5 El Monterey Frozen Burritos, Ranked Worst To Best

There's nothing like a freshly made burrito from your favorite Tex-Mex restaurant (or even your own kitchen, if you're following the right bean burrito recipe). But sometimes, you might crave the format of a burrito but not want to spend the money to buy one or the time to make one at home. That's when frozen burritos can come in handy. Sure, they may not be quite as good as the fresh version of the dish, but they can satisfy your burrito craving. El Monterey just happens to make a selection of frozen burritos that you can probably find in the frozen section of your local grocery store.

I've tasted my way through five of El Monterey's burritos, and I'm here to give you my impressions of each variety. I've ranked them from worst to best, focusing on both overall flavor and texture, to give you a better idea of which varieties you might want to try the next time you're looking for a frozen meal. Let's take a closer look at El Monterey's frozen burrito selection.

Sausage, egg, and cheese is a classic breakfast burrito combo, so I wasn't surprised to see this variety in the El Monterey lineup. Unfortunately, though, it was far from my favorite of the bunch. It's not bad, per se, but it really doesn't taste like you're getting much sausage at all. Sure, there are small pieces of sausage sprinkled throughout, but they're not widespread enough to really compete with the flavors of egg and cheese. The texture of the tortilla is nice and soft with that slightly stretchy quality you want in a burrito, but the fillings are just mushy.

Although this isn't a particularly bad burrito, it's a boring one that's easy to forget as soon as you take your final bite. Unless there are no other options available to you on the frozen burrito front, feel free to skip El Monterey's Egg, Sausage, and Cheese Burrito (and make your own breakfast burrito with these unexpected ingredients instead).

If you're looking for a frozen breakfast burrito that's a small step up from the basic egg, sausage, and cheese version of this dish, then you may want to try El Monterey's Egg, Sausage, Cheese, and Potato Burrito. Admittedly, flavor-wise, this burrito doesn't taste massively different from the sans-potato version, but you do get a slight amount of earthiness from those potatoes. The real upgrade is in the texture. Those soft, well-cooked potatoes add some bulk to the dish, making it seem heartier and more filling.

However, this burrito has some of the same problems as the potato-less version. You really don't taste much of the sausage at all, with the egg and cheese taking center stage. That addition of potato (although not as good as extra crispy smash tots) makes this variety more interesting, but it's still not a frozen burrito I'd seek out again, as there are many more delicious options in El Monterey's lineup.

Although the sausage isn't very impressive in El Monterey's burritos, that doesn't mean the same holds for other types of breakfast meat. In fact, I think El Monterey's Egg, Cheese, and Applewood Smoked Bacon Burrito represents a significant step up in flavor compared with the sausage-only versions on this list. Unfortunately, you're still not working with a lot of meat here — it seems like egg and cheese are the main ingredients in this burrito, and the bacon is mostly an afterthought. But perhaps because the bacon is applewood-smoked, its flavor is quite pronounced, offering that smoky complexity throughout the burrito.

This burrito isn't particularly exciting in terms of texture. Since there's not much meat included here, you're pretty much just getting the slightly bouncy texture of the egg and little flecks of crisped bacon in every bite. But since the texture of the tortilla isn't bad, this product isn't a total flop.

Since El Monterey doesn't seem to be particularly generous when it comes to adding meat to its burritos, opting for the Meat Lovers Breakfast Burrito might be the way to go if you actually do want a decently large portion of meat in your meal. In this product, meat isn't presented as an afterthought — rather, it's the basis of the dish. You'll find both sausage and bacon in these burritos, enhanced by the inclusion of egg and cheese. Could they have added more meat to this recipe? Absolutely. However, it has a solid amount of meat for a frozen breakfast burrito, so we can't complain too much.

Again, this burrito isn't particularly interesting when it comes to texture, but the crispness from the bacon does add a nice touch. Just like with the other burritos on this list, this variety also features a stretchy tortilla that holds the ingredients nicely.

Not craving a breakfast burrito? No worries. El Monterey offers burritos that are more geared toward lunch and dinner as well. Enter the brand's Beef and Bean Burrito. Although this may not sound like an interesting combo in theory, it works really well in practice. First, you've got the rich, creamy beans that immediately make this a filling meal option. Then comes the beef. Surprisingly, El Monterey is quite generous with the beef in this burrito. It's exceptionally well-spiced — in fact, it leaves behind an oily orange residue on your plate, which basically guarantees you're going to get a delicious bite.

Although this burrito could be more interesting in terms of texture (most freshly made burritos have fresh and crunchy elements, after all), the combo of beef and beans actually makes for a really nice, dense filling, which is only complemented by the stretchy tortilla. If you're just dipping your toes into the world of El Monterey's frozen burritos, this is definitely the first variety you should try.

I chose these El Monterey frozen burrito flavors based on availability at my local grocery store. The criteria for this ranking include flavor and texture, and I paid special attention to the amount of meat in each burrito. The best-ranked burritos on this list have a nicely balanced flavor with several different elements from different ingredients, and they also offer more than a soft, mushy textural experience thanks to the inclusion of more texturally varied ingredients.