Uncle Ben's Creamy Four Cheese Ready Rice Review

Overall 4.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

AngelaWLaFon
Big Island, VA

Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Pouch: Creamy Four Cheese gets 4 stars.

having family dinners regularly, feeding four, cooking for kids, trying to eat healthy, not afraid of homemade, appreciating short cuts

Pros

ready in 90 seconds, taste good

Cons

only 2 servings per pouch

NOV

2008

Uncle Ben's Creamy Four Cheese Ready Rice

Our family of four has made it a priority to cook and eat together regularly. Now that our kids are older, we're often balancing meals with violin lessons, soccer practices, swimming lessons or horse back riding lessons. I still want us to sit down to meals together and now more than ever I am open to short cuts to make that happen. When I saw Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Pouches that said "cooks in 90 seconds," I was game.

I love rice of all kinds but when I met my husband he came with a love for Rice A Roni. It didn't take long for my cheese loving children to hone in on Creamy Four Cheese as their favorite. Rice A Roni certainly isn't hard to make. It requires a little heating, stirring, mixing and simmering and takes about 25 minutes to prepare.

To make Uncle Ben's Creamy Four Cheese Ready Rice you simply squeeze the pouch to separate rice, tear a marked corner to vent, heat on high in the microwave for 90 seconds and remove using the "cool touch" area on the pouch. There are also easy instructions for cooking in minutes in a pan if you don't have or want to use a microwave.

What I wanted to know was would my family like Uncle Ben's Creamy Four Cheese Ready Rice as much as Rice A Roni Cream Four Cheese?

The answer was a resounding yes! Uncle Ben's Creamy Four Cheese Ready Rice got a thumbs up from all four of us.

Now I wanted to know how Uncle Ben's Creamy Four Cheese compared nutritionally to Rice A Roni's Creamy Four Cheese. Hey, I know that rice dishes without cheese are going to be healthier but I still wanted to know if I was sacrificing nutrition for convenience for this family favorite.

Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Creamy Four Cheese Facts:

* 0 trans fats, 1 gram of saturated 1, 3.5 grams of total fat
* cholesterol free
* good source of folic acid, niacin and thiamine
* good source of iron at 15% DV

Here's the rub. As with most prepackaged foods, this one is high in sodium with 900 mg which is 38% DV.

I compared these nutrition facts with Rice A Roni Creamy Four Cheese. Rice A Roni had a slightly lower sodium content at 810 mg which is 34% DV. However, Rice A Roni had a higher total fat (12 grams), higher saturated fat (4 grams) and higher trans fat (1.5 grams) so there's no nutrition guilt here for this Mom for using the more convenient Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Pouch.

The only con for using Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Pouches is that they have only two one cup servings which is perfect for two but leaves small portions for a family of four unless I make two pouches.

Uncle Ben's also has others flavors including Whole Grain Brown Ready Rice as well that AnnaBanana would love to tell you more about.

My Viewpoint:
Uncle Ben's Ready Rice couldn't be more convenient as it is ready in 90 seconds. It compares favorably nutritionally to similar products and we really like the taste. This Mom says Thank you Uncle Ben for getting my family together at the table even on really busy days.

Uncle Ben's Creamy Four Cheese Ready Rice is recommended by AngelaWLaFon

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Comments about AngelaWLaFon’s Review

I have a pouch in the cabinet, but a different flavor. I'm glad to hear that you like this one!

Great review. I've tried this and thought it was yummy!

Sounds pretty good! :>

I don't care much for cheesy anything, but this is definitely something my hubby would enjoy. Come to think of it, there might be some in the cupboard...

I've never tried this kind but it sounds like something my kids would love!

I loved your review and I didn't know about this flavor. Here is a heads-up -- The Bard also reviewed this product and he mentioned that now it is coming in larger family-sized packages. I wouldn't worry about the sodium part because after all this is a part of a substantial dinner and not just some extra snack. Getting a big percentage of sodium at dinner isn't going to hurt us. I really enjoyed your review, Angela, and thanks for mentioning mine!

Umm, umm...what can I say, "I think I love this product!" I love my Uncle Ben (I really do have one in Washington state), I love cheese and I love rice.