I Tried 8 Frozen Breakfast Burritos & The Winner Was Extra Bacony
We've all heard—and in some cases, been inundated with—the phrase, "breakfast is the most important meal of the day." While it can be slightly irking to hear over and over, there is a great deal of research and truth behind those words.
That oh-so-important meal in the morning gives you a boost of energy, helps to jumpstart your metabolism, and has been shown to improve concentration and focus throughout the day. It's also important for your heart health and can even help you to better manage your weight. If you're guilty of sometimes skipping this sacred meal, you may be reconsidering your morning routine right about now. But don't worry, I'm right there with you, and we're all in good company.
Typically, dietitians and nutritionists would recommend something like yogurt and fruit or overnight oats to kickstart your day. But, if convenience and time are your barriers to breakfast, something like a burrito can also be a sufficient choice. Breakfast burritos are commonly chock full of various proteins. They're also ready in minutes in the microwave and easily taken on the go.
If you think about it, really anything can be encased in a breakfast burrito. But, in my mind, the quintessential offering looks something like this: fluffy, scrambled eggs coated with real cheese and coupled with either bacon or sausage (hold the gristle), all wrapped in an authentic, homemade-style tortilla. This final detail is key and has the power to make or break the entire burrito. Any ingredients beyond these pillars are really just a bonus in my eyes and can even distract from the overall flavor.
With these pointers at the ready, I took to my local grocery stores in order to discover which popular brands would take me to the breakfast-burrito promised land. At the end of my journey, I had rounded up a total of eight burritos from six different companies (Red's and El Monterey each had two varieties in the contest, so I was hoping they would deliver). I zapped each burrito in the microwave before naturally almost burning my tongue on each one, and then got to work wrapping my head around which product does it best. Let's dive into my final results, starting with my least favorite burrito and working our way to the best.
Red's Meat Lovers Sausage & Egg Burrito
Red's All Natural is home of the Egg'Wich and Meat'Wich protein-packed breakfast sandwiches. For something a bit more nostalgic, customers can also reach for the newly released PB&J'Wich—a product which now competes with Uncrustables as the perfect anytime snack. But, the brand has an additional claim to fame: burritos—both for lunch and dinner time or for the most important meal of the day.
Red's currently offers seven different kinds of breakfast burritos. Each one features a different kind of meat from turkey sausage to Canadian bacon to chicken chorizo. The Meat Lovers burrito seemed like the best option in order to get a diversified taste of what Red's brings to the table, so that's the burrito I started with for $3.69.
The look: Squished and sloppy. The burrito completely erupted in the microwave, but I was able to salvage the majority of the bits and pieces which tried to escape. Even though it's a bit collapsed, there seems to be a hearty helping of both the scrambled eggs and meat inside, although sausage appears to be more plentiful than the uncured bacon.
The taste: An overload of smokiness in every bite. There are very few bacon crumbles, but their presence is well known. The smoky flavor spreads throughout and it was the only taste I could fixate on while chowing down. When separated out and eaten by themselves, the pieces of sausage did provide a pleasant peppery flavor. But, at the same time they were chewy and I even chomped down on some of those hard bits you sometimes find in sausage. The tortilla is tasty, but other add-ins like the egg, peppers, and mix of pepper jack and cheddar cheese were nothing to write home about. I think this burrito would fare well for someone who really enjoys those earthy, smoky notes of bacon. But, it was a little strong and overbearing for my liking. Plus, it trampled all the other ingredients.
Amy's Tofu Scramble Breakfast Wrap
For a change of pace, this Amy's Tofu Scramble Breakfast Wrap was pulled into the fold. It's a far cry from the other meaty breakfast options out there and is additionally gluten-free, dairy-free, tree-nut free, and kosher. Amy's brands itself as an "organic food pioneer," so all of its frozen and pantry items tell a similar story and are tummy friendly for all.
The tofu scramble is one of Amy's few breakfast creations. It comes with organic tofu, hash browns, and a jumble of other veggies like spinach, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms. It cost $3.79 for one of the green and yellow packages at Target.
The look: Crammed too full and extra messy. This is a chunky burrito and it simply couldn't be contained. Various colored vegetables and tiny pieces of tofu began leaking out of the shell before it was done cooking. The problem may lie with the gluten-free tortilla. It is very smooth with no blemishes–a telling sign that it's not an authentic tortilla—and was not the most malleable.
The taste: Complex but bland at the same time. With so many vegetables plus the tofu living in harmony together, it was hard to know what was going on in each bite. If there were any standouts it was the spinach and potatoes. This pair seemed to dominate, but also contributed to the wrap's overall dryness. The tofu is spongy but needs a little seasoning or extra oomph. And, the tortilla turned out chewy. While I appreciate the gluten-free and more inclusive nature of this wrap, I'm not sure it's one I will reach for again.
El Monterey Signature Egg, Sausage & Cheese Burrito
El Monterey claims to be America's #1 frozen Mexican food brand, and I can't say I disagree. The company's bright and colorful packaging littered nearly every grocery store freezer aisle I visited, and the flavors are seemingly endless. Taquitos, chimichangas, quesadillas, and enchiladas are all ripe for the picking and, of course, traditional burritos are another one of El Monterey's signature dishes.
In the breakfast category, all individually wrapped burritos include real ingredients and are swaddled in a fresh-baked flour tortilla. After some deliberation, I walked away with the Egg, Sausage & Cheese Burrito, as well as the Egg, Applewood Smoked Bacon, & Cheese Burrito (which we'll get to later). Both were priced at just $1 each.
The look: Essentially just egg and cheese folded into a heavy duty tortilla. Not a ton of sausage is visible and I saw only one piece of green chili poking through. It's one of the smallest offerings, and the tortilla makes up the majority of its mass.
The taste: Heavy on the egg with a creamy, queso-like base. If this burrito got rebranded as just egg and cheese, I think it would have earned more respect. The pork sausage is only present in teeny morsels and the flavor is almost nonexistent, overpowered by a dominating cheese sauce. But, the rest is simple and tasty. The green chilis give it a nice zest and the egg is fluffy. Supposedly, tomatoes are also included but I didn't not find any. One additional quibble: the burrito's center was still cold after cooking for the amount of time indicated on the plastic sleeve. Another 20 to 30 seconds probably would have done the trick.
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Jimmy Dean Breakfast Burritos Sausage
Jimmy Dean is one of the most popular names when it comes to sausage and on-the-go breakfast foods. So, before I even ventured to the store, I knew immediately the brand would earn a spot in this taste-test challenge. In addition to other morning time favorites like egg bites, biscuits and gravy, and even Toaster Pop-Ups, Jimmy Dean produces a Sausage Breakfast Burrito and a Meat Lovers Breakfast Burrito which adds bacon. To give the brand's signature sausage the bulk of the spotlight, I went with the former for a cost of $7.29 for four burritos. This variation appears to keep things simple with just scrambled egg, sausage, and cheese, but there are also many natural and artificial flavors and ingredients baked in.
The look: Mushy and brown in a thin tortilla. The burrito was skinny to begin with but shrunk down a bit in the microwave. Unwrapping it from the paper towel in which it cooks also was cause for a headache, and some layers of the tortilla became casualties. The sausage appears to be plentiful, but its coloring permeates the surrounding soupy mixture, creating a somewhat off-putting, grayish brown shade.
The taste: Sausage-forward with an interesting cheese aftertaste. Let's start with the positives. The sausage crumbles made with both chicken and pork were exactly what I wanted them to be and lived up to the esteemed Jimmy Dean name. They didn't carry much spice but were well-seasoned and not gristly. But, the rest of the burrito is defined by a strange cheese flavoring. Upon inspection of the packaging, I discovered it includes a three-cheese blend of cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan. The latter is a strange choice for a breakfast burrito and what I believe threw off the flavor profile. In the future, I think I would rather opt for a few standalone sausage patties or links and just serve up some eggs on the side for a hearty breakfast, doing away with the tortilla and cheese mixture, altogether.
Red's Chicken Chorizo Burrito
On the poultry side of things, Red's also produces a Chicken Chorizo Burrito, priced at $3.69 as well. This particular burrito drew me in because it's a unique take on the popular Spanish and Mexican food, which is traditionally made with pork.
Red's chicken-based chorizo is seasoned with paprika, rosemary garlic powder, and other spices. And, in this burrito, it's paired with scrambled eggs, green chili peppers, and a blend of mozzarella, white cheddar, and pepper jack cheese. Everything is then hand-rolled into a wheat-based tortilla.
The look: Droopy and flattened. This started out as a good-sized frozen burrito, but it became grossly deflated after cooking. The little that I could see from the core was mostly made up of small egg clumps and crumbs of chicken chorizo. The chorizo comes in a dark and menacing shade of red from the paprika, which led me to believe that it could pack some serious heat.
The taste: Quality tortilla, but a mixed bag on the inside. The scrambled egg included here was the strangest phenomenon. As I forked it, I actually thought it may be a potato. But, it was, in fact, a large clump of egg that had grown very firm and a little chewy. The chicken chorizo, however, was a home run. It offered the right amount of spice from the paprika, but not enough to send smoke out of my ears. The oil or grease emitted from the chorizo was minimal and all I wished was that there was a little more meat and some more cheese to go around.
Sweet Earth Protein Lover's Breakfast Cage-Free Egg, Sharp Cheddar & Quinoa Burrito
The philosophy behind Sweet Earth is to create food in a mindful way. Its plant-based products are scattered throughout the freezer section and include hearty rice and noodle bowls, frozen pizzas, and burritos. Some items are either vegan or vegetarian, while others are neither of those things. The brand's Protein Lover's Breakfast Burrito happens to be one product which is not, as it includes cage-free eggs as a main ingredient. Tomatoes, onions, quinoa, cilantro, and a couple types of peppers also make the cut.
The burrito's name checks out since it offers 20 grams of protein—almost double the amount of other offerings and a great level to kick-start your day. It is middle of the road in terms of price at $3.99.
The Look: Spotted with flax seeds and falling apart. This is not a burrito you will be able to take on the run. I actually ended up eating it with a fork. The insides, which easily come spilling out, are hard to decipher from one another and the general coloring is a reddish-orange.
The Taste: Like a fresh quinoa bowl. The wrap is dry and obviously frail. But, when you look beyond that, there are a lot of diverse, natural flavors here. Juicy tomatoes, red peppers, and onions elevate the quinoa, and the cilantro, mixed with a tiny bit of lime, brought everything to the next level. The egg is pretty standard and broken up into small bits, and the cheddar cheese isn't overdone, so it doesn't drown its neighboring ingredients. The only feature which caught me off guard was the rectangular brown chunks, which I later determined to be traditional seitan—the plant-based meat substitute made from wheat. It was dense and chewy, and when eaten by itself, pretty distasteful. This is likely where the burrito gets a large bulk of its protein, but it was the one component I could have done without.
Kroger Breakfast Burritos Sausage, Egg & Cheese
Kroger's store-brand products are like hidden gems, tucked away among an avalanche of name brands and more niche items. They are oftentimes, however, very competitive when it comes to quality and even more so when it comes down to price. I was hoping this would be the case for the supermarket's frozen breakfast burritos as well—one Kroger product I haven't experimented with in the past.
Both the Bacon, Egg, & Cheese and Sausage, Egg and Cheese Burritos are available, and come in boxes of three. I went with the sausage option for $6.99, and let me tell you, its ingredient list is a doozy. Along with the pork sausage and scrambled eggs, there are actually three kinds of cheese: hot pepper, American, and a Monterey jack cheese sauce. Jalapeño peppers are also stuffed inside, as well as red bell peppers and a long list of other add-ins, both recognizable and not. I was left wondering how so many pieces and parts could fit into one single-serve burrito.
The Look: Well-balanced and packed full. This burrito was a little shorter than the others but makes up for it with its width. Once you cut into it, a colorful display of eggs, sausage, and red peppers appears, all coated in a generous helping of cheese sauce. The tortilla is on the thicker side, which helped it to stay firmly together after its trip to the microwave.
The Taste: Cheesy to the extreme. Some bites felt like I was munching on a tortilla filled with just nacho cheese. The egg is fluffy but mostly gets lost in the shuffle. A little bit of spice hit my tongue, presumably from the hot pepper cheese, jalapeños, and from the sausage itself, but not as much as I was expecting. The tortilla wrapper is pretty basic, and it actually got a little hard and brittle near the edges once it cooled. But, all in all, the flavor is there, and I felt satisfied after my last bite.
El Monterey Signature Egg, Applewood Smoked Bacon & Cheese Burrito
After the Sausage, Egg, & Cheese style burrito, it was time to give El Monterey another shot. Its Egg, Applewood Smoked Bacon, & Cheese variation is another popular and classic choice, but is served up with a couple of key differences, beyond the obvious of replacing the pork sausage with bacon. Instead of cheese sauce, the bacon burrito comes with cheddar cheese. It also still features tomatoes, but while the sausage version includes green chilies, this one throws in potatoes made with sea salt and canola oil.
The Look: Eggs and bacon smooshed under layers and layers of tortilla. Once I sliced this burrito in half, I could count up to four or five rows of tortilla. After the first El Monterey burrito, I expected a thick outer shell here, but this was still surprising. Once you look past the aggressive wrapping, there are some good qualities exhibited here, however, like the gooey, cheesy eggs, thick-cut bacon, and chunky potatoes.
The Taste: A delightful egg scramble in a traditional tortilla. If I didn't mention it before, El Monterey does a really good job with its tortillas. The wraps end up tasting homemade, as well as light and doughy. So, the fact that it makes up half of this burrito becomes more of a positive than a negative. Inside, the egg is soft and squishy instead of being tough, and the cheddar cheese complements it well. Last, but not least, the applewood bacon is deservedly the star of the show. Its smokiness doesn't overpower the rest of the burrito—like the Red's Meat Lovers does—but it offers a welcome level of wood-burning flavor and kick. I will say they're more resemblant of ham pieces than bacon, but for me that's a nonissue.
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