Chefs Yara Herrerai, Eric See, and Adán Medrano are used to thinking outside the box when it comes to cooking; however, today on Epicurious, we’ve asked them to give us their unfiltered, honest reviews of some prominent frozen burritos found on supermarket shelves. Which burritos pack the most bang for your budget, and which should you avoid at all costs?
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00We've gathered three professional chefs
00:02to blind taste test every frozen burrito
00:05we could get our hands on
00:06to see which ones meet their standards.
00:13Amy's Cheddar Cheese Bean and Rice Burrito.
00:16It's not the most attractive burrito
00:18and it looks a little dry.
00:20Doesn't look like it's gonna have a nice
00:22tear or chew to it.
00:23That tortilla doesn't have any brown spots.
00:26One side of the burrito has already started
00:29to kind of seep out from the side,
00:31but it smells really good.
00:32With a frozen burrito, I don't believe
00:33that you're ever gonna get the full experience
00:36of a fresh burrito.
00:37I do think that it's possible to get close.
00:39You gotta start off with a really good tortilla,
00:41something that has a little bit of a tear
00:43and a little bit of chew.
00:44Not too dry, not too moist.
00:46And when you go to reheat your burrito,
00:48you want it to stay together.
00:50The structure of the tortilla itself
00:52has to go with the story of how it was first invented.
00:56You put it in a basket
00:58and you carry it around to the neighborhoods
00:59and selling these to people
01:00who had to rush off to work.
01:02So the integrity and the structure
01:04has to be strong enough for that.
01:05The inside of it should also be pretty moist.
01:08We're looking for a nice, balanced, flavorful filling.
01:11With enough acidity, something a little bit spicy.
01:14And overall, a good burrito should be tasty.
01:20This definitely is not, in my opinion,
01:21a good tortilla, it's really dry.
01:22It's chalky.
01:24Parts of the top are hard.
01:25It's not a fat-based tortilla.
01:28Fat acts as a gluten inhibitor.
01:31So if you want a soft, tender tortilla,
01:33you need to have enough fat in there.
01:35Chased beans, rice,
01:37Monterey, something like that.
01:39Filling is flavorful.
01:40There is some acidity in it.
01:42I'm biting into the pinto beans.
01:43They're whole, which is wonderful.
01:45Mostly stayed inside of its vehicle.
01:47So I guess we hit the mark on that.
01:49I like this burrito.
01:51Oh, it's Amy's.
01:53I've always thought that they were fine,
01:55but this doesn't feel like what I remember.
01:57Monterey Jack cheese.
01:59But then on the front, it says cheddar cheese.
02:02Deceiving.
02:03I feel like the Monterey Jack is a little more texture,
02:06whereas cheddar is more for flavor.
02:09In this particular recipe,
02:11I don't think that those two cheeses make much of a statement.
02:14Tortilla is not my favorite.
02:17As soon as you turn on the microwave,
02:19it starts to heat the water in the tortilla.
02:22Begins to gelatinize.
02:23But then you keep heating it,
02:25and then it becomes rubbery.
02:29Trader Joe's bean, rice, and cheese burrito.
02:32So this one, the tortilla looks a little nicer.
02:35I see golden brown spots on the tortilla.
02:38That's a very good sign.
02:40It seems to be holding up fairly well.
02:45Lots of cumin.
02:46There's a strong cumin flavor
02:48that kind of overpowers everything else.
02:50This tortilla is getting better,
02:51but it's still not a good tortilla.
02:53Texturally, I can appreciate it a little bit more,
02:55but there's no flavor in this tortilla.
02:57Okay.
02:58Oh.
02:59Trader Joe's.
03:00I usually like this burrito.
03:02Normally at home, I like to reheat this in a pan.
03:05This burrito is microwaved.
03:07Don't microwave these with a wet paper towel,
03:09because you're going to end up with this.
03:11When the microwave hits the molecules of water in the tortilla,
03:15the gluten becomes very, very soft and tender.
03:19But then if you cool it down or heat it,
03:21then it retrogrades.
03:23That's when you get, look.
03:25See, it's like super hard.
03:27This is more ingredients in a tortilla
03:30than I think I've used to or seen before.
03:33And they use lecithin.
03:34Lecithin is a wonderful way to hold those oil
03:37and water products that would normally repel one another.
03:40I will say that the tomatoes and the chili peppers were definitely cooked.
03:44If you put a fresh or like undercooked pepper or tomato in here,
03:48something that holds a lot of water,
03:50when it freezes, it'll break down the cell structure of the water in there.
03:53And then when you go to thaw it or cook it,
03:55then it releases all that water and makes your tortilla really soft and soggy.
04:00And so I'm glad that Trader Joe's at least cooked their peppers and tomatoes
04:04before they put them in there.
04:06Everything in here is organic.
04:08And maybe that's why it's my go-to burrito.
04:11Fresh, organic, natural ingredients is the way to go.
04:14Organic doesn't necessarily mean anything to me.
04:17It costs so much to put organic labeling on stuff
04:21that a lot of the really great farms that are doing biodynamic farming
04:25and taking care of the land and the produce, they can't afford to do that.
04:31Vista jamosa, bean and mohaka cheese.
04:34It looks like a real tortilla.
04:36Tortillas can be very subjective, and this is a very polarizing topic.
04:40Where I come from, we have a more cakey, thick tortilla.
04:44The Sonoran style and kind of what I've evolved to enjoy more
04:48is a thin kind of windowpane tortilla.
04:50You can see the inside of it, but it's also cooked all the way through.
04:53All this is raw dough.
04:56Some people like eating raw dough.
04:58I'm not one of them.
05:02The structure of the tortilla just didn't hold.
05:05It has a moist and melty interior.
05:08You can differentiate the ingredients by color.
05:10And there's black beans.
05:11They're my favorite.
05:13I can easily see four different chili peppers in here.
05:15It's a little spicy.
05:16It's filling, the tortilla's good.
05:18This hits the mark for a balanced burrito.
05:21I'm curious if this is the Vista Hermosa one.
05:23Their tortillas are really good.
05:24They're made with avocado oil.
05:26Oh, I was right.
05:28Vista Hermosa.
05:29I don't know this brand.
05:31Bean and Oaxacan cheese.
05:33Oaxacan cheese is a very mild, more of like mozzarella flavor.
05:36It usually comes in this big ball, and you have to tear it apart and then pull it.
05:39It's also called Casillo, and it is from the region of Oaxaca, Mexico.
05:43It helps in the texture because it's easily melting cheese.
05:47This is my new favorite burrito.
05:50We can save that one for later if I'm so hungry, yeah.
05:54El Monterrey bean and cheese burrito.
05:58This thing is tiny.
06:00It's like a mini burrito.
06:03This is a very small burrito.
06:04The original burritos, when they were first invented, were big.
06:08The tortillas in El Paso and in New Mexico get really, really big.
06:12And if you go down into Sonora, they're this big.
06:15So there's all sizes.
06:17I've never seen one this small.
06:19This is the type of burrito filling that kind of scares me, where it's just all one color
06:22and you don't know what you're eating.
06:25Sorry, that tortilla is raw.
06:31The rawness of the tortilla is at least making it chewy, but it's stuck in my teeth.
06:36It's like baby food.
06:37I am not a fan of baby puree texture, but this one works.
06:42I think the flavor is extremely mild.
06:45It tastes like American cheese or like Velveeta.
06:47But it does taste like the flavors of the Texas Mexican region.
06:52It's not bad, but I just don't know what I'm eating.
06:55El Monterrey.
06:57Oh my God.
06:59I love El Monterrey brands.
07:00America's number one frozen burrito, it says.
07:04There's cheese product in here.
07:06And then the next ingredient down is cornstarch.
07:09Cornstarch is definitely included to hold and bind everything together.
07:12So I think that's where we're getting that graininess.
07:14Guar gum.
07:15I think that's also a binder.
07:17I know that it's a stabilizer.
07:19To make the tortilla hold its shape.
07:23Great value bean and cheese burrito.
07:27This tortilla at least looks like it's cooked because I see a straight line of brown marks
07:33across it.
07:34Stripes that are roasted brown.
07:36Unfortunately, I'd like to see more of it.
07:38Three exact straight lines.
07:40So it's probably some kind of conveyor belt.
07:42Kind of rolled it down and cooked it, flipped it.
07:45And so the conveyor belt will develop hot spots and all the tortillas will be uniformly roasted
07:53with golden brown on those hot spots.
07:55All right.
07:56So this burrito is almost double wrapped.
07:59There's too much tortilla.
08:02Too much tortilla.
08:04Not a good tortilla.
08:05The ends are folded.
08:06So you've got a lot of dough there that has to cook.
08:09It doesn't look like a good refried bean because the beans will be broken up and it will be
08:13real starchy.
08:14As a matter of fact, refried beans is a misnomer.
08:17It should be well-fried beans because in Spanish, frijoles refritos, the R-E prefix in Spanish
08:22is very well.
08:24So refried beans really is well-fried beans because you roast them in the oven and as they
08:30cook at 300 or above, they develop a rich flavor sometimes.
08:34Very umami.
08:35Structurally sound?
08:36Yes.
08:37Because it's a dry tortilla.
08:38It's just, uh, it's not, um, a well-balanced flavor.
08:42Bad burrito.
08:43Ugh!
08:44Great value.
08:45Where's this from?
08:47Is this Walmart?
08:49This does not look like the picture.
08:50That is not what you see when you eat this burrito.
08:54I feel like the more ingredients that you have, the bigger the brand is.
08:57I think they may have added some of the emulsifiers so that it doesn't fall apart, doesn't get watery.
09:02The filling has potential, but there's so much tortilla you can't get to it.
09:07Reds, organic chicken, cilantro, and lime burrito.
09:11These are getting smaller and smaller.
09:13It's a burrito nugget.
09:15It looks crispy.
09:16It was not prepared in the microwave.
09:19I think it was an oven.
09:21It smells like pot pie.
09:23Oh, there's chicken.
09:26This is the first burrito that's incorporated any kind of meat in there.
09:29It looks a little bit like that frozen grilled chicken that you can get at Costco or Trader Joe's.
09:34This one's not dried out, but any time you have, like, a roasted chicken or something, it has the potential to dry out.
09:39The chicken is surrounded by a gravy.
09:41I mean, it's very interesting, but I don't find it very pleasant.
09:44But again, there's not enough in here.
09:46It's all tortilla again.
09:47I like the tortilla.
09:49It's, like, stretchy.
09:50The tortilla has a little bit of chew, surprisingly, for how dry it is.
09:54I'm going to say Red Baron or that red person, whoever that is. Red.
09:59What is it called? Red.
10:00What is it?
10:02No!
10:03It is reds.
10:04Cilantro and lime.
10:05I mean, this is one of the shortest list of ingredients we've seen.
10:09When you see sugar in a tortilla, that's another, like, more natural dough conditioner.
10:13Sugar breaks glutens down, some of the proteins, makes it more tender.
10:17This particular chicken is minced.
10:19Small pieces like that that are blended into a casserole type of filling aren't going to suffer too much from freezing and then thawing.
10:26I honestly would probably not buy this burrito only because it's not my flavor of choice.
10:31Buy this if you like the herbal-forward treatment of chicken.
10:36Trader Joe's Chicken Chili Verde Burrito.
10:40I have an actual burrito this time.
10:42Looks speckled.
10:43You see the little brown marks on here, which tells me that it was actually cooked, unlike some of the other ones.
10:48The filling is oozing out.
10:50It's like a tomatillo chicken situation.
10:53It's wet goo.
10:55Mmm.
10:56It's hot.
10:57Oh my goodness.
10:58This is bad.
10:59There's a funny lactic flavor to it.
11:01There's got to be some sort of artificial chemical that is making that happen.
11:05There's a weird undertone to it.
11:07Oh, these boxes.
11:08Oh, Trader Joe's.
11:09Trader Joe's.
11:10Trader Joe's.
11:11Trader Joe's.
11:12Chila Verde.
11:13Authentic product of Mexico, huh?
11:15Let's see how they went wrong.
11:17The tortilla has cultured wheat flour and fumaric acid, probably to make it shelf-stable.
11:23I wouldn't think that those additives would have such a pronounced taste, but they've interacted with the tomatillos and with the chiles in such a strong way.
11:31It says dark chicken and chicken breast.
11:34I like that it uses two different parts of the chicken.
11:37This chicken is shredding when I press it apart, so it's telling me that it was probably braised.
11:41You get more flavor cooked into the chicken when it's braised like this.
11:44Vista Hemosa, super spicy chicken.
11:49The size is like a burrito.
11:52This texture is like not appetizing.
11:54It's almost slimy.
11:55It looks thin.
11:56It's got that kind of windowpane texture here.
11:58It's not properly cooked.
12:00It's raw.
12:01It's sticky.
12:03It's moist with the filling, but the chicken itself is very dry.
12:08Chicken wasn't seasoned or cured or brined or anything.
12:11There's no real sauce like holding anything together.
12:14It tastes healthy.
12:15I think it's the spiciest burrito we've had so far, but you don't get a specific chile or a specific spice mix flavor.
12:24It just kind of tastes spicy.
12:26This one feels more like a meal, like the Vista Hermosa one.
12:29Maybe it's like a Vista Hermosa.
12:31Oh.
12:32It is.
12:33It is.
12:34Super spicy chicken.
12:36You hit the nail on the head with that one.
12:38They got that right.
12:39This burrito has white rice, which I guess makes sense.
12:41It soaks up a lot of the flavors of the different chiles in here.
12:44I like the brown rice over the white rice simply because it's healthier.
12:50I prefer white rice over brown rice.
12:52It just takes in seasoning a lot better.
12:55Brown rice is a little harder to break down, and it has more of a chew and a bite.
13:00I would prefer a white rice in my burrito so that it doesn't have the hole on it and make it drier.
13:07Chicken thigh meat, which is also crazy.
13:10Because chicken thigh, it's really hard to overcook and make dry, and they did do that here.
13:15Wow.
13:16Disappointing.
13:17Tina's Red Hot Beef Burrito.
13:22Back to the little guys again.
13:24All right.
13:25This burrito definitely seems dry.
13:27Not very moist.
13:28I need more adjectives for dry.
13:30Oh, wait.
13:31Oh, gosh.
13:32It's got meat in it.
13:33There's some kind of braised beef product.
13:35It smells like Hungry Man.
13:37I think it's supposed to be beef.
13:41Okay, this is a strange taste for me.
13:44The filling is moist.
13:46There is some acidity to it.
13:47It's a terrible tortilla, but it is holding its shape, so...
13:50It's slightly gummy, but a whole world different from the gumminess of the others.
13:55Is this on its way to a good burrito?
13:58No.
13:59No.
14:00I don't hate it.
14:01This does remind me more of, like, a Tina's Burrito.
14:03Ooh.
14:04What is it?
14:05Tina.
14:06Red Hot Beef.
14:07I haven't had one of these in, like, over 20 years.
14:10I love this label, but nothing else.
14:13It's held up the test of time.
14:15I think the nostalgic part is just kind of looking back at a time when you were younger,
14:19not really paying too much attention as to, like, what I was eating and why.
14:23It's got dicalcium phosphate and sodium metab microcrystalline cellulose.
14:29Oh, my gosh.
14:30And sometimes I feel like you have to do that to enjoy certain foods.
14:34If you still like these for nostalgic reasons, you need to talk to your therapist.
14:38El Monterrey beef and bean burrito.
14:41This might be the smallest one.
14:43Oh, it looks kind of scary.
14:45It's coming out of the seams.
14:47This tortilla doesn't look like it was meant to hold such a wet filling.
14:51It's not a structurally sound tortilla.
14:53It smells like Taco Bell.
14:57Mmm.
14:58This one's not terrible.
14:59I'm not gonna lie.
15:00It's lovely.
15:01It's simple.
15:02It's very straightforward.
15:03I don't mind the greasiness, but the mix itself is not very good.
15:07Terrible tortilla, but I can tell that it's beef and beans.
15:11This does remind me of the Texas Mexican flavor.
15:14It tastes very homey.
15:15It's not, like, a super complex flavor profile in here.
15:18But I would eat this.
15:21It's pretty gross.
15:22It's so good, I'm gonna go with Monterrey again.
15:25Oh.
15:26Oh, my God.
15:27It's our good old trusty El Monterrey.
15:29Did I say Monterrey?
15:30You did.
15:31Okay, I'm glad.
15:32I'm glad.
15:33These are not great.
15:35Breads, steak and cheddar burrito.
15:38Burrito's nice and plump.
15:40Tiny girl again, very pale.
15:42It's taking me a while to chew.
15:47It's meaty, but it's really spongy.
15:50It's not disgusting.
15:52It's just, like, really weird.
15:54I think this is a vegan meat product, I think.
15:57There's definitely a lot of cheese in this one.
15:59The moisture level is very pleasant.
16:01Not the worst tortilla.
16:02It needs more salt again.
16:03Just the filling flavors are not for me.
16:06Another Reds.
16:08Reds, steak and cheddar burrito.
16:10It says steak, so I imagine this was something cubed
16:13and cooked over, like, a high short heat,
16:16but I think this could be really good if this beef was braised.
16:19If this beef was braised, it wouldn't be so spongy and chewy.
16:23There's mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese.
16:26Oh, and sour cream.
16:28I just don't like the flavor of sour cream.
16:30It's just one of those flavors that I stay away from,
16:33and I would never put it in a burrito.
16:38Trader Joe's carne asada burrito.
16:41It's a nice size.
16:42It looks very well put together.
16:44It doesn't look dry.
16:45This looks like there was some care taken in making this.
16:48This smells like carne asada burrito.
16:51There's a lot of beef in here.
16:52It looks really good.
16:56There's that taste again.
16:58It was Trader Joe's, I think.
17:00This one has a meat that is already cooked into all of its sauces,
17:04that already has all of its flavors.
17:05But this feels like it's been over fire or charcoal.
17:09Carne asada is a barbecued beef.
17:11Very popular in all the borderlands.
17:14It's not bad.
17:15I feel like it's just all beef.
17:19Oh, and it's Trader Joe's.
17:21Carne asada burritos.
17:22It's one of these chemicals that normally you're not supposed to taste,
17:25but otherwise everything is nice about the filling.
17:28I can feel comfortable enough recommending this one.
17:33Amy's Gluten-Free Cheddar Cheese Bean and Rice Burrito.
17:36This is a flour tortilla.
17:37This can't be.
17:38There's a lot of like little tiny bubbles and little tiny cracks in it.
17:41If you're using gluten-free flours, those tend to absorb a lot more moisture.
17:46Feels like it's going to be a little bit gummy.
17:48It looks like a crepe.
17:49Crepe?
17:50Crepe.
17:52I don't love this tortilla, whatever it is.
17:54It doesn't taste like a flour tortilla.
17:56But it also all together tastes okay.
17:59It's nice that you can see the beans.
18:00It's nice that you can see the rice.
18:02Super moist.
18:03Balance is okay.
18:04I think this is Amy's.
18:06Oh, really?
18:07It's Amy's Gluten-Free Brito.
18:10Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
18:11Even though this looks like a crepe, the texture and the flavor approximates flour tortilla.
18:17I kind of enjoy the way that they presented a gluten-free tortilla.
18:20It's much softer.
18:21Oh, it's rice flour.
18:23Rice flour is very gummy.
18:25It's like what you get from mochi.
18:27So you mix it with all these other flours that try to emulate some of what wheat does.
18:32Whatever Amy did with this gluten-free tortilla concept works for me.
18:39Feel-good foods, roasted vegetable, and bean burrito.
18:42This one's nice and toasty.
18:44Oh, and it's soft.
18:45Was this a different cooking method than the other ones?
18:47Some yellow from the corn, some beans.
18:51Smells like poblano, cilantro.
18:54There's the skin on this red pepper that these look like they were really wet when they went in.
19:01I think I like the white limey rice, cilantro in combination with the corn.
19:06It reminds me of Chipotle.
19:09It has a lot of defined flavors.
19:11Everything sticks out.
19:12It's nice to be able to see the cilantro a little fresher than most.
19:16But the flavor to me doesn't come together.
19:18The tortilla is just not very good.
19:19It's kind of dry.
19:21Woo!
19:22Feel-good foods.
19:23Yummy.
19:24Wow, it's also gluten-free.
19:26That would explain why the tortilla was so tough.
19:29There we go.
19:30Someone made a good gluten-free tortilla.
19:33Water, rice flour, tapioca starch.
19:37The tapioca syrup and the rice flour are probably making this tortilla a little sweeter than I would like.
19:42I like that it's vegan.
19:43I don't think it needs cheese to be moisty or juicy.
19:51Vista Hermosa, sweet potato and cactus.
19:55Oh my, here we go again.
19:57Yeah, it seems like we've moved back into the flour tortilla zone.
20:00But it's wet.
20:01Wet, wet, wet.
20:02This one looks like it's gonna be a mushy mix.
20:04I've never seen a burrito with so much carrot in it.
20:07It's so orange.
20:10It's fine.
20:11I think this is a plant-based vegan filling, but it has that very generic combination of like cumin, tomato, oregano.
20:18I think it's closer to minestrone soup.
20:20It's not dry, but I wouldn't call it juicy.
20:24Now that I'm investigating further, it's not carrots, it's sweet potato.
20:27I think it's the Vista Hermosa vegan version.
20:30Vista Hermosa.
20:32Sweet potato and cactus.
20:34This is a very overcooked piece of cactus.
20:36There's definitely a lot of sweet potatoes in here, but it was almost like they were boiled.
20:41Roasting the potatoes, I think, would add just like more texture, nicer flavors.
20:46I think if you were to taste this in a blind test, you would think minestrone.
20:51Whole foods, bean and rice burrito.
20:55It sounds spongy.
20:56This is the first one that has a sound effect.
20:58It already kind of failed the tortilla test because it's already kind of opening up and wanting to explode.
21:04Although it is moisty and it does look like it's cheesy and juicy, it doesn't have a lot of flavor.
21:12There's not a lot of flavor in here.
21:14It has a beginning flavor that to me is artificial.
21:17It might be the flavor of the beans cooked to the point of almost burning.
21:20The tortilla doesn't have any flavor.
21:22It's holding its shape.
21:23Three, six, five, whole foods.
21:26Bean and rice burrito.
21:28And it's vegan.
21:29It's new and improved.
21:31That tortilla, under-seasoned filling.
21:34I am curious what the old and unimproved recipe was like.
21:38Now let's see which burritos are chefs like the most and the least.
21:43My favorite today was the Vista Hermosa bean and Oaxacan cheese.
21:47Bean and Oaxacan cheese burrito.
21:49They were cooked properly.
21:50They were seasoned properly.
21:51The Oaxacan cheese in there was good.
21:53When you took a bite, you kind of got a bite of each little thing.
21:56And the tortilla was perfect.
21:58I loved the burritos of Monterrey.
22:01The filling and the flavor was right on.
22:04The Monterrey beef and bean burrito, I would eat again.
22:08Tina's, I think, would have to be my number one.
22:10It reminds me of like my mom's cooking, oddly.
22:12I don't know if she would like that I said that.
22:14I also enjoyed the Red's organic chicken, lime, and cilantro burrito.
22:18It reminded me of the enchiladas that my mom used to make when I was a kid.
22:21Amy's gluten-free burrito had to have been my least favorite.
22:25There was no flavor there that made you think that you were eating a burrito.
22:30My least favorite burrito is Tina's.
22:32Sorry, Tina, and to all the children that grew up with Tina.
22:34So the carne asada and the green chile burritos from Trader Joe's, I couldn't eat.
22:39Artificial, very strong flavor.
22:41If you're out shopping in the freezer section, take two seconds to read the ingredients.
22:46If the ingredients have a lot of chemicals, that might give them enough flavor.
22:51Most of the burritos that you'll find in a frozen section suggest that you microwave to reheat.
22:56I would suggest taking a cast iron or a pan.
22:59Or bake it. That will go a long way. It'll make your tortilla really good.
23:03Take the time. It's worth it, I promise.
23:05Any final thoughts?
23:07No, I think my final thought was make your own burrito.
23:11Thank you very much.