Chef Ernesto seems to be a brand dedicated to Dollar Tree, in which they make a small number of items, from Veggie Burgers to Breaded Mushrooms and French Toast. The main issue they have is that they suck at PR, because all they have is a Facebook Page and a horrible Blogspot URL. It saddens me that a business that makes as much as they do from their dollar products don’t at least spend $18 a year for an actual URL, but that has little to do with the food.

I have tried the Samosa when my boyfriends mother made them for me, only because I am the only vegetarian in the vicinity. I loved the hell out of them! She cooked them in the oven so that the crust was nice and crispy, but the inside were soft and fantastic! They are also slightly spicy, not too much, but enough so that someone who doesn’t eat spicy often notices.

The veggie burgers are the same when it comes to spicy, but they are very mushy. I find that a plus at times, but many might not like the mushy consistency. They are made primarily with potatoes, but they do have full pieces of vegetable in them, including carrots, bell peppers, and green beans, so that’s a plus if you don’t mind your burger looking like veggie. The Samosa is the same, made primarily with potatoes, but also with peas and ginger. The burgers are also VERY thick too, I was shocked that they were like that for just a dollar.

The product is devoid pf preservatives and artificial colors. The ingredient list is filled with just food ingrediants, such as potatoes, flour, carrots, peas, and spices, and that’s about it, so anyone who is worried about artificiality should not worry too much about this product, although I personally find little issue with artificial ingrediants, according to the evidence of their safety. The burgers also have corn kernals and peas in them, but those ingrediants are not mentioned on the ingredient lists…

Cooking is easy enough, with both products you can just shove them in the oven. But if you like, you can cook them on the skillet with a little vegetable or canola oil, or you can even pop them in the microwave, but that is not recommended, because it just gets mushy and doesn’t taste as good as the skillet version.

The big issue with the food comes from the protein content. The burger has 130 Calories, 5 grams of fat, and very little protein, only 5 grams. It does have 30% of your daily value of Vitamin A though. The Samosa has 96 Calories per 2 dumplings, but if you are like me, you will eat more than 2 at a time. I would eat at least 4 with a meal, so about 200 Calories for 4, and that comes complete with 6 grams of fat, 1 grams of fiber, and only 2 grams of protein. So the nutrition is a little lacking.

I like the price, since they both came from Dollar Tree, both were a dollar. For the burgers, they come 2 in a pack, while the Samosa has 8 in a box. So it is only 50 cents per burger, and only about 12 cents per Samosa. So it is easily affordable.

I just wish that that product had a little more nutrition in it, but I guess there is not much that you are going to get for a dollar. For such a cheap product, you are getting a good product. I do want to try out the mushrooms and the french toast as well someday.