Amy’s Kitchen Tofu Rancheros Breakfast

February 20, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi

Amy's Kitchen Tofu Rancheros Breakfast

Price: $4.09
Serving: 1 box, 9 oz.
Calories: 380
Fat: 26%, 17g
Cholesterol: 6%, 15mg
Sodium: 24%, 580mg
Protein: 21g
Carbs: 12%, 37g
Fiber: 27%, 7g

Amy’s Kitchen says: Our Tofu Rancheros Breakfast will satisfy the heartiest of eaters. Organic tofu scrambled with vegetables and topped with a mildly spiced ranchero sauce and grated Monterey Jack cheese covers an organic corn tortilla along with sides of black beans and roasted potatoes. This dish is nourishing and delicious, and since it’s fully cooked, only takes a few minutes to prepare. If you prefer a bit more spice, top it with one of Amy’s great tasting bottle salsa. Good for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Abi says: I planned on eating this meal for breakfast. Unfortunately, I forgot to retrieve it from the microwave before my professor started lecturing and I ended up eating this meal reheated an hour later.

Though the miniature corn tortilla didn’t fare so well (very hard) and the eggs (um, tofu) became rubbery, this meal was so darn tasty and had such variety that I could help but be excited about eating a fresh one in the future.

Forgetting meals in the microwave is a hard lesson in cold tofu-egg edibleness.

4 weeks later Abi manages to eat the meal in a timely manner…

Yes! Amy’s Tofu Rancheros meal is a hearty, filling, and savory breakfast. It will enamour even those of you who do not relish the thought of tofu for breakfast (or any other meal). If it weren’t for the fact that this meal is significantly more expensive than just making a breakfast of eggs, beans, potato, a mini tortilla, and salsa, I would probably eat it more often.

Now that I think about it, you could feed a family of four Huevos Rancheros for the cost of this meal. That is pretty crazy. I suddenly feel like an evil yuppy. It doesn’t help that I’m typing this at a Starbucks while sipping a tall soy chai.

Consumer guilt aside, if I were to reconfigure this meal, I would do away with the mini corn tortilla and instead introduce mini corn tortilla pieces (they do not require a knife). I would also give the consumer more salsa. Seriously, salsa is the ingredient that takes this meal from ‘a bunch of bland healthy things’ to ‘a fiesta in your mouth’.

Yes, the blurb on the box says that I can add more salsa. If I am eating a microwaveable breakfast meal, I probably don’t just have some salsa sitting around. Why not include a little salsa packet for all of us salsa lovers?

comments

11 Responses to “Amy’s Kitchen Tofu Rancheros Breakfast”

MaryAnne on February 20th, 2007

This looks repulsive. Here’s the thing, the meal sounds good and I definitely trust your judgement, but in the morning when I’m blindly grabbing for something to take to work for breakfast (Why waste my own precious morning time to eat when I can just do it in my cubicle?) and then wake up enough to look at the item (today was thick ‘n creamy fat free yoplait wild berry yogurt- so good), I do not want to see this. I like tofu and I love salsa but let’s be honest- this is not going to win any pageants for best looking meal and in the morning when I’m tired, cranky, and hungry, looks count. Everything counts.
Abi Jones on February 20th, 2007
MaryAnne, while you are correct that this meal would not win any beauty contests, I have been racking my brain for a meal that actually looks good in the morning. I have come to the conclusion that the following three items actually look edible:
1. Belgian Waffles with Strawberries and Whipped Cream
2. Beautiful Fruit Salads containing no whipped cream and presented in a hulled watermelon
3. Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Thick and Creamy yogurt sounds disgusting. I am shuddering as I think about it. Also sort of gross: oatmeal. Yes, I enjoy oatmeal, but it is not pretty stuff at 7am.

Biscuits with jam are pretty too. And deliciously buttery.
Ace N. on February 20th, 2007

Huevos rancheros isn’t meant to be pretty. I would never trust a pretty plate of huevos rancheros, let alone eat it. The first thought I had when I saw that picture was, “that looks terrible, but I bet it’s damn tasty.” I don’t think I’ll be paying $4 for a serving since it’s easy to make from scratch with eggs, but it looks like a filling breakfast for vegetarians.
Syrra on February 20th, 2007

Did they use real cheese? It sounds like it did. While I’m not fond of soy cheese, it is slightly confusing to hear that they replaced the eggs with tofu but then used real cheese, instead of just making the entire meal vegan.
Abi Jones on February 20th, 2007

Ace - I seriously miss chilequiles from South Texas. There’s not much that can beat scrambled eggs, refried beans, corn chips, potatoes, salsa, and cheese for a hangover cure. That is some muy delicioso stuff.

Syrra - I agree with you on the cheese. It is pretty ridiculous and went entirely unnoticed both times that I had this meal. They could take out the jack cheese and label this product as vegan-friendly.
Jeff on February 20th, 2007

I have eaten this many times… and I love it! I know it may look a little iffy, but if you are in a hurry in the morning and want a filling, hot breakfast, reach for this. Also the other Hot Breakfast by Amy’s Kitchen (scrambled tofu, hash browns, and tomatoes) it equally as delicious!
Colleen on February 21st, 2007

I really love this meal. Oh potatoes. So much better in the morning than the afternoon or evening.
MaryAnne on February 21st, 2007

I really want some taco bell now. For $4, I can get a chalupa and the new taquitos. I won’t have to make any choices or stand in front of the work micro that takes twice as long as my own. 3.25 hours until heaven.

Abi,
I’ll take either of the meals listed but please hold the whipped cream. The Thick ‘n Creamy yogurt looks quite pretty in a brilliant shade of darkened fuschia. I also had some cherry gooey butter cake for breakfast which boasts at least 9 million calories (it’s a St. Louis thing but you have to try it).
Nicole on February 22nd, 2007

Abi:

I think you need to try out a Gooey Butter Cake recipe. Of course, you’ll need to bring the result into the office for testing.

http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/478/Recipe.cfm.
Grant on April 3rd, 2007

Hey, what a cool site. I love the Tofu Rancheros breakfast - it is maybe my favorite Amy’s meal, period, although I am quite enamored at the moment with her Indian Spinach Tofu wrap too. Quite yummy. Anyways, I try and eat one or two of these for breakfast each week. Like the author mentioned, I am also kind of feeling guilty about the price, but will pay it just for the beans.
Don on June 24th, 2008

I just recently tried the Tofy Rancheros Breakfast and actually like the flavor and heartiness of it. I do have to agree that the tortilla should be abandoned from the meal but the tofu really makes a great substitute for scambled eggs especially for people like myself that have high cholesterol. The black beans are very tasty and the potatoes came us nice and crisp even after microwaving this for 5 minutes. I do have to say that at $3.99 (I bought this at Whole Foods), its not quite a bargain but it will fill you up and get you through your day.