Review: New Pepperidge Farm Mega Cheese Goldfish Puffs!

So Good Readers, Mondays are typically not a great day in July.  You’re back to work, there’s no Monday Night Football, and if you live here in DC like I do, usually it’s raining.  Blah.  But being able to write for you all makes Mondays bright for me, your friendly neighborhood Junk Food Guy!  Plus, MLB Home Run Derby tonight – what better way to end a Monday than listening to balls being cracked over the fence at CITI Field?  My prediction: Prince Fielder over Crush Davis.  Mark it.

Today’s junk food: New Pepperidge Farm Mega Cheese Goldfish Puffs!

A while back over on JunkFoodGuy.com, I reviewed the New Buffalo Wing Goldfish Puffs.  They…they weren’t good.  I liked the texture of the Puffs, but was really REALLY turned off by the flavor.  The most popular comment? “But you have to try the Mega Cheese ones!!!”  Well, fine.  Here they are, also found at Target.  Incidentally, I found HUGE bags of these over in Walmart, while Target still had the snack size bag.  WTH, Target?? Get with the program and give me mammoth bags.

The thing about these New Pepperidge Farm Mega Cheese Goldfish Puffs, which have 140 CALORIES PER 41 PIECES (who the heck is counting to 41??), is that they are clearly meant to be a competitor to Cheetos.  And I think that’s tough, because I have a real soft spot for Cheetos.  Soft as in the pockets of my stomach where Cheetos have burned away my stomach lining.  But also because I think Cheetos are some of the greatest snacks ever.  Herr’s and other companies have tried and failed to tear me away from the original Chester Cheetah Cheetos and Cheese Puffs.  You have an uphill climb, here, Pepperidge Farm.

The first question I have about these New Pepperidge Farm Mega Cheese Goldfish Puffs is WHAT IS SO MEGA CHEESY ABOUT IT?  The ingredients list Cheedar Cheese, Asiago Cheese, and Romano Cheese.  Well, I like all three of those.  I’m glad they didn’t throw any other weird cheeses in there…an ex-girlfriend once make a seven-cheese pasta bake once, and included gorgonzola as one of the cheeses.  I retched upon the first bite.

Opening the bag of these New Pepperidge Farm Mega Cheese Goldfish Puffs, I smelled a very VERY cheesy smell.  Sort of artificial, but mostly good – it smelled honestly like cooked mac and cheese from the box!  There was a sort of sweetness to the cheesy smell, like how Kraft mac & cheese smells after you make it and that butter mixes with the cheese powder.  A wafting sweetness…

I popped some of these huge fish corn snacks into my mouth, and crunched.  These New Pepperidge Farm Mega Cheese Goldfish Puffs were…PRETTY GOOD!  The first immediately flavor I got was the Asiago Cheese.  The sweetness I detected quickly matched the flavor of the Asiago; it was sharp and pungent and stood out.  The taste quickly morphed and mixed with the cheddar and romano, almost giving the overall taste more of a nacho cheese flavor.  In a lot of ways, these Puffs not only smelled like mac and cheese, but had the same box cheese flavor as mac and cheese…which I actually liked!

I feel like regular Cheetos have more Cheddar and Nacho, and no Asiago, so the flavor of these Mega Cheese Goldfish Puffs was definitely distinguishable.

Texture: Crunchy, for sure.  Lots of cornmeal flavor and plenty airy.  The fish shape did nothing for me, but made it easier for me to shake the entire bag into my mouth.

So, verdict? Really enjoyed these!  Everyone was right.  Would I buy these over Cheetos?  Hmmm…I honestly don’t know.  Maybe if they were on sale.

PURCHASED AT: Target

COST: $1.00

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy and read more reviews at JunkFoodGuy.com. Let’s hang out.

Summary

Author Rating

Aggregate Rating

3 based on 15 votes

Brand Name

Pepperidge Farms

Product Name

Mega Cheese Goldfish Puffs

Price

USD 1.00