As loyal Target shoppers, we’ve been getting really familiar with the Good & Gather brand. Good & Gather, in case you’re not familiar, is a Target-exclusive brand, which replaced the Archer Farms brand at one point. Yeah, that was a while back, but we’ll never forget Archer Farms. Never forget!
Anyway, today we’re digging into yet another item that comes from the freezer aisle of our local Target store, the Good & Gather Elote-Inspired Mini Empanadas. We’re actually not sure if this was an Archer Farms item that was rolled into the Good & Gather lineup, or if this is a G&G exclusive. We never tried an Archer Farms version, but that certainly doesn’t mean one never existed.
Cooking these is super easy. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, put your empanadas on a baking sheet, then cook for 12 to 13 minutes. It doesn’t get easier than that. Well, actually it does, but this is still pretty easy. (If you want to read the full cooking instructions straight off the box, check out the package scans at the bottom of this review.)
The shells are made from wheat flour, and they end up crumbly and powdery, and just a little bit crispy. They have a really lovely texture to them, which we definitely appreciate.
But it’s what’s inside that really counts, and the filling is absolutely delicious. The box says it’s a blend of corn, cheese, cilantro, and spices. What we didn’t expect, though, is that this isn’t the sort of cheese you’d find in a quesadilla; this is a sour cream-based concoction that tastes like something we’d make a taco dip out of.
And then, to add just a hint of sweetness is the corn. Flavor-wise, this is the perfect contrast to the sour cream, and texture-wise, it’s the perfect contrast to the powdery shell. We couldn’t have asked for a better vegetable to fill these with.
According to the box, four pieces is a serving, and there are eight pieces in this box. If you stick with the recommended serving size, you’ll be consuming 230 calories and 210 mg of sodium. If you munch down the whole box in a sitting, you’ll be up to 460 calories and 420 mg of sodium. All things considered, that’s really not bad; these definitely have less sodium than we’d expect.
The Good & Gather Elote-Inspired Mini Empanadas are incredible. The next time we go to Target (which is sure to be soon), we’re going to pick up more of these. We can’t wait to have them again.
To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for these frozen empanadas, check out our package scans below.
