Hungry-Man Mexican Style Fiesta

July 13, 2006 | Reviewer: Nicole

In which Nicole eats half of a Hungry-Man meal and declares herself unsatisfied in multiple ways.

Price: $2.00 (sale at Safeway)
Serving: 1 package, 20 oz.
Calories: 870
Fat: 58%, 38g
Sodium: 93%, 2230mg
Protein: 24g
Carbs: 38%, 113g
Fiber: 53%, 13g

Hungry-Man says: Beef enchiladas in chili sauce with Mexican style rice, refried beans and a brownie.

Nicole says: I could eat this entire meal. But I wouldn’t enjoy it. Not that I would be painfully full, though I am reasonably satisfied after half of the meal and a small salad. It would be painful because this meal really does not taste good. The enchiladas are in the same class as Banquet’s enchiladas: untextured meat (though this is supposed to be shredded, from the photo), soggy shells, and a sauce with enough flavor to make these bits of American-Mexican cuisine palatable.

The refried beans were very disturbing, however. The first bite and every one thereafter had a distinct chemical taste. In refried beans, of all things. These are a protein you can safely eat straight from a can, but for some reason Swanson needed to add some freaky nasty preservative that make them taste worse than cold refired beans from the can. Pfft.

Abi gave me a heads up that the brownie was disappointing. I stil looked forward to it, though. She was right - though it’s clear that there is some chocolate or chocolate flavor in this, the dessert is quite bland. It’s like bad vegan chocolate. The texture was not hideous, though, compared to microwave brownies in meals that I’ve had in the past. This may be related to the fact that you have to remove the brownie part way through cooking. This meal gets knocked up half a star only because the whole thing would be a filling meal for $2.00 (on sale.)

Click here to read Abi’s review of this meal.

comments

5 Responses to “Hungry-Man Mexican Style Fiesta”

adam on July 14th, 2006

I’ve had this one and it isn’t good. I don’t know what made Hungry Man think they could do Mexican. They should stick to Fried chicken and mashed potatoes.
AndrewE on July 14th, 2006

Oh my days! That looks absolutely foul! What in God’s name are ‘refried beans’ it looks like peanut butter! I’d hate to think what goes into making something like this.
Abi on July 14th, 2006

Adam- I think that some companies (especially Amy’s Kitchen) do Mexican well. Obviously, Hungry-Man fails.

Andrew- Refried beans are black beans or pinto beans that have been sauteed in onion then stewed with spices. Then those soft beans are mashed. It is sort of the bean version of mashed potatoes. Incredibly delicious when prepared well and excellent with tortilla chips, refried beans are part of the culinary heritage of Latin America.
Francis Storr on July 15th, 2006

58% fat?! Good God, that’s obscene.
Bradford on May 28th, 2008

Yeah..I had this one last night…was very interesting! LOL