Mac and Cheese: Calories, Nutrition & Healthier Swaps

Mac and cheese is pasta in a cheese sauce: comforting, with some protein and calcium, but high in saturated fat and salt.

Mac and Cheese nutrition facts per 100 g and per serving

Values per 100 g as eaten, averaged from food composition tables (USDA FoodData Central and others) and rounded — a specific brand or recipe will differ a little.

Mac and Cheese: nutrition highlights

A serving (serving, 250 g) provides 20 g of protein — about 36% of the 56 g daily reference for a 70 kg (154 lb) adult (0.8 g per kg). It has 3.5 g of fiber per serving — roughly 14% of the 25 g a day most adults fall short of. There's almost no sugar: the carbohydrate is mostly starch.

On the open Nutri-Score algorithm, mac and cheese gets a C: the middle of the scale — fine with an eye on portions. The score weighs calories, sugar, saturated fat and salt against protein, fiber and the share of fruit, vegetables, legumes and nuts.

What to watch

• It's low in fiber, so add vegetables, greens or beans to the plate.
• A serving has 2.3 g of salt — 45% of the WHO's 5 g daily maximum.

How much movement is one serving?

One serving (serving, 250 g) is 475 kcal — roughly 2 h 35 min of easy walking or 60 min of cycling for a 70 kg (154 lb) person. In the diary, minutes are worked out for your weight and the activities you actually do.

Healthier swaps for Mac and Cheese

Swaps are picked the same way the app does it: from the same kind of food, with a serving matched to the same calories (±25%), and only when the swap is clearly better — not “salad instead of pizza”.

• Wholegrain pasta, dry — 140 g, 476 kcal: −11 g saturated fat, −2.3 g salt.
• Whole Wheat Pasta — 380 g, 471 kcal: −11 g saturated fat, −1.1 g salt.
• Pasta, dry — 140 g, 482 kcal: −11 g saturated fat, −2.3 g salt.
• Pasta — 350 g, 473 kcal: −11 g saturated fat, −1.2 g salt.