El Monterey is everyone’s favorite maker of super-low-budget frozen burritos. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t willing to stray outside that market now and again. While the El Monterey Chicken & Monterey Jack Chimichanga is not all that far outside the strictly-burrito market, it’s still worth pointing out that this is different from El Monterey’s burritos in many ways.
The most important one, perhaps, is that this has gooey monterey jack and melty mozzarella inside. While El Monterey’s Bean & Cheese Burritos claim to contain cheese (cheese is right there in the title), you really can’t tell — the inside of those burritos is just an indiscernible mash of beanstuff. This chimichanga presents a delightful alternative, as the cheese is actually delicious. It also lends some moisture to the filling — and this is great since the burritos tend to be kind of dry no matter how you cook them.
The Chicken & Monterey Jack Chimichanga also contains chunks of chicken about the size of sugar cubes. This is a huge improvement over so many of the frozen chicken burritos we’ve tried — El Monterey’s included — which tend to be skimpy on chicken. Now, the quality of that chicken is questionable at best, but we at least appreciate the generosity in portion size.
Now, let’s be honest here: El Monterey’s soft shells are a mess. They tend to be soggy, sticky, and even a little bit slimy no matter how they’re cooked. This chimichanga suffers from that same problem. The shell is a bit of a turnoff, and it suffers from what we like to call Soggy Bottom Syndrome — the bottom of the shell retains moisture to the point we’d actually use the word wet to describe it.
This isn’t your typical fatty food here — it only contains 300 calories (100 from fat) and 440 mg of sodium. While that really isn’t bad at all, keep in mind that this is not a full meal by any means. We doubt this chimichanga will fill you up, even if you’re not that hungry. If you’re counting calories, keep that in mind.
For a budget frozen food, the El Monterey Chicken & Monterey Jack Chimichanga isn’t half bad. We certainly wouldn’t call this cravable, but it beats a lot of the cheap frozen burritos on the market, even though it carries a similar price point. We’d definitely take this over El Monterey’s Bean & Cheese Burritos any day of the week.
If you want to learn more about the nutrition content or ingredients in this frozen chimichanga, check out our package scans below.
