Review: Cholula Frozen Smoky Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl

Bottom Line: The Cholula Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl doesn’t bring much heat, but with sufficient add-ons, it makes for a quick and tasty meal.

Frozen meals have come a long way since the days of tinfoil trays that held a meat portion, a veggie portion or two, and a dessert and took 45 minutes to heat up in the oven (though as a kid, I thought those were awesome). Nowadays, you can get a frozen meal that’s as good, if not better, than many offerings at the drive-thru. And if you’re not into cooking, you can survive for quite a while on those.

I generally check the freezer section while at the grocery store for something that would make a quick and easy lunch when I’m short on time, and just recently I discovered the Cholula Burrito Bowls. That’s one of my favorite sauces, and several tasty options were available, so I picked up the Smoky Chipotle Chicken Bowl, which comes with rice, veggies, chicken, cheese, and smoky Chipotle Cholula Sauce.

This isn’t one of those huge burrito bowls you’d get at a place like Chipotle (the overflowing bowl on the package is a bit deceiving), but it’s still a decent portion. The rice and beans have a good earthy flavor and aren’t too mushy, which is often an issue with frozen meals. The chicken is tender but doesn’t stand out too much flavor-wise. There’s some nice tang (obviously from the Cholula Sauce) and a hint of smokiness from the chipotle. The red bell pepper adds a pleasant sweetness, though not much texture. And heated up as is, it’s not a bad little meal.

But with frozen dishes like this, I treat whatever comes out of the carton as just the base, and I always add to it. I decided it needed a little more hot sauce, so I added—what else?—Cholula. I also threw on some shredded cheese, because every burrito and burrito bowl is better with that. Then I diced up some onion and a serrano chili and put that on top. With the additions, it really kicked things up and I enjoyed it even more. Plus, I heated up a couple of corn tortillas and used those to scoop up the contents of the bowl.

The heat level for the base burrito bowl is about Mild on my scale, which is what you’d expect since Cholula also falls in that range. The particular serrano I cut up was pretty hot, though, and it pushed the heat beyond medium, leaving my mouth tingling by the time I finished. If you want more fire, feel free to add a hotter sauce or chili pepper. You could also crush up some chips and mix them in, slice some pickled jalapeños, or toss in any number of other ingredients.

Calorie-wise, the bowl clocks in at 290 cals, which actually qualifies it as a diet meal. And even after adding the cheese (about 80 cals) and the two corn tortillas (50 cals each), I was still under 500—which is perfectly reasonable for lunch and maybe even leaves room for a cookie or two for dessert!

The suggested retail price is $5.49, but I seem to recall paying closer to four bucks when I picked it up at my local H-E-B. At that price, it’s definitely cheaper than most fast food options these days (whatever happened to the dollar menu?), and I can see keeping one or two of these in the freezer for when I’m pressed for time. Other varieties available include Smoky Chipotle Veggie, Chili Lime Pork Carnitas, and Salsa Verde Chicken—and I’ll be checking those out sometime soon.

Nutrition Info:

Ingredients: Cooked white rice (water, white rice), tomatoes (tomatoes, tomato juice, citric acid), cooked chicken breast strips with rib meat (chicken breast with rib meat, water, modified food starch, salt, sodium phosphate), red and green bell pepper, black beans (black beans, water), fire-roasted red onion, water, cheddar cheese (pasteurized cultured milk, salt, enzymes, annatto [vegetable color]), monterey jack cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), cholula chipotle sauce (water, vinegar, sugar, peppers [chipotle, guajillo, arbol, piquin], salt, natural flavors, spices, garlic powder, xanthan gum, fruit juice), chipotle puree (chipotle pepper, water, salt, vinegar), cilantro, canola oil, onion, salt, guajillo chili pepper base (water, guajillo chili, onion puree, sea salt, cane sugar, spices [including mustard], cilantro, garlic puree, sesame seeds, paprika, corn starch, citric acid), chili powder (chili pepper, spices, salt, garlic powder), garlic (garlic, water), spices (cumin, black pepper, oregano, paprika), corn starch, sugar. Contains: milk, sesame.