Pizza Hut has dedicated this summer to celebrating its iconic history through the Hut Originals initiative, whose latest offering, the Throwback Value Menu, takes a retro approach to both food items and cost, bringing back much-missed classics at prices that will remind you of the good old days.

The star of today’s show, the Triple Cheese Mac, is actually new, but mac and cheese is so closely associated with childhood that I think it still counts for nostalgia points. (Just please excuse my pictures not being the most pristine; my meal got knocked around a little in transit, but that didn’t make it any less delicious.)

The titular Triple Cheeses are white cheddar, parmesan, and “pizza cheese,” and they combine to form a banquet of textures. The top layer is oven-baked to a crisp, with flavorful golden bubbles as you’d find on the Hut’s pizzas. When I dug deeper, I was rewarded with a glamorously stretchy cheese pull fit for TikTok, and then beneath that, the sauce descended into decadent creaminess. My biggest mac and cheese pet peeve is when the sauce is so runny that it just dribbles off the noodles, but that couldn’t be further from the case here. In fact, this thick sauce bound the noodles together so well that multiple times one noodle fell off my fork and yet remained firmly connected to the others by a trusty trail of cheese.

Each bite contained so many levels of texture that I never got bored. Interestingly, though, I didn’t have quite the same multi-faceted experience with the sauce’s flavor; while it boasts three distinct cheeses, white cheddar was the most dominant by far. Certain bites were sweeter and mellower, but for the most part my experience was ruled by white cheddar’s sharpness. That wasn’t a bad thing, but a little more variety would also have been appreciated.

However, I have no notes on the noodles. Cavatappi was the perfect shape; the elbow-esque spirals did help me feel like a kid again, but their main advantage was that they were sturdy and nook-and-crannied enough to expertly hold the substantial sauce. I also appreciated their large size and terrific tenderness.

If I had to describe this dish in one word, it’d be “hearty”; it was so cozy and comforting that, despite the oppressive heat outside, I briefly imagined that I was warming myself up inside a quaint cabin on a snowy mountain. I was also quite happy with the portion I received for the price. Though this is billed as a side, one portion ended up being my meal… though I did sneak in a quick test of my theory that mac and cheese would be delicious on a slice of stuffed crust pizza. (I’m pleased to report that my theory was correct!)

So this summer, I encourage you to throw it back with some Triple Cheese Mac. Worst case scenario, you’re only out a few bucks… but I think you’ll love it.

Purchased Price: $7.00
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 830 calories, 56 grams of fat, 25 grams of saturated fat, 1.5 grams of trans fat, 135 milligrams of cholesterol, 1810 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of sugar, 2 grams of fiber, and 38 grams of protein.