Reviewing Old El Paso family friendly food

I love Mexican food. Enchiladas, fajitas, burritos, guacamole and nachos – these all rate amongst my favourite dishes. I adore a bit of spice in my flavours, but do sometimes find that these are hard to incorporate into family meals. My five year old is not really a fan of what he refers to as ‘spicer’, and so milder, classic options are called on time and time again at mealtimes.

When I was approached on behalf of Old El Paso to review some of their Mexican meal kits, I must admit I jumped at the chance. This was an excuse to have a Mexican tea for review purposes, I hoped that we would be sent something that we hadn’t tried before, and maybe even something milder that Joe would enjoy.

We were in luck, we were sent a new, extra mild one pan rice meal that was perfect for chicken. This was a great option for Joe, who loves both rice and chicken. We also decided to add mild peppers and a touch of onion to add further flavour to this dish. In addition, we were sent a quesadillas kit, again another mild dish, but one that could be spiced up with the addition of jalapeno and salsa sauce.

The rice was easy to prepare. The chicken was browned in a little oil and then peppers and onion was added to the mix. This was cooked together for a couple of minutes. The rice was then added in and stirred well, so that the rice was mixed in nicely with the other ingredients. Next we added the sauce, which is a creamy lime flavour, the spice mix and 350mls of water. This was brought to the boil and then allow to simmer. And that’s it. Easy enough for even the world’s worst cook to manage, and so, so tasty. It is mild enough for the whole family to enjoy, but tasty enough that there is nothing left on the plate. I think this would be great in salads, and accompanying cheese pie or even white fish. Definitely worth having in the cupboard as a quick meal idea.

The quesadillas kit was also simple to cook and tasty to eat. Using another pan, we cooked some more chicken, and then added the spice mix and 100 ml of water. We then put the tortilla in a third pan, which had been coated with a little oil. We added a mixture of the spiced chicken and some peppers to the tortilla, grated cheese was then added to the mix, and the tortilla was then folded in half in the pan.

You could add other things to the mixture – guacamole, or a mixture of salsa and sour cream for both heat and coolness. I loved the crispiness of these, there was (get ready for the cliche – sorry, not sorry) flavour in every single bite, although the spice, mild as it was, was still a little too strong for Joe. He did, however, love the tortillas – wanting to dip them in ketchup.

For quick and easy meals with lots of flavour, I think the Old El Paso kits are just a really great, family option.

*I was sent the Old El Paso goodies for review purposes. The opinions are all my own.

Sharing is caring!