Review: Taco Bell Brings Funky Flavor And Plenty Of Meat With Its New Chicken Menu Items

Fast food chicken is a big business. From poultry-first brands like KFC and their finger-lickin'-good food to burger chains like McDonald's, which sold a mind-boggling volume of nuggets last year, a good fast food menu includes some white meat. Taco Bell is no stranger to chicken dishes, and now they're making one a permanent menu item, while a newcomer slides in as a limited-time snack. Don't worry, beef is still on the menu, too, thanks to a limited-time steak dish.

Cantina Chicken Rolled Quesadilla is the latest permanent menu item for those looking to Live Mas. Featuring slow-roasted Cantina Chicken, a three-cheese blend, and creamy chipotle sauce, along with a side of sour cream and Verde Salsa, this is a reimagining of the original Cantina Chicken Quesadilla. Joining the Rolled Quesadilla are the new Crispy Chicken Crunchwrap Sliders. The dish features tortilla chip–coated Crispy Chicken Nuggets, layered with a three-cheese blend and either a chipotle sauce or a Jalapeño Honey Mustard sauce, inside a snack-sized Crunchwrap. Finally, the Steak and Guac Nacho Fries are a pile of seasoned fries topped with marinated steak, nacho cheese, chipotle sauce, guacamole, and sour cream.

I made my way to Taco Bell the day the new items were released to try them out. Read on to find out if chicken — or steak — should be part of your next order.

Taco Bell reached out to share the news of the new menu items before they launched. The company sent me a gift card so I could try everything out, which is what I did the day they hit the menu. I ordered everything through the Taco Bell app, picked it up, and brought it home for a quick photoshoot. After taking pictures, I began tasting. My evaluations were based on taste, texture, scent, value, and overall fit within the Taco Bell menu. Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer/distributor/etc.

All three new items are available nationwide now, but two are only available for a limited time. While the Cantina Chicken Rolled Quesadilla is a permanent addition to the menu, both the Steak and Guac Nacho Fries and the Crispy Chicken Crunchwrap Sliders are only here for a limited time, though Taco Bell has not released an end date for those items.

You can snag an order of Steak and Guac Nacho Fries for $5.49. A portion contains 530 calories, 44 grams of fat, 13 grams of protein, and 1,230 milligrams of sodium. Both of the Crispy Chicken Crunchwrap Sliders are priced at $2.99 and contain an identical 320 calories, 12 grams of fat, 16 grams of protein, and 860 milligrams of sodium. Finally, the most expensive option of the bunch is the Cantina Chicken Rolled Quesadilla for $6.69. The only nutritional information available as of this writing for the Cantina Chicken Rolled Quesadilla is that it contains 655 calories.

Let's start with the steak before we get to the chicken. The Steak and Guac Nacho Fries are one of those rare fast food items that look exactly like the promotional images. A bed of heavily seasoned fries is topped with a generous portion of meat and cheese. I've reviewed past Taco Bell Nacho Fries and found them lacking in the topping department, but I wasn't left wanting this time around.

Quantity isn't a problem and neither is quality. The steak is surprisingly tender and super flavorful. The fries are plenty tasty enough on their own, but I never came up with a naked fry as nacho cheese, and both guac and sour cream are everywhere. The volume of food makes this one a good value, so if you're looking for a dish that doesn't include a tortilla, the Steak and Guac Nacho Fries are absolutely worth ordering.

While I appreciate something a little more complex, like the Steak and Guac Nacho Fries, the best Taco Bell items are often the ones that simply lean into the basics: meat and cheese. The Cantina Chicken Rolled Quesadilla is heavy on both. This dish is a revamp of the original Cantina Chicken Quesadilla, but it contains double the chicken. The meat is tender, juicy, well-seasoned, and evenly distributed, so every bite is as protein-packed as the last.

Cheese and a mildly spicy chipotle sauce combine to make this a gooey meal from start to finish. It's served with a side of sour cream and Avocado Verde Salsa, both of which are key to providing some additional flavor. This quesadilla can get a bit one-note, so the additional hint of spice, freshness, and a pop of vinegar from the salsa is welcome. There's really nothing to complain about here, but I'm not sure I'd order it again. For my money, a burrito can offer a lot of the same elements while adding a few additional ingredients. Simple is good, but after a while it can get a bit boring.

Consider this the start of a petition to make everything on the Taco Bell menu snack-sized. A proper order already contains a handful of items; why not double it? The Crispy Chicken Crunchwrap Sliders are proof that something small can be plenty mighty. 

First up is the Creamy Chipotle flavor, which is a bit more standard than its running mate. Despite being tucked inside a grilled tortilla and covered in sauce, the Crispy Chicken Nuggets retain their texture remarkably well. There's only room for a few of the nuggets in each slider, but Taco Bell once again doesn't skimp. The pico does well to add a hit of freshness, but I could stand for more sauce and cheese. Some additional salsa or hot sauce might be necessary to liven this one up. It's good, but it doesn't quite offer the uniqueness of the Jalapeño Honey Mustard flavor. 

Honestly, honey mustard is not something I ever expected from Taco Bell. Since the sliders didn't come labeled, I bit into one not knowing which flavor to expect, and was absolutely shocked by the sweet, spicy honey mustard. Was it good or just weird? A second bite answered that question: it's really good. Maybe it's because honey mustard is such a great nugget dipping sauce, or maybe it's the extra jalapeño kick, but this sauce is fantastic, and there's plenty of it. If you're only trying one of the Crunchwrap Sliders, it has to be the Jalapeño Honey Mustard because it's just so wonderfully weird. (But honestly, for $2.99, just get both.)

Taco Bell is rolling out a ton of new food and drink items this year, and so far, it's off to a strong start. All three of the new chicken dishes are solid, but the standout is the Jalapeño Honey Mustard Crispy Chicken Crunchwrap Slider. The Steak and Guac Nacho Fries are definitely worth an order as well. In fact, get everything I did, and you're sure to leave Taco Bell both full and happy.