Chef Gustavo Frozen Enchiladas Review
Author’s Note: As per always, this is not a paid review. These are my own silly opinions. I have no affiliation with Chef Gustavo or Costco.
Sing the ballad of the missing rice. Sing it with me!
Welp. I liked the flavor of these gluten-free enchiladas. But, the portions are snack-sized. And there is a tragic rice deficiency. Very tragic indeed.
These little frozen dudes come in a cardboard tray, which can be microwaved -or- baked in the oven. You get six chicken-and-cheese enchiladas in corn tortillas over a bed of rice. The top is covered in a crema sauce made with hatch green chiles and jalapenos.
I opted to bake mine, which took about an hour total. You’re supposed to leave the plastic film intact, but cut a 2-inch slit in the top. And then remove the plastic five minutes before the enchiladas finish baking.
Mine came out crisp on the edges, but soft through the center. Not soggy, but very tender. The corn tortillas have a good texture. However, the sauce seemed like it had dried out too much and gotten goopy — it was barely “sauce” by the time I served the enchiladas.
The flavors are deep and complex, with a noticeable kick of peppery heat that falls short of “spicy.” I enjoyed the visible red and green pepper pieces, and the hatch chile flavor was distinct. The crema sauce — even in its goopy glory — offered a lush creaminess. Even if it was thick enough to be a solid. Hmmph! There’s a completely adequate amount of stretchy cheese intermingled with the crema sauce.
The chicken is in small, soft blobs (not exactly “shredded”) that reminded me of canned or boiled chicken. I liked this much better than the more rubbery, jiggly, gristly chicken that comes in some prepared meals. Chef Gustavo’s rendition has an inoffensive texture that neither excited nor disappointed me. There isn’t gobs of chicken here — but, then, there really isn’t gobs of anything. Alas.
Speaking of that, the rice made me sad. Look, I like carbs. I like rice. There was so little rice here, I almost got eyestrain looking for it. It’s a lightly seasoned yellow rice (“fiesta rice,” per the label), with a few sweet, chewy kernels of corn mixed in. The rice manages to not be mushy or overcooked. In fact, mine was nearly chewy, but not in a bad way. If you like firmer rice grains, you will probably enjoy it.
But, yeah. There should be more rice. I mean. Rice is a low-cost food, so why not add 50% more to the tray? Just saying. It wouldn’t take much to make our little rice-loving hearts happy. Just do it.
A serving is supposed to be one enchilada. This made me laugh. I am a small person, and not a glutton, but there is no way a single enchilada would satisfy me. An adult would need at least two. There are only 340 calories in a single serving (which includes the rice & sauce). That’s a snack, not a full meal of calories. Unless you’re a supermodel. Or eight years old. Are you eight?
Anyway. I ate two. I also added a generous dollop of full-fat Greek yogurt to mine (not pictured; use your imagination), in lieu of sour cream, which beefed up the calories and added a bit more creamy-tanginess. Paired with some Wild Wonders tomatoes, this became a satisfying meal.
Ingredients in Chef Gustavo Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas
Here are the ingredients, from the label:
Honestly, these are pretty decent ingredients, overall. Pretty straightforward, and not scary. Although, I wish the Maltodextrin had been left out.
More information from the label:
- Chicken raised without antibiotics
- Gluten Free
- USDA Inspected
Nutrition Facts
A serving is one enchilada (with rice and sauce), and contains 340 calories. You get 14 grams of protein, and 11 grams of fat. There’s also 1 lonely gram of fiber, and 2 grams of sugar (0 grams “added sugars”). There’s moderate sodium, with 28% your daily value. Impressively, you also get 20% your daily value of calcium per serving. If you ate two enchiladas (like I did), then you’d get 40%. Whoop.
Price and Servings
The tray of 6 frozen enchiladas cost $13 at my local Costco. If you managed to get 6 servings per tray (because you’re a scrawny eight-year-old), each serving would cost just $2.17. However, if you eat two enchiladas per meal, the price rises to $4.33 per person. While this isn’t terrible, it’s not deeply awesome, either. Not for a bulk frozen dinner. Not for the heart-breaking rice delivery. I do give this more leeway, since it is a Gluten Free meal option. For folks on a restricted diet, it may be well worth the price.
Shelf Life
The “best by” date on my package allowed approximately a year to consume. My frozen tray was in good condition, with no freezer burn, or ice crystals, or other shenanigans.
Dramatic Conclusion
I wasn’t disappointed by the flavors of this meal, and the textures were better than competitors. I appreciate the relatively clean ingredient list. However, the meager portion size and miserly rice made my stomach cry.
The End.
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