Taco Bell Adds Plant-Based Meat To Its UK Menu

In unsurprising news, Taco Bell is adding plant-based meat to the menu, but the twist is that right now, it's only available in the UK. The vegetarian substitute is made by Finnish company Gold & Green, and this news comes to us via The Beet.

This plant-based taco meat is a blend of oats, pea protein, and fava bean protein, and can be swapped for any item on the Taco Bell menu that contains beef. Currently, there are 53 UK locations that serve the alternative protein, which, again, is 53 more than we have here in the States. Right now our only option is to swap in black beans to replace the meat.

I had a revelation last summer that was hard for me to get over then, and is still a bit of a shock to me now: I prefer the black beans over the beef. When I do get Taco Bell (my current favorite black bean item is a Crunchwrap Supreme), I'll still stubbornly order something with meat in it to compare it to, say, a taco or burrito. Because there's a big part of me that thinks my new preference is wrong. But I'll always do a side-by-side comparison and come to the same conclusion every time. The black beans are a lot better.

The beans are just seasoned more aggressively compared to the tamer flavors in the beef. The filler could be anything, as far as I'm concerned; as long as it's pretty bold, I'll happily eat it. (Most of you know I'll eat anything, though. Me eat food.) So for now, I'm cool black beans being our only non-meat protein option, but when plant-based meat debuts stateside, you can bet I'll be giving it a shot—because if it sucks, I'll always have you, beans. I'll always have you.