Dr. Gourmet's Food Reviews

Amy’s Breakfast Burrito

Breakfast Burrito and Tofu Scramble Breakfast Wrap

This week we're continuing what my wife is calling "the breakfast burrito tour of the frozen food aisle." A couple of weeks ago we discovered two breakfast burritos from Sweet Earth Natural Foods, a company new to Dr. Gourmet, that our panel thought were truly excellent. Today we're returning to a company we've known for years: Amy's Foods.

Over ten years ago we reviewed Amy's Breakfast Burrito and gave it poor marks. After ten years, we thought it might have improved. According to the numbers on the package, it would appear to have been changed somehow: there are 20 more calories in today's burrito, along with slightly more fat and saturated fat (1g and 0.5g, respectively), 1 gram more fiber, 1 less gram of sugar, and more protein (3 grams more).

After microwaving per the package instructions, the tortilla is nice and tender and only slightly soggy. This contains a few black beans, a lot of chunks of potatoes, some tofu, and a little bit of seasoning with a tomato sauce in a whole-wheat tortilla that is fully half of the burrito in cross section. Once again, you're getting more tortilla than burrito. Worse, just as we said ten years ago, the first thing the panel said was, "This is not very breakfasty."

And our overall assessment of the burrito is about the same: not much spice, not much flavor. "It's okay," said the panel. "It's just... not anything to write home about."

Next we turned to their Tofu Scramble Breakfast Wrap. It did not bode well when the tortilla (let's be honest; this is a burrito) broke open the entire length of the "wrap" before we'd finished the microwaving process, and worse yet, stuck to the plate so that you couldn't pick it up anyway. Burritos (or wraps) are supposed to be meals held in the hand, so that's one strike against it already, especially if you are making this at work.

This is a "breakfast burrito" that is rather more breakfasty, however. The potatoes are cut in the grated style of diner hash browns, and the diced carrots, spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms mixed with the tiny tofu chunks give it the overall impression of a bunch of vegetables (and potatoes) scrambled into eggs and cooked until the eggs are hard, then wrapped in an unfortunate gluten-free tortilla. The tortilla itself has an almost corny flavor despite there being no corn in the ingredients. At 300 calories, 460 milligrams of sodium, and 3 grams of fiber (not unexpected in the gluten-free realm), if you can be prepared to eat it with a fork, this is a good option for those eating gluten-free.

First posted: October 17, 2014