Taco Bell has been going big on menu innovation in 2024, rolling out a series of wildly exciting new items, from Baja Blast Gelato to a Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme. To cap off this remarkably eventful year, the fast-food giant’s menu received another major new addition this week: Crispy Chicken Nuggets.
That’s right! Taco Bell—best known for serving up tacos, burritos, and other Mexican-inspired fare—is finally trying its hand at this fast-food staple. Though Taco Bell previously tested the nuggets at select locations in Houston and Minneapolis, they hit menus nationwide for the very first time on Dec. 19.
Many rival fast-food chains offer some iteration of a chicken nugget. Taco Bell, however, has put a unique spin on the item by marinating all-white meat chicken bites in a zesty jalapeño buttermilk and coating them in a blend of crunchy tortilla chips and breadcrumbs. It also developed three brand-new sauces to pair with the nuggets: Jalapeño Honey Mustard, Hidden Valley Ranch Fire Sauce, and a creamy, tangy Bell Sauce.
The reviews began pouring in almost immediately after the nuggets hit menus. Some say they’re a disappointment, while others attest that they’re “delicious” and superior to all the other fast-food nuggets on the market right now.
So, to determine whether these limited-edition nuggets are truly as good or unsatisfactory as customers say, I stopped by my local Taco Bell on launch day to pick up an order to try for myself.
Nutrition: (Per 10-piece order)
Calories: 670
Fat: 33 g (Saturated Fat: 3.5 g)
Sodium: 1,840 mg
Carbs: 20 g (Fiber: 4 g, Sugar: 0 g)
Protein: 72 g
Taco Bell sells its Crispy Chicken Nuggets à la carte, as well as in combo meals that come with Nacho Fries and a large fountain drink. I opted for a 10-piece à la carte order, which comes with two dipping sauces, but added an extra sauce for a small upcharge so I could sample all three new varieties. My grand total was $7.72.
The look: Thoroughly breaded, golden brown, and covered in crispy nooks and crannies. The nuggets were also speckled with deeply caramelized patches of coating—perhaps a result of Taco Bell’s unique breading process. These were good-sized pieces, slightly larger that your average Chick-fil-A nugget. However, I did receive a couple of tinier nuggets that ended up being more breading than chicken when I bit into them.
The taste: My mouth was watering before I even tasted the nuggets because of the peppery, savory aroma emanating from the box. They were piping hot and emitted an audible crunch when I finally took a bite—which I attribute to the thickness of the coating. There were at least a couple of millimeters of breading completely encasing each piece, and it was even thicker in some spots. The breading did turn slightly gooey where it met with the chicken, but the issue wasn’t so severe that it ruined the coating’s texture.
The chicken itself varied a little in quality, but was generally solid. One piece I tried was slightly fatty and stringy, but other nuggets featured juicy, tasty pieces of white meat. The biggest wallop of flavor came from the crispy breading. It was heavily seasoned, slightly spicy, and genuinely tasted of tortilla chips.
They’re pretty darn tasty as is, but ascend to a whole new level when paired with Taco Bell’s three new dipping sauces (all of which are 120 calories). The Jalapeño Honey Mustard had a lovely kick and a great balance of tang and sweetness. The Hidden Valley Ranch Fire Sauce was peppery, creamy, herby, and tart with a surprisingly subtle kick of spice. And the Bell Sauce—my favorite of the three—was smoky, slightly sweet, creamy, and really enhanced the Tex-Mex flavors of the nuggets.
I went into this taste test with practically no expectations, good or bad, and ended up pleasantly surprised. Taco Bell has managed to create a truly unique and tasty rendition of a fast-food classic, and the dipping sauces that come with these nuggets are some of the best I’ve ever had from a quick-service chain. I would really enjoy mixing up my Taco Bell orders with a box of Crispy Chicken Nuggets every now and then, so I hope the chain finds a way to make these (and those delectable dipping sauces) available year-round.
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Zoe Strozewski