I have a special needs daughter who is gluten free. Fortunately, there are more and more options in the gluten-free arena, so while products tend to be priced higher than the glutenous variety, at least there are said options.

Finding that perfect gluten-free pasta has been a real battle. We’ve tried numerous brands, including, but not limited to Ancient Harvest, Barilla, Jovial, Ronzoni and Tinkyada. The main difference between the five brands listed here are the grains used to make the pasta. From our perspective, we think the pastas made solely with brown rice tend to be chewier, and they don’t have the texture of the “regular” white pasta that seems to be what my daughter desires. Jovial and Tinkyada both use brown rice only.

Ancient Harvest uses a blend of corn and quinoa. This pasta was stickier than most and smelled of corn while it was cooking. The cooking water became opaque and it just didn’t deliver the texture or flavor desired.

Barilla uses a blend of corn flour and rice flour; my daughter gave it a thumbs down as well.

Then we tried Ronzoni. It’s a national brand that can be found in any supermarket, and it has a price point that is affordable. Even better, it promises and delivers on a “delicious white pasta taste” with its four-grain blend of white rice, brown rice, corn and quinoa. This is the go-to, gluten-free pasta of choice for my daughter. Thumbs up, Ronzoni!

As my daughter continued her gluten-free discoveries, she happened upon a Walmart brand (Great Value) creamy deluxe shells and cheese. Don’t judge—we understand that processed cheese is not part of a “healthy” diet, but the heart wants what the heart wants. And at least Great Value uses beta-carotene and paprika extract for its food coloring. That’s good, right?

So we cooked up the Great Value shells and cheese and guess what? It tasted just like the Ronzoni. Now look at the ingredients: white rice flour, brown rice flour, yellow corn flour, quinoa flour. Are you seeing a pattern here?

Our gluten-free pasta blues are gone now, and when we search for new gluten-free pasta products, we always look for a blend of grains, having discovered this four-grain blend produces the white pasta taste and texture my daughter craves.