Everyone loves a good frozen burrito, whether they’re craving flavor, quality ingredients,
or nutritional content. That's not to say that all burritos are created equal, and there
are some that definitely aren't worth your money. Fortunately, we found some of the best.
Every list of the best frozen burritos will likely include Amy's, a company that doesn't
just top a number of best vegetarian, organic, and healthy frozen burrito round-ups online,
but is a solid all-rounder. With gluten-free, plant-based, and dairy-free options, these
rice and bean combos are satisfying, preservative-free, and high protein, though also high sodium
and high fat, and generally improved by a bit of hot sauce. There are low-sodium options,
though, which also set the brand apart, as do the low price tag for frozen burritos made
with organic ingredients.
The classic Amy's flavors are bean and rice as well as cheddar, bean, and rice, both of
which are available in gluten-free options. They're a bit tame, though, so if you want
bigger flavor, there's also a Southwestern burrito. It's only available in a whole wheat
tortilla, but it's soy-free and tree nut-free.
Considering the price and organic certification of the ingredients in Red's chicken, cilantro,
and lime burrito, it's a good buy. Not all of the company's flavors are organic, but
this one is. It also contains no artificial preservatives, making it a healthier and more
eco-friendly option than your average grocery store burrito.
It's also a fair bit more flavorful thanks to a great ratio of sauce to chicken, with
just enough lime juice to add a little life to what's too often a bland mess. All that
juiciness tends to make the burrito explode in the microwave or oven, but a delicious
mess is still delicious.
The biggest selling point for Lilly B's, an organic brand, is that it's low sodium, but
still has some flavor in there. The company has an enriched wheat tortilla that's used
for its organic bean, rice, and cheese flavor burritos, and gluten-free versions for the
rest of the flavor line. While a lot of frozen burritos use artificial color to make their
cheese yellow, the golden hue in Lilly B's is ensured by the use of annatto, a natural
food coloring. In fact, there aren't any artificial preservatives in sight and the corn is non-GMO.
Bonus: Thanks to the lower sodium count to begin with, you'll feel just fine about adding
a few dashes of extra hot sauce to the beef to amp it up a notch.
This brand is generally a bit more expensive than most of the other frozen burritos on
this list, but if there was a vegetarian exotics category, it'd come in at the top for flavor
and texture.
Sweet Earth has a more classic Santa Cruz flavor with pinto beans and Monterey Jack
cheese along with some other delicious flavor options, but the clear winner in the lineup
is the Peruvian. With sweetness from sweet potatoes and corn, creaminess from the black
beans, chewiness from the quinoa and, most importantly, umami from goat cheese, each
mouthful is one to savor.
Sweet Earth also has a line of meatless breakfast burritos featuring vegan bacon and non-vegan
cheese or seasoned tofu and no cheese. These are not your average late-night mushy frozen
burritos, but they still might be what you pop in the microwave after a few too many
fancy cocktails.
These much-loved and simultaneously much-disparaged burritos absolutely made it onto our list
of recommendations, because they're definitely worth the tiny price tag. Would you pay more
than $1 for them? Maybe not, but they're definitely the upper crust of dirt cheap frozen burritos.
"I'm not scared of any burrito, I'll eat it."
The standard refried beans, cheese, and meat flavor do what a burrito needs to do: be soft
and warm and savory. And they'll definitely be soft since you're probably not going to
spend 40 minutes reheating these burritos in the oven for a crispy exterior like the
directions suggest.
The popular Red Hot Beef flavor also uses enriched flour tortillas that are made from
scratch daily and have a decent amount of added nutrients. The tortillas are then filled
before being flash-frozen, so they'll be as good as they'll ever be when microwaved.
Trader Joe's has its own extensive line of frozen burritos. And in true Trader Joe's
form, they're pretty good and pretty affordable. Sure, you could probably make a better version
of the chicken chile verde and the classic bean and rice burritos pretty easily at home,
but that's not what frozen burritos are for, right? They're supposed to be pre-made, factory-perfect,
and dependable.
There's also a carnitas with salsa verde flavor for Trader Joe's patrons looking for a frozen
burrito flavor that punches above its weight. It has soy sauce for umami flavor along with
roasted onions and tomatillo puree. The wheat in the soy sauce, however, adds to the wheat
flour and malted barley in the enriched flour tortillas, so it's not a good option for the
gluten intolerant among us.
There's a time and a place for a greasy mess of cheese and meat. José Olé's beef and
cheese chimichanga –- essentially a deep-fried burrito –- is particularly wonderful and
greasy. It no longer holds its crispy luster, but that oil is going to soak into your reheated
meat, rice, and cheese and make it all a little more juicy and palatable, which is handy in
a frozen burrito.
You're also going to get more sauce than meat in this beef and cheese creation, but, again,
that's where the flavor is coming from — and it probably helps keep the price down. Besides,
if you buy this burrito, you're probably not in it for the vegetable content or even the
protein.
While you're not thinking about vegetables, you should probably also not think about the
sodium, because there's a lot of that according to the nutrition facts. Just enjoy this frozen
wonder for what it is: post-drinking food at its best.
If you're not in Austin or San Francisco or Los Angeles and can't get an impeccably fresh
and tasty breakfast burrito from a nearby food truck on any given morning (or afternoon
or evening for that matter), then El Monterey might be what's stocked in your freezer for
desperate times. The egg, sausage, and cheese combination is hearty, widely available, and
very inexpensive, meaning it'll likely be the favorite of many, especially in quarantine
when online food ordering is exploding, much like a reheated frozen burrito.
"Today is about vengeance."
According to the company website, El Monterey is already the #1 frozen Mexican food in America.
And this breakfast option shows why: It's a comforting, eggy, creamy mess with little
dabs of meat to make it feel indulgent and carnivore-friendly. Replace the pork sausage
and its corn syrup solids with Canadian bacon and celery juice solids or turkey sausage
and soy protein concentrate thickened with modified food starch and you've got two more
clear winners.
Most people would probably just call this flavor of frozen burrito a wrap, stuffed as
it is with sun-dried tomatoes, basil, shallots, and meatless beef-style crumbles. You can
see that Daiya is trying hard to appeal to the dairy-free, plant-based foodies who want
a melted cheese-like texture in their frozen convenience food, so let's forgive the company
for its improper nomenclature.
The Santa Fe burrito with beef-style crumbles is more traditional, as is the Fiesta Breakfast
Burrito, despite its pea protein-based egg-style scramble. The tortilla itself might be the
most bizarre creation, though, since instead of just using non-GMO corn, the company created
its own unique recipe based around rice flour, rice starch, chickpea flour, and sorghum.
But there are no eggs, fish, dairy, gluten, or peanuts in the regular burrito line, making
this one product that allergen avoiders can get behind. Though it's worth noting they
do have coconut oil.
If you're a Sprouts Farmers Market shopper, your frozen burrito options just got a little
bigger. All of Cool Beans' plant-based wraps are now available in Sprouts stores across
the country. That includes the tikka masala wrap with spiced chickpeas and coconut milk
and the Moroccan Gold with kidney beans, sweet potato, and millet, but those aren't exactly
burritos, so traditional burrito lovers will go for the spicy chipotle flavor with poblano
peppers and black-eyed peas.
They're minimally processed, have a non-mushy texture because of the corn, rice, and black-eyed
peas, and have a touch of smoke from the addition of artificial smoke flavor.
The whole-grain tortilla is more of a gluten-free wrap like Daiya's than a traditional flour-based
tortilla, thanks to a combination of tapioca starch, potato starch, chickpea flour, rice
flour, and some other thickeners and preservatives to give it a bit of elasticity. If you want
to give these a try, but you don't have a Sprouts nearby, you can always order them
directly from the Cool Beans website.
"This burrito is delishish, but it is filling!"
We're recommending Johnny Ringo's because its burritos are delicious and satisfying
and the vegetarian bean and cheese flavor uses mayocoba beans. There's also a ton of
pepper jack cheese in there, which helps. But wait — what are mayocoba beans?
They're small, creamy yellow beans also known as Peruvian, canary, or Mexican yellow beans.
They're often used in place of pinto beans for refried beans. To try mayocoba beans for
yourself, you can order them online, but honestly? Just pick up one of Johnny Ringo's vegetarian
burritos, because the buttery flavor is a perfect pairing for the cheese in this delicious,
frozen delight.
The company's spicy beef with pinto beans flavor and the chipotle chicken flavor are
also perfectly acceptable Southwestern style burritos. Fun fact: The company is named after
a famous Old West outlaw, a former constable who later joined the Clanton Gang in Tombstone,
Arizona. Coincidentally, that's near where his own tombstone now resides.
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