As you have probably noticed, I really like to encourage whole foods eating, preferably with homemade recipes. But I’m a realist. People’s lives are busier than ever, and sometimes preparing fresh homemade bagged lunches is the last thing on your mind. Though I still encourage making some time for preparing foods from scratch (*cough* Smart School Time Recipes, *cough* It's Free), it can be helpful to have some healthy, pre-packaged foods on hand. Without them, you may find yourself running to feed the family from the Golden Arches.

One of my favorite brands for convenience is Amy’s. They are a vegetarian frozen food company that focuses on organics and ingredients you can pronounce. You can see my take on many of their products in our product reviews, but today, I sampled Amy’s new Gluten-Free, Non-Dairy Burrito made with organic rice and beans ... 

I was seriously impressed with the wrap portion of the burrito. It had kind of a tamale corn look, but was surprisingly sturdy. The flavor was pleasant, with a touch of sweetness and a nice bite. The filling was basically beans, brown rice, and spices. Nothing fancy here. The flavor is good, definitely better than the overly-processed frozen burritos my mom insisted on buying from Costco when I was a child, but nothing to write home about. If your child likes bean burritos, then give these a go.

Since they are non-dairy (no dairy ingredients, but they are made in a facility that processes dairy ingredients – most foods are!), they are cheese-free. I don’t think the cheese is missed at all here; there are plenty of flavors going on. However, I think Amy’s might benefit from an additional bean and “cheese” version using Daiya vegan cheese alternative, too.  Just thought I would give them a heads up on that issue.

Overall, I liked it and would buy it if on sale. However, I think I would still opt for some of the other wraps from Amy’s over this one, simply because I’m not a big Mexican food fan. My husband had pretty much the same opinion. His response was, “It was good. It was a frozen burrito.” Amy’s accidentally sent us their new gluten-free burrito with cheese too. My husband is also dairy-free, but he hates waste and he isn’t allergic to milk, so he tried that one too. Having eaten them on different days, he didn’t really notice a huge difference, and when I told him that one had cheese in it, and asked if he liked it, he responded, “It had cheese in it?” So in other words, I don’t think you are missing anything but calories by choosing the Non-Dairy version.

Ingredients: Organic Pinto Beans, Filtered Water, Organic Brown Rice, Organic Garbanzo Flour, Organic Tomato Puree, Organic Potato Starch, Expeller Pressed High Oleic Safflower And/Or Sunflower Oil, Organic Onions, Organic Tapioca Starch, Organic Bell Peppers, Organic Sorghum Flour, Organic Sweet Rice Flour, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Sea Salt, Spices, Organic Garlic.

This burrito is vegan (dairy-free, egg-free, and meat-free), gluten-free, soy-free, tree nut-free, and made in a peanut-free, egg-free facility. It has 240 calories, 6g fat, 5g fiber, 3g sugar, 7g protein, and 430mg sodium.

This is a third party review by Alisa Fleming, author of Go Dairy Free: The Guide & Cookbook. For more information on this product, see the Amy's Kitchen Website.