Everyone’s favorite late night drive-thru has a lot of really good menu items. If you don’t agree, try a Crunchwrap Supreme. With that being said, nobody is perfect, and Taco Bell is no exception to that rule. Taco Bell has some truly awful menu items and you should definitely avoid them the next time you head to the drive-thru.
XXL grilled stuft burrito
Okay, this burrito might fill a hole when you’re really hungry. This burrito contains beef, rice, three types of cheese, and if that wasn’t enough, a chipotle cream sauce and an avocado ranch sauce. For anyone looking to eat moderately, maintain a balanced diet, or not suffer a heart attack, we’d suggest steering clear of this monster burrito option.
Unless you want XXL health problems…
Don’t eat meals that have XXL in the title, just as a general rule of thumb. This burrito is stuffed to absolute capacity. At 870 calories per serving, almost half of these come from fat. Eating one of these big boys also loads you up with about 90 percent of your daily sodium allowance, which is a lot!
Mountain Dew baja blast freeze
On a hot day, or after a spicy burrito, one of these might seem like a good idea, especially since the baja blast is an iconic part of the Taco Bell menu. If you haven’t had one, this drink tastes vaguely of lime and vaguely of tropical fruit, but mostly just like a Mountain Dew that got more artificial, if that was possible.
In all it’s green wonder
Additionally, the drink is bright green. If that doesn’t scream “chemicals you shouldn’t be consuming” then what does? This unnaturally-colored drink contains zero nutrients and 51 grams of carbs — all of which are sugar, in a 16-ounce serving. This may seem like a vaguely good idea with your next Taco Bell drive-thru order if you want something icy cold, but please, skip it out.
Fiesta taco salad
You might think that a salad option is the best choice if you’re trying to be good whilst visiting Taco Bell, and you’re partially right, because pretty much the whole menu is horrendous if you’re taking calories into account. This ‘salad’ doesn’t actually contain any lettuce though, and is mainly made up of beef, cheese, sour cream and guac. Oh, and that’s before any extras…
Because who wants a salad?
With 760 calories, you may as well just accept defeat with this one and don’t deny yourself one of life’s most simple pleasures – a really good taco. If you’re heading to The Bell, you should probably abandon the idea of calorie counting and just enjoy yourself. Life’s too short for a Taco Bell salad.
Beefy five-layer burrito
The Beefy 5-Layer Burrito is tempting. You’re getting a lot of food for $2.19 when you order this item. After all, it’s two tortillas, stuck together with a tasty filling of nacho cheese, then filled with seasoned beef, beans, sour cream, and even more cheese. Just don’t go on a rollercoaster after eating that…
One beefy dish alright
This budget item might seem like a good idea. However, it contains 500 calories, a glob of saturated fat, and more than half of your daily allowance for sodium. So you might order this multi-layered burrito thinking you’re getting bang for the buck, but you’re also getting a heap of gross preservatives, fat, and salt you didn’t ask for.
Nachos belle grande
Taco Bell specializes in Mexican cuisine, so you’d think that they’d know how to whip up a killer plate of nachos. Think again. This meal’s main components of seasoned beef, cheese sauce, chips, sour cream, and refried beans collectively contain way too many unpronounceable preservatives, modified additives, and ingredients with the word “gum” in them to feel good about.
They’re soggy too…
If you can wrap your head around consuming 1,310 grams of sodium, 85 grams of carbs, and 38 grams of fat and aren’t already put off by that, then the texture of this dish should do it. With heaps of fluorescent yellow cheese sauce that is a far-cry from any good queso, you should avoid these nachos at all costs.
Double decker taco
Taco Bell’s Double Decker Taco consists of a soft flour tortilla stuffed with loads of beans, which in turn is wrapped around a hard shell taco filled with seasoned beef, shredded lettuce, and cheddar cheese. While it’s certainly a cheap option at $1.99, this layered taco situation is bland and quite frankly, not worth the two bucks.
A disturbing dish
This taco just doesn’t work. A hard shell taco, on a bed of soggy refried beans, on a soft flour tortilla – not only are the textures here disturbing, but the dish is not structurally sound. You know that you’re taking one bite of that and it’s going to spew refried beans and guac all over your new jeans.
Doritos locos…anything
Whether it’s the Nacho Cheese Doritos Locos Tacos, the Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos, or the Fiery Doritos Locos Tacos, you truly are doing yourself a big favor when you turn down anything at Taco Bell with a name that starts with “Doritos Locos.” A sad day for Doritos lovers.
It’s just not worth it
While these branded tacos are relatively low in calories, the fillings are held together by Doritos shells. The MSG in these shells is there for flavoring and while it makes the tacos taste better, it also makes you want to eat more, which can significantly increase your calorie, fat, and sodium intake by turning your little Taco Bell binge into a big one.
Cheesy gordita crunch
Why is Taco Bell’s Cheesy Gordita Crunch a no-go? Well, first of all, it’s actually two tacos masquerading as one. An unseemly amount of cheese is combined with the eatery’s signature overly salty beef, fatty ranch sauce, and nutrient-less iceberg lettuce, inside a hard shell that’s wrapped in a doughy flatbread.
Make up your mind…
If you’re going to order a taco, just pick whether you want a soft shell or a hard shell. It may be a tough decision, but if you go for both, that’s just a weird decision. The world is divided in many ways, and at some point we must all take a side. The side you should take is never ordering this taco, by the way.
Cinnabon delights
Little balls of dough coated in cinnamon sugar, a collab with another beloved food chain – what’s not to love? Cinnabon notoriously has one of the most unhealthy menus in the country, and that’s saying something. On paper, these don’t look too bad, but that’s because one portion is meant to serve one person…and we know that’s not happening.
Are not so delightful
If you do snack your way through the whole thing, you’re eating a whopping 930 calories, and 480 of those are from fat. There’s also 59 grams of sugar in those 12 little balls of deliciousness, and there are 53 grams of fat, too. Sorry to put a dampener on your dessert dreams.
Taco Bell for breakfast, anyone?
Since Taco Bell started serving breakfast, you can eat every meal of the day there. Let’s just be clear though, you should definitely not do that. Their ‘Grande Scrambler’ range is very popular and these burritos come with scrambled eggs, nacho cheese sauce, pico de gallo, and either sausage, bacon, steak, or seasoned fiesta potatoes in a tortilla.
Grande scrambler breakfast burrito
They also come with a truckload of salt. If you were to eat the steak grade scrambler breakfast burrito, you would literally be consuming your maximum daily intake of salt by 8am, or whatever time you decide is an appropriate time to completely clog your arteries. Just opt for a regular breakfast taco.
Refried beans
Refried, or rehydrated? Videos posted online show how they’re prepared, and essentially, they come in a sort of dried pellet form that looks a bit like rabbit food. Add hot water, stir, and bean paste happens. What’s even worse is that when this is sitting out in the line for hours, staff will dump hot water on the beans to stop them drying out, which is why your burrito is often soggy.
Or rabbit food?
When one Taco Bell employee took to Reddit to anonymously expose what goes on in the kitchen, they said that if you order in the morning, there’s a good chance the beans you get served are among the food left over from the night before, and rehydrated again in the morning. Talk about gross.
Anything with steak
This stuff is the most expensive thing to add to any meal on the menu. It’s so expensive in fact, that Taco Bell don’t want to waste it. Several employees pointed out that this is the one item that they would refuse to eat because it gets heated and re-heated, sometimes for up to three days after it’s first cooked.
If you can even call it that
Not only is it the most expensive item on the menu, but several magazines have called this stuff “steak” because it doesn’t actually even qualify as proper steak. As one source pointed out, steak doesn’t come wrapped up in other stuff for under $2, it also doesn’t come braised. Just have a proper steak, for crying out loud.
Anything off the menu without customization
Okay, the rest of this list has talked about how many calories everything at Taco Bell has, and how many additives you’re eating in one sitting. But, with that being said, Taco Bell can be delicious and just what you need after a long, hard week. If you’re ordering Taco Bell, you may as well go all-out and order all of the sides and toppings that you can!
Variety is the spice of life
Nobody wants a plain and boring taco, spice things up a bit! According to a Taco Bell manager interviewed by Thrillist in 2017, their POS system is set up to make everything easily customizable, and that means you’re free to mix-and-match as you like. If you just order straight off the menu, you’re doing it wrong.
Bean burrito
There’s nothing wrong with the bean burrito on paper. However, Taco Bell is definitely not very good for vegetarians. Whilst their beef and chicken comes spiced, the rest of their burrito fillings don’t, especially the black beans. They’re kind of just like a watery mess and you’ll end up with a burrito that has more liquid than flavor.
Sorry, vegans
Things are even worse if you’re a vegan. Anyone who likes Mexican food knows that the best bit is the cheese and sour cream, of course, because it’s the most unhealthy part. But, if you’re a vegan you have to skip out on the meat and dairy. Guacamole and lettuce in a soft shell taco, anyone?
Steakhouse nachos with steak
If there’s anything to avoid at all costs at Taco Bell, it’s this pick. Not only do the Steakhouse Nachos with steak contain two of the questionable ingredients already mentioned (looking at you beans and steak) but they are the ultimate calorific option at this fast-food joint.
How much salt?
With 1,130 calories, 56 grams of fat, and a sodium count only 190 milligrams short of what the American Heart Association recommends for the entire day, this plate of nachos is definitely on the list for things that could give you a heart-attack in just one sitting. Just make your own nachos at home, it’s literally just chips.
The Chilli cheese burrito
This popular burrito, sometimes called a ‘Chilito’ is no longer available across all Taco bell stores, but some top fans say that you can still get it on the secret menu. The burrito consisted of beef chilli, a spicy sauce and cheddar cheese all wrapped up in a tortilla. Sounds pretty delicious, right?
That got Taco Bell into trouble
It may sound delicious, but Taco Bell nearly had a lawsuit on their hands recently when they were threatened by a law form for not using Federal standard beef. The lawsuit was eventually dropped because Taco Bell were able to prove that their seasoned beef was made with 88 percent beef. But, what’s the other 12 percent?
Too many extras
Some extras are definitely the way to go at Taco Bell, but just make sure that you don’t go overboard, otherwise you’ll end up spending double what you thought. These extras include everything from lettuce and onions, to beans and cheese, to steak and chicken, and they range in price depending on where your Taco Bell is located.
But not just to save your wallet
Eating a burrito is hard enough okay, but if you don’t build it right, you’re going to be in trouble. Think of a burrito with chilli, all the types of salsa, extra guac and extra sour cream – that’s liquid wrapped in a tortilla. You have got to soak all that up with some rice or lettuce, and maybe pick only one extra liquid-y item.
Plant protein
Although Taco Bell doesn’t have much going for vegetarians and vegans in the US apart from soggy beans and potatoes, it’s a different story internationally. They have released plant protein in the UK that resembles beef and can come in some fan-favorites, like the Crunchwrap Supreme and Volcano burritos.
Taco Bell, you’re not fooling anyone.
That being said, it’s not that good. It looks like dog food, and it kind of smells like it too. Although there are some good meat alternatives out there, this is not one of them. It’s chewy, oddly orange, and costs way more than the actual beef on the menu. Taco Bell is not a vegan’s friend.
Cinnamon Twists
Cinnamon twists are an iconic menu item at Taco Bell, and there’s no other item on the fast-food market quite like it. They arrived on the menu in 1989 and were an immediate hit. However, some people feel that they’re a little too crispy and run the risk of hurting the roof of your mouth.
Side or dessert?
Although they’re popular, that doesn’t mean that they’re good. They are kind of a weird menu item that is too savory to be a dessert, and too sweet to be a side. Like what is it, chips with cinnamon? The idea is meant to be churro-esque, but they fall a little short compared to other menu items.
Fries
in 2018, Taco Bell made all the dreams of midnight munchie purveyors’ dreams come true by introducing fries to the menu. The fries are coated in what Taco Bell calls a “bold Mexican seasoning,” and the $1 portion comes with a side of nacho cheese sauce for dipping. And “bold” that seasoning is…
With a strange seasoning
If the bright red, powdery appearance of these fries doesn’t put you off, the taste of these fries will. The seasoning is very salty, contains a whole load of additives and is never evenly-distributed over the fries. What you end up with is some fries that would blow your head off, and some that are utterly tasteless.