We typically associate the El Monterey brand with the cheap yet decent-tasting frozen burritos that got us through our broke college years. That’s to say we acknowledge that they don’t make the highest-quality frozen food on the market, but we have some nostalgia for the brand in general. It’s hard to hate on the brand that provided us with sustenance during our formative years.
We were quite surprised to see the brand stepping into the realm of beef bowls with the El Monterey Slow-Cooked Shredded Beef Barbacoa Entrée. Considering the sheer number of El Monterey burritos we’ve consumed over the years, we feel obligated to check out this frozen meal.
This is a cinch to heat up. Simply poke a few holes in the plastic film, then pop it into the microwave for the very-specific four minutes and 35 seconds. Then you’re ready to dig in.
When we pulled this out of the microwave, we were immediately struck with a plastic-y smell. That’s because the red sauce used here is not very good. It’s more rusty than red in color, and “rusty” is actually not a bad way to describe the flavor. It just tastes weird and off-putting.
The beef itself tastes fine. It’s pretty fatty and chewy, but we weren’t really expecting choice cuts in an El Monterey dish. The meat does its job here, and we can’t really fault it for that.
The beef comes with a side of Spanish rice, which actually tastes pretty good — in fact, the rice is probably the best part of this dish. There’s corn mixed in as well, which is a nice treat.
With 390 calories, this isn’t exactly a diet food, but it’s also not super bad for calorie counters. The 800 mg of sodium is a bit worse, but even so, that’s just slightly above average for a frozen meal. The biggest downside to all this is that this beef bowl just isn’t very filling. You’ll probably end up pairing it with something else to fill your belly.
The El Monterey Slow-Cooked Shredded Beef Barbacoa Entrée is a decent beef bowl marred with a bad sauce. With a better sauce, we think this could actually be a pretty decent meal. As is, it isn’t horrible, but if you’re just looking for something to munch on with a low price point, El Monterey’s burritos (or even their quesadillas) are a better option.
To learn more about the nutrition content or ingredients in this shredded beef bowl, check out our package scans below.
