We’re always a little bit hesitant to jump into a Smart Ones frozen food product. Though the box images always draw us in (there’s just something about their choice of color that makes our mouths water), we’re almost always disappointed once we actually eat the stuff. (Check out our reviews for the Orange Chicken Bowl or the Chicken Strips & Fries to relive some of our past disappointments.)
So it’s with somewhat low expectations that we jump into the Smart Ones Veggie Enchilada Bowl, which we’re reviewing today.
This is a cinch to cook, and it only takes about four minutes if you have a 1,100-watt microwave (obviously, it will take longer if you have a lower-powered model). Simply peel back the film, pop it into the microwave, cook it for a bit, stir it, and put it back in for a little bit longer. Pretty standard stuff here, though we do admit that we struggled to peel back the film — the glue they used here is ridiculously strong for some reason. (If you want to read the full cooking instructions, check out our package scans at the bottom of this review.)
Now, this isn’t terrible, but it’s also not very good. There’s a strange odor that smells vaguely of fishing tackle, and the rice is kind of hard. But other than that, this tastes alright. It’s a sort of muted blend of rice, beans, and corn, with a tomato-based salsa paste to round it out. It’s a little bit spicy, but if you eat a lot of spicy foods you probably won’t even notice.
There’s a little bit of melty cheese so that everything clumps together nicely. It’s a blend of mozzarella and monterey jack, and it mostly does the trick. We did find most of our cheese to clump in one corner of the meal, though perhaps we just didn’t stir this well enough.
The calorie count here is reasonably low at 330 calories. That’s not quite a diet food, but it’s pretty close (we tend to think of diet frozen foods as having 300 calories or less). Of course, this isn’t very filling either. If you count on eating only this for lunch, you’ll likely be left feeling hungry.
The Smart Ones Veggie Enchilada Bowl is a pretty mediocre batch of Mexican-inspired food. While it might get you through a massive burrito bowl craving, there are so many better options on the market. Check out pretty much any of Frontera’s frozen meals to get a while lot more flavor per calorie.
To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for this frozen enchilada bowl, check out our package scans below.