Mac and cheese (noun): the meal most of us have been eating our whole lives and we somehow have never gotten sick of it… and why would we? Its warm cheesy-ness is the perfect snack any time of day. You can dress it up with crispy bacon or live the college dorm style to-go cup.

Even though we all come together on our passion for mac and cheese, sure enough, there comes a divide: spoon or fork.

mac 'n cheese

Photo by Natalie Beam

When asking students all across the University of Delaware, people were very defensive about their utensil of choice. Read on.

“Is that even a question?”

“Spoon, duh.”

“Depends on what type of mac and cheese it is. If it’s shells, then a spoon.”

“The mac will just slide off a spoon, and I’m hungry. You don’t want to see me as hangry. I vote fork… if that wasn’t clear.”

“Fork! If you don’t put the Kraft noodles on each prong of the fork, you’re doing it wrong.”

“I have a fear of spoons. I cannot use them.”

mac 'n cheese

Photo by Kirby Barth

“Who knows? As long as it’s inside me, I don’t care how it gets there.”

“Well if it’s Panera’s mac and cheese, definitely spoon.”

“Hmmm… I don’t know! But I do know I want mac and cheese now.”

From these folks, we can conclude that shells require a spoon, yet the classic noodles pair best with forks. For the indecisive peeps out there, I’d suggest a spork.

Here’s the breakdown of this feisty debate on whether to use a spoon or fork to eat mac and cheese:

mac 'n cheese

Graph courtesy of Alison Sprong

Spoon: 26.32%

Fork: 73.68%

Even though Spoon U always says “never forks,” in this case, “never spoons.” *mic drop*