The Vintage Canned Mac And Cheese That Lives On In Our Memory

Franco-American, a brand of Campbell Soup Company, produced a number of long-lost canned foods that people fondly remember. One such item was a macaroni in cheese sauce, which featured long, hollow noodles smothered in a creamy, cheesy sauce. Its heyday was in the 1960s and 1970s, but it was apparently sold all the way up until Campbell's discontinued the Franco-American brand name from most items in 2004, in favor of having one uniform company name. Much to the chagrin of fans, the vintage mac and cheese has a whole Facebook page with people sharing their fond memories and trying to find suitable alternatives.

The can featured a long noodle similar to bucatini pasta, which is long and thin with a hole running through. Think regular macaroni if each strand was never cut. While this clearly isn't actually macaroni, it was visually pretty striking and set itself apart from the rest of the market. Nowadays, consumers gravitate toward frozen or boxed mac and cheeses while certain canned foods are becoming relics of the past. The company never specified what cheese was used as the base in the sauce, but most copycat recipes call for cheddar, which is probably a safe assumption.

Reviews were mixed but generally leaned positive. Some people decidedly did not enjoy it and didn't buy that others even could. On the opposite end of the spectrum, people are lining up to buy cases of the stuff if it ever re-enters the shelves, and its fan page is still active. It seems that the closest we can come today is the Chef Boyardee canned mac and cheese, but even this is a contentious matter.

Devoted fans have spent years trying to recreate the magic, some to no avail, but others think they've figured it out. One snag is that Campbell's has never released the official recipe, so while we know the basic ingredient list from the can, the ratios and exact cheese combination remain a mystery. Some home chefs feel the secret to a good copycat is Campbell's cheddar cheese soup. Simmer that along with some butter and milk of your choice, and in a few minutes, you may be taking a walk down memory lane. Cook some bucatini pasta separately and mix it all up for the finished dish. Pro-tip: Undercooking your pasta before mixing it in a sauce gives you the perfect al-dente texture, especially if you're planning to freeze extra for later. Of course, if you want it to taste like it's from the can, you should overcook your noodles until they are extra soft.

If you want to kick things up a notch, you can upgrade this mac and cheese with Italian sausage, chopped onion, peas, and oregano to recreate Franco-American's 1962 recipe ad. The original may be just a memory at this point, but you can come close at home and make new family favorites for future generations.