Better For You Prepared Food Choices (Review: Red’s Burritos and Tandoor Chef)

Natural AND convenient? Microwave foods whose ingredient list matches exactly what you would use to make it yourself? Sounds like something we all need in our freezer, a tasty plan B for those nights when…well, you know how it goes!

Tandoor Chef and Red’s All Natural products are decidedly worth stocking in your freezer. Natural and convenient applies to both of these freezer-to-microwave-to-table, natural-ingredients-only, tasty convenience food lines.

Soccer night? Lazy bones? Worked late? In the mood for super-tasty, but not in the mood for a ton of prep, work, and clean up? Yup, natural and convenient frozen foods fit the bill and Tandoor Chef and Red’s All Natural are great choices among those. Instant yum, less than 5 mins to table, and no ingredients you wouldn’t recognize and/or put in if you were making it yourself.

I’ve been loving Tandoor Chef for years, and have mentioned the convenience of ready-made Indian foods a few times on this site as part of what-I’ve-been-eating- this-month. My husband and I often marvel at how lucky we are to both enjoy Indian food – ready-made Indian foods make one dinner of the week so so so easy (and yummy).

Tandoor Chef Chicken Tikka Masala?: The chicken is so luscious and tender, it comes with rice, and I could just drink the sauce. I’ve contemplated having a waterproof coffin constructed so I could be buried in this sauce, but that is a) gross, b) morbid, and c) gross. The only thing unnatural about the sauce is my love for it.

Palak (saag) Paneer is a lovely dish featuring spinach (saag) and Indian cheese cubes (paneer). In Tandoor Chef’s version the saag is so creamy and smoothly textured, and the paneer so soft and subtle – if you’ve had as much Indian food as I have, you come to appreciate a nice soft perfect paneer.

And basically, you don’t even want to get me started on Tandoor Chef’s Samosas. I’m c-c-c-crazy about them. I could eat those every day.

Red’s All Natural Burritos come in 2 sizes: 5 and 11 ounces. We tried four of the 5oz burritos: Chicken & Cheese, Bean & Cheese, Steak & Cheese, and Spicy Chipotle Beef & Bean. To make a meal, you’d want two of these little guys, or one alone would make a great snack. Definitely something to stock in the freezer at work too – what a tasty lunch! Though all the “PROPERTY OF ME! (NOT YOU!)” mailing labels you apply probably won’t deter your coworkers from pilfering these lunchtime gems.

Red’s tortilla is so tasty and rather amazing, truth be told – I mean, how do you get a tortilla to do it’s job, freeze, AND rebound in the microwave? As their website points out, these tortillas really are notable: Red’s All Natural’s tortillas are custom-made in a bakery using only the finest and simplest ingredients. They are just big enough to hold together all the goodness inside without overwhelming the delicate burrito balance. In fact, Red’s All Natural uses just 20% tortilla in each burrito compared to usually 50% from other frozen burritos.

Red’s Ingredient list?: Yeah, you know all the guys on that team. Not only are the ingredients recognizable, they’re non-GMO, antibiotic and hormone-free, and comparatively low in sodium.

Red’s Chicken & Cheese was the kid-favorite of the bunch, nicely seasoned by not spicy/hot. I should say family favorite, since we all liked it equally. The Bean & Cheese? So yummy, and how can you go wrong really? I mean, beans + cheese? Talk about super foods. A perennial and unbeatable combination. The Steak & Cheese burrito was excellent – very satisfying steaky flavor, and nice and cheesy too. Spicy Chipotle Beef & Bean was tasty as well, spicy but not hot. Overall – 3 very satisfied and burrito-filled tummies!

Red’s recommends baking the burritos, as opposed to the strictly microwave method. I tried 2 in the oven and 2 in the microwave and I’d say it’s a matter of taste. I liked the nicely browned exterior of the oven baked burrito, but my husband preferred the softness of the microwave method. You’ll have to see and decide for yourself!

These burritos really need no accompaniment – maybe some guac, but really they are so well seasoned that salsa seemed unnecessary. They stand alone – another great reason they’d be ideal for a quick lunch or dinner option.

Find Tandoor Chef and Red’s All Natural products near you, I bought both at Sprouts.

Laughing Lemon Pie was provided with coupons to purchase these freezer-case items, but our review and opinions are completely our own.