The longevity of Hot Pockets has hinged upon two things: 1) Their manufacturer’s ability to successfully stuff as many different things into a tender, seasoned crust as possible; and 2) Speedy microwave zap-ability. If either of these things changed for the worse, the Hot Pockets franchise would be deader than the skin on the roof of your mouth after biting into one too soon.
We’ve already seen the various styles of Hot Pocket crust filled with pizza toppings, deli meats, casseroles, meatballs, breakfast scrambles, taco/quesadilla fixings, and a plethora of hot sandwich combos (e.g. cheeseburger, sloppy joe, philly cheese steak, and barbecue chicken). Given this lengthy list of stuffed sandwiches, one may wonder, “Is there no limit to the ingredients they can stuff inside these crusts?” Trust me, there are limits. There are some things you would never want to see stuffed in a Hot Pocket: Bubblegum, iron ore, nothing but black olives, shoelaces, unshelled walnuts, Kleenex, eleven Habanero peppers, rubber cement, tripe… So barring these abominations, what other Hot Pocket flavor combinations could possibly tickle our taste buds? Mini penne in cheese sauce, that’s what.
We now have the Limited Edition Four Cheese Garlic Pasta Bake Hot Pocket — a garlic-seasoned crust stuffed with pasta and cheese. It’s so ludicrously simple that I’m surprised Hot Pockets hasn’t tried to do this already. People tend to like pasta and people tend to like cheese. Pasta + Cheese + Crust = Yum. Never let it be said I didn’t excel at mathematics. Delicious mathematics.
As is the general rule within the Hot Pockets family, the Four Cheese Garlic Pasta Bake is simple to prepare 2 minutes in the microwave in its specially-designed cooking sleeve, and you have a molten-hot stuffed sandwich. In this case, melted cheese (four different ones!) began to ooze out of the sides of my Hot Pocket and burned my fingers (four different ways!), but I’m used to that. They’re not called Room-Temperature Pockets for a reason. Definitely wait a few minutes before chowing down.
Upon first bite, you’ll quickly find that the garlic sauce and four cheese mixture has a nice, creamy, gooey texture, and the pasta has not become super-mushy. The crust is crisp around the edges and nicely seasoned you can really taste the garlic. I’d say the sensation is like a highly-advanced grilled cheese sandwich. The pieces of miniature penne are very small… You would almost forget they were in there if it weren’t for the fact that the Four Cheese Garlic Pasta Bake Hot Pocket has a decent noodle/cheese ratio. But we’re not talking mouthfuls of penne. The only mouthful you have with the Four Cheese Garlic Pasta Bake Hot Pocket is when you say its name.
I’m glad they introduced the Limited Edition Four Cheese Garlic Pasta Bake Hot Pocket. It’s quick and tasty and fills a flavor niche I didn’t know existed. Since it’s Limited Edition, I don’t know how long this variety will be sold, but I hope it’s popular enough to persuade the Hot Pockets gods to let it stick around permanently… and will dissuade them from introducing Limited Edition 2-Ply Toilet Paper and Rocks Hot Pockets.
(Nutrition Facts 1 sandwich 290 calories, 10 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 0 grams of monounsaturated fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 670 milligrams of sodium, 0 milligrams of potassium, 39 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 6 grams of sugar, 10 grams of protein, 2% vitamin A, 25% calcium, and 10% iron.)
Other Hot Pockets Limited Edition Four Cheese Garlic Pasta Bake reviews:
KJ’s Food Review
Item: Hot Pockets Limited Edition Four Cheese Garlic Pasta Bake
Price: $2.00 (on sale)
Size: 2 sandwiches
Purchased at: Ralphs
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Speedy microwave zap-ability. Warm, crispy garlic-seasoned crust. Highly-advanced grilled cheese sandwiches. Creamy and gooey garlic sauce/four cheese mixture. Decent noodle/cheese ratio. Mini penne is not mushy. Mathematics can be delicious.
Cons: Limited Edition only, so may not be around later. Not called Room-Temperature Pockets for a reason. Amount of pasta in the Limited Edition Four Cheese Garlic Pasta Bake Hot Pocket isn’t a mouthful, but the name is. Hot Pockets stuffed with toilet paper and rocks.
i’ve actually never had a hot pocket, but i’d like to consider a black olives only hot pocket in a more serious manner if i were to indulge.
They wonder why americans are over weight lets stuff carbs with more carbs. I like the brocc and chix lean ones the best!
Yeah, because nobody has ever eaten breadsticks or garlic bread with pasta, right?
Here we go again with the typical “overweight American” comment. NEXT.
That article is hysterical! I wonder if they sell them in the mid South. They’ll eat just about anything around these parts.
hahhaha room temperature pockets….touchee. this looks pretty good. I like amys pockets when Im in a pinch. the broccoli cheese one is tasty!
I love this hilarious review. Must try the product before the promotion ends!
Had some White Garlic Chicken hot pockets before. Could not get over the garlic smell/taste. I generally like garlic, but it was just off-putting.
The middle of my pockets are always frozen too.
i just tried these. they were surprisingly good. the cheese sauce was nice and gooey. the garlic flavor was good too. this is prob my fav hot pocket.
I love these LOL, I saw them in my supermarket the other day and I *gasped* I just had to try them! I’m not even a huge hot pockets fan.
My mom picked these up for me since I like Hot Pockets and Lean Pockets, but I’ve been growing tired of the same pepperoni and ham & chesse hot pockets. The moment I set my eyes on the box, I instantly gasped, and took one out and threw it in the microwave.
The first bite was like a Hot Pocket dream, I have never tasted anything as delicious. After I finished, I craved more, but I wanted to make them last, so I held out on eating the second. Had the same desire to eat another one after I ate the second the next day lmao. I hope to GOD they keep making these, as I’m tempted to stock up on them so I will always have some on hand.
I really liked this flavor and hope they keep it. It reminds me of a pizza place where I used to live that sold penne alla vodka pizza. Pasta and bread, all in one convenient package!
The limited edition Hawaiian pizza flavor is also good, but insanely spicy.
I tried those. Because they were thawed in the refrigerator, it took me 1 minute 30 seconds to cook one.
I rate it 10/10.
i’d be all over an only-black-olives hot pocket.
keep the four cheese limited edition pasta pockets in stores and still introduce 2 ply and rocks hot pockets
My God, these were so damn good, now I cant find them anywhere, what is a starving college student to do! 🙁
They didn’t last :c. I can’t believe it. It was my favorite hot-pocket. All they ever have in Hot-pockets anymore is meat, meat, meat. Not everybody wants to eat meat all the time, or are not vegetarians.
I can’t understand why they didn’t continue making it. They were sooo good!