I Taste-Tested Tapatio Frozen Meals and Ranked Them

Tapatio makes way more than just hot sauce (though it does make some of the best hot sauce). The company makes everything from instant noodles to Doritos to pickles. And, as of 2024, Tapatio has even expanded into the frozen aisle with Tapatio frozen meals. We were intrigued enough by these frozen meals to try to track them all down and give them a try. I managed to find all but two—but one day I’ll find the elusive Chicken Enchiladas and Chicken Quesadillas!

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Are the Tapatio meals any good? Are they worthy of the Tapatio name and that Tapatio man with his Tapatio mustache and his Tapatio hat? Here’s my ranking of all the Tapatio frozen meals but two.

4 Tapatio Frozen Meals, Ranked

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Salsa Verde Steak Bowl

Tapatio Salsa Verde Steak Bowl

Walmart

This is a bit of a soupy mess! But you get lots of big chunks of steak that look like actual meat, not just pressed together meat bits. The texture and flavor of those steak chunks is totally fine—it’s a bit like the meat you get in a can of beef stew. Unfortunately, the sauce is where this frozen meal loses me. And shouldn’t the sauce be the best part of a Tapatio frozen meal? It’s definitely salsa verde but it’s really only salsa verde—under-seasoned salsa verde at that. This needs salt and more rice to sop up all the soupy sauce!

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

5/10

Sporks

Salsa Roja Chicken Bowl

Tapatio Salsa Roja Chicken Bowl

Walmart

You get a decent amount of chicken and beans in this bowl. And the beans are pretty good—firm without thick skins. The corn is quite good. The rice does its job. And the salsa roja is really good. It’s spicy and savory and tasty. The chicken, on the other hand, is spongy and flavorless. That’s a common issue with frozen chicken meals. I’d like this bowl much better if they just doubled the beans and took out the chicken.

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

5.5/10

Sporks

Birria Tacos

Tapatio Birria Tacos

Walmart

Obviously these aren’t a whole meal, but they’re still included in the line-up of Tapatio frozen meals and they are sizable frozen tacos, so get over it. You get three big tacos filled with (some) shredded, saucy meat. You can cook them in the microwave, air fryer, or oven. I microwaved them, since I microwaved everything else. But I strongly suggest going the air fryer route. My tacos came out a bit floppy and oily. But the tortilla actually tastes like masa. And the filling—what there is of it—is roasty and a little tangy and a little spicy. Does it taste like birria? Not any birria I’ve ever had! But I would have these tacos again, especially if I had a creamy dip like an avocado salsa.

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Beef Enchiladas

Tapatio Beef Enchiladas

Walmart

While we’ve had better frozen enchiladas in the Sporked office, I really enjoyed Tapatio’s frozen enchiladas. The tortillas are thick without being tough. They have a great, tender bite, and they soak up all the sauce. And there’s lots of sauce. And it’s good sauce and the right amount of melty cheese on top. The filling exists but it doesn’t taste like much. But this is a dish that is all about the tortillas and the sauce, nevermind the filling. Out of all the Tapatio frozen meals I tried, this was the one I kept going back to.

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks