, salt and a phosphate emulsifier to make that sauce work, corn starch and silicon dioxide to keep the powder pourable, and annatto for the orange color. No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.
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Quick Facts
Per serving · 2.6 oz dry (74 g), ~1 cup prepared
See how this fits your day — protein calculator · macro calculator
Full nutrition facts
| Nutrient | Per Serving (2.6 oz dry (74 g), ~1 cup prepared) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 280 |
| Protein | 15g |
| Total Fat | 4.5g |
| Saturated Fat | 2g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Total Carbohydrates | 45g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5.99g |
| Total Sugars | 5g |
| Added Sugars | 0g |
| Sodium | 660mg |
| Cholesterol | 10.4mg |
| Calcium | 120mg |
| Iron | 1.3mg |
| Potassium | 290mg |
Scope: This page applies specifically to Annie's Super Mac Shells & Real Aged Cheddar (6 oz (170 g) box) · UPC 00013562134144. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.
How this fits each diet
Each score is computed from the same USDA nutrition + ingredient data, against the published rules of each diet. They tell you "does this food fit this diet" — not whether the diet is right for you.
contains animal-derived ingredients
contains no listed meat or fish
contains a gluten-bearing ingredient
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein is in Annie's Super Mac?
15 g of protein per 2.6 oz (74 g) dry serving (USDA FDC 2746554) — about 20 g per 100 g of dry mix. That's roughly double a standard box of mac and cheese, and it clears the FDA 'high in protein' threshold (30% of the Daily Value). The boost comes from organic pea protein, the second ingredient, layered on top of the wheat and cheese.
Where does the protein and fiber come from — isn't it just pasta and cheese?
No — the lift is engineered, not incidental. Organic pea protein is the second ingredient and does most of the protein work; the wheat pasta and a little whey fill in the rest. That same pea-and-wheat base is what pushes fiber to almost 6 g per serving (an A- on its own), which is unheard of for mac and cheese. Annie's Classic Shells, the non-'Super' version, has neither number — about 9 g protein and 2 g fiber — so this isn't the cheddar doing the heavy lifting.
Why is the sodium graded F when everything else scores well?
660 mg per dry serving is ~29% of the daily limit on its own, and that's before you stir in the butter and milk the box directs you to add. Boxed mac leans on a cheese-powder-plus-salt system to deliver cheddar flavor cheaply and shelf-stably, and salt is structural to it — you can't reformulate it out without losing the flavor. That single F (20/100) is the only thing dragging this from a B+ down to B-; protein, fiber, sugar and saturated fat all grade B+ or better.
Are the numbers for dry or prepared mac?
Dry mix, exactly as packaged and as listed by USDA: 280 calories, 4.5 g fat, 660 mg sodium per 74 g. The box's prepared directions add butter and milk, which raise the calories, fat and sodium of the finished bowl (the saturated fat in particular climbs once butter goes in). To keep the cooked dish closest to the panel, prepare it with a splash of milk and skip or halve the butter.
How does it compare to Banza chickpea mac?
On a per-serving basis, Annie's Super Mac roughly doubles the protein of Banza's Vegan Cheddar shells (15 g per 74 g vs 7.7 g per 64 g) and beats it on fiber (6 g vs 3.8 g). Banza's edge is that it's gluten-free and dairy-free, with lower saturated fat from its coconut-oil sauce; Annie's is wheat-based with real aged cheddar, so it tastes more like conventional mac but isn't gluten-free. Both carry the category's sodium burden, so that's not the deciding factor between them.
Is this a 'healthy' dinner or just less-bad mac and cheese?
Honestly, the latter, reframed as a feature. It's still 45 g of refined-leaning carbohydrate and 660 mg of sodium per serving — a comfort food, not a lean protein. What the Super Mac formula does is make that comfort food pull real nutritional weight: 15 g protein and 6 g fiber where a normal box gives you 9 g and 2 g. It's the right pick when mac and cheese is going to happen anyway, especially for kids; it's the wrong pick if you're hunting a clean, low-sodium protein source.
What about the additives — sodium phosphate, silicon dioxide, annatto?
The label is recognizable for boxed mac: organic wheat flour, organic pea protein, real aged cheddar and whey lead it, then salt, corn starch, sodium phosphate, silicon dioxide (anti-caking) and annatto (a plant-based color). The sodium phosphate is the one flagged additive — a common emulsifier that keeps cheese sauce smooth, and part of why sodium runs high. There are no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, which is the Annie's calling card.