Taco Bell 2014 -

[MSRadell]

Actually, the Taco Bell we go to occasionally has the green sauce in packets!

 

[Lisa Shock]

45 minutes ago, MSRadell said:

Actually, the Taco Bell we go to occasionally has the green sauce in packets!

 

 

Could you do us a favor, the next time you are there? Grab a few packets and post the ingredients. We'd really appreciate it!

[Martin Fisher]

FWIW, Taco Bell Salsa Verde (photos of packet with listed ingredients.)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I couldn't read the ingredients on the packet photos linked, but I found this. It sounds much more up my alley than mayo-based anything with even Americanized Mexican food.

 

"Border Sauce - Salsa Verde

Water, green chili peppers, tomatillos, corn syrup, vinegar, corn starch, salt, dried bell pepper, onion, spices, sodium benzoate & potassium sorbate (P), natural flavor, lime juice concentrate, garlic extract (contains soy). Contains: Soy [certified vegan]"

 

No mayo gook anywhere.  Thanks, @Lisa Shock, @MSRadell and @DiggingDogFarm.

[liuzhou]

19 minutes ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

garlic extract (contains soy)

 

I'm baffled. I've been trying to extract soy from garlic for years. Well, seconds anyway. Distinct lack of soy in any garlic that I can find. What the heck does that even begin to mean?

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I'm with you @liuzhou. Our government allows a lot of leeway for big food business, which has them firmly in their pocket. Government does make concessions for people with life threatening allergies, and so God and Big Ag alone know what else is in that "garlic extract" besides soy, which of course, should NOT be there. Soy is a recognized allergen here. You just about cannot eat out in this country unless you are not really allergy prone, do a whole bunch of detailed research, or stick to mom and pop like places with proprietors and service people who actually know what they are cooking with. I guarantee you if you tell a minimum wage Taco Bell employee that you are allergic to X and ask if it is in an offering they have, they won't know.

 

You won't be any happier reading what's in their seasoned ground beef that they use to fill tacos, burritos, etc. I read somewhere it's only 80% beef. From the Taco Bell website and linked upthread:

 

"Seasoned Beef

Beef, water, seasoning [cellulose, chili pepper, maltodextrin, salt, oats (contains wheat), soy lecithin, spices, tomato powder, sugar, onion powder, citric acid, natural flavors (including smoke flavor), torula yeast, cocoa, disodium inosinate & guanylate, dextrose, lactic acid, modified corn starch], salt, sodium phosphates. Contains: Soy, Wheat"

 

I still get cravings for Taco Bell. I know it is crap, but when I don't feel like cooking and have little money, they still get my business at times. I'm not allergic to any food ingredients, and for that I am very thankful. If I went into anaphylaxis in reaction to a food ingredient as some people do, I would have to eat at home 100% of the time. As much as I love cooking, that might compromise my sanity, such as it is. 

Edited June 13, 2016 by Thanks for the Crepes
Added clear credit for quote (log)

[liuzhou]

8 minutes ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I still get cravings for Taco Bell. I know it is crap, but when I don't feel like cooking and have little money, they still get my business at times.

 

I'll confess I only wandered into this conversation by accident and I've never been in a Taco Bell.

 

But I have had the misfortune to eat in other Yum! Foods outlets. I nearly called them restaurants, by mistake.

[Lisa Shock]

I don't eat there often, but, locally anyway, they always seem to get good health department ratings. I am a vegetarian, so I mostly just eat things like the bean burrito, tostada, and occasionally the quesadilla. Years ago, I was really disappointed to find out the rice has chicken in it. I like that they have options like adding extra vegetables. I'd patronize a local place, but, they all put lard in the beans. The one place that didn't just closed. Anyway, if I am hungry and need a quick bite, I know I can get something filling that isn't fried, and has some vegetables in it.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I had cooked and eaten every single meal at home for over two weeks and needed a break, so Taco Bell was on my radar. I had a couple Spicy Tostadas, hold the chipotle sauce, add white onion. I stopped at the grocery store on the way to the restaurant food outlet to grab a few items and picked up a bunch of fresh cilantro. I also picked up a golden honeydew melon, which I haven't seen before, just so's you know I don't eat junk food all the time. 

 

I washed and chopped up some of the cilantro when I got home and snowed it over the tostadas after dousing each one with about eight little packets of Taco Bell hot sauce. Weirdly, to me, the Hot is hotter and more flavorful than their Fire sauce. I also had a crunchy taco (unadulterated, at least by me) and a Beefy Mini Quesadilla. Unfortunately, the  $1.00 quesadilla comes with the soy/mayo based chipotle sauce, so I had them hold it. You can add onions or (very mild) red sauce to any item at Taco Bell for free, so this is what I had them do for my quesadilla. I also doused it with many packets of hot sauce after nuking it for about 40 seconds and added some iceberg lettuce and cilantro to it. So it was a very satisfying meal that hit my craving spot. It rang in at 800 calories, 29 grams of protein and $4.19 plus tax. My version may have been less calories because I had them ditch the soy oil chipotle sauce, and everything I added did not have many calories. That's all I will eat today, except for three Corona Lites with lime wedges, and it's plenty for me.

 

The husband had the Smothered Burrito, Burrito Supreme and Steak Quesadilla. His was $10.17 plus tax, but he's got over half the Smothered Burrito and part of the quesadilla left for lunch tomorrow.

 

Just for laughs, here's a quote from the Taco Bell website on the ingredients in their steak:

 

"Marinated Grilled Steak: Beef, water, seasoning (modified potato starch, natural flavors, salt, brown sugar, dextrose, carrageenan, dried beef stock, cocoa powder, onion powder, disodium inosinate & guanylate, tomato powder, corn syrup solids, maltodextrin, garlic powder, spice, citric acid, lemon juice powder), sodium phosphates. Sauce: Water, seasoning (natural flavors, dextrose, brown sugar, salt, dried beef stock, onion powder, tomato powder, corn syrup solids, maltodextrin, disodium inosinate & guanylate, garlic powder, spices, cocoa powder, citric acid, lemon juice powder)."

 

So it's definitely not a place for people with food allergies or an aversion to unpronounceable ingredients.

 

Sadly, my franchise does not carry the Salsa Verde green sauce, but I remember seeing it in one in Raleigh many years ago near where I used to work. That's fine, though, because I'm such a fan of their red Hot Sauce I buy it by the bottle in my grocery store.

[Toliver]

My question is:

Why is Taco Bell the company that is innovating chicken menu items and not companies like KFC, Popeye's or Chick-fil-A?

Taco Bell had wild success with their Naked Chicken Chalupa (where the breaded chicken patty replaced the taco shell) and now they're featuring Naked Chicken Chips which look like Doritos tortilla chips but are breaded triangles of chicken that can be dipped in a cheese sauce. Certainly, they might be processed versions of McD's McNuggets but still, it's something new & fresh on the fast food market coming from a non-chicken-based company.. 

Even Burger King has had success with Chicken Fries (breaded chicken "sticks" that look like french fries).

KFC did have its Double Down Chicken Sandwich but that was more like an KFC employee secret menu item rather than something meant for the general public (by the way, it's supposed to be making a comeback).

Are the people behind Taco Bell's marketing department geniuses? Or is the paucity of new chicken-related items coming from fast food chicken companies just making them look like geniuses?

[kayb]

I've got to admit, I get the Taco Bell craving occasionally myself. Crunchy tacos. Mild sauce. That's it. Three or four of 'em.

 

 

[suzilightning]

14 hours ago, kayb said:

I've got to admit, I get the Taco Bell craving occasionally myself. Crunchy tacos. Mild sauce. That's it. Three or four of 'em.

 

 

Only two with hot sauce for me.....about twice a year.

[Kim Shook]

That Cheetoes thing looks scary.  I actually like the Crunchwrap Supreme - basically a double decker taco wrapped up top and bottom.  And I confess to being a sucker for "Nacho Sauce"!  Awhile back, they were selling small ones for $1 a piece.  Wish they'd do that again - one was the perfect size for me. 

[Toliver]

"Taco Bell's Kit Kat Chocoladilla Is Coming to America"

Quote

...the Mexican fast-food giant announced a new Kit Kat Quesadilla as twist to their conventional Chocodilla. While the latter was loaded with melted chocolate chips, the former will essentially be a grilled tortilla with Kit Kat bars (!) inside.

They don't have the "Chocodilla" in my local Taco Bells. Has anyone tried one?

[Thanks for the Crepes]

7 hours ago, Toliver said:

"Taco Bell's Kit Kat Chocoladilla Is Coming to America"

They don't have the "Chocodilla" in my local Taco Bells. Has anyone tried one?

 

No, they don't offer a Chocodilla here. I don't think that's a great loss to me, but if you wanted to make one at home, including the Kit Kat Version it would be cheap, easy and fast. Our Taco Bells offer Cinnabon Delights in 2, 4 or 12 packs, Cinnamon Twists (looks something like churros only less dense) and a caramel apple empanada in the way of sweets. The latter is the only one I've tried, and it was very, very disappointing. Gluey is they way I would describe it. YMMV, but I have had much better fruit filled empanadas.

[chileheadmike]

Taco Bell is advertising (a lot) their fried egg taco shell taco.

 

WTH do you have to do to an egg to make it suitable for a taco shell? 

Whatever it is, I ain't eating it.

[Toliver]

On 10/28/2017 at 6:02 PM, chileheadmike said:

Taco Bell is advertising (a lot) their fried egg taco shell taco.

 

WTH do you have to do to an egg to make it suitable for a taco shell? 

Whatever it is, I ain't eating it.

I thought about this after seeing it in the commercial. I wonder if it's possible that after frying (assuming it's fried) it's put into a taco shell-like mold to get it into that taco shell shape. Then it's probably flash frozen and shipped to all the Taco Bells. 

[chileheadmike]

Just now, Toliver said:

I thought about this after seeing it in the commercial. I wonder if it's possible that after frying (assuming it's fried) it's put into a taco shell-like mold to get it into that taco shell shape. Then it's probably flash frozen and shipped to all the Taco Bells. 

I'm really curious about this, just not enough to... you know, eat one. 

[Kim Shook]

3 hours ago, chileheadmike said:

I'm really curious about this, just not enough to... you know, eat one. 

Me neither.  The idea of an egg hard enough to hold taco contents makes me feel extremely horky.  And I like Taco Bell.

[lindag]

2 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Me neither.  The idea of an egg hard enough to hold taco contents makes me feel extremely horky.  And I like Taco Bell.

 

HORKY???????    I LOVE that!

[gfweb]

John Updike had Rabbit's son refer to the place as Taco Belch.  Seems even more apt

[blue_dolphin]

4 hours ago, gfweb said:

John Updike had Rabbit's son refer to the place as Taco Belch.  Seems even more apt

Around here, it's more likely referred to as Taco Smell.  

I have never been so I have no idea. 

But the egg thing doesn't look all that atrocious to me.  Seems like just a fried egg, certainly more well done than I like but within the edible realm.  Obviously, the runny yolks I like would make this a mess as reviews say even the this is too soft to stand on its own and really needs the cardboard taco holder for support if you choose to go without the flatbread wrap.

If I find myself in the neighborhood at the appropriate hour, I may give one a try.  What could happen?

[Toliver]

19 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Me neither.  The idea of an egg hard enough to hold taco contents makes me feel extremely horky.  And I like Taco Bell.

 

9 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

...Obviously, the runny yolks I like would make this a mess as reviews say even the this is too soft to stand on its own and really needs the cardboard taco holder for support if you choose to go without the flatbread wrap.

I was going to mention the holder. You can see it in the TV commercials. I believe it's the same holder used for their Doritos-Taco shell product (the Doritos taco shells may taste good but they suck as a taco shell...too fragile...hence the need for a holder).

[Katie Meadow]

This is really a question for fast food history buffs out there. Not that I can imagine devoting a career to such a thing if it means eating fast food every day, but yeah, I will try to keep my own prejudices at bay.

 

I often see Taco Bell as referred to as Tex-Mex food. Why?

 

Taco Bell was created in Irvine CA in approx 1950 by a man named Glen Bell. I don't think of Southern CA as the home of anything Texan. The genesis of Taco Bell is that in the fifties most Americans were not very adventurous about their food; Italian, Mexican and other so called "ethnic foods" went downscale to appeal to a broad market of people who were used to bland commercially packaged foods. I'm sure there was plenty of great home cooked Mexican food in SoCal, but not too many abuelas were opening restaurants.

 

When I moved to New Mexico in the late sixties I believe there was a Taco Bell in Albuquerque by that time. With the unbelievable choices and fabulous hole-in-the-wall joints serving up bowls of red and green, chunks of pork with hatch chiles, chile rellenos and so forth,Taco Bell was never a draw for me or my friends, so I can't really say who patronized it. White people? Locals who found it novel? It was very rare to see any ground beef in any home-cooking or restaurant food. It was also rare to see a hard-shell taco where we ate.

 

Never having spent time in Texas and only small amounts of time in the south, I only know from my interest in food (and from the Homesick Texan cookbook!) what characterizes Tex-Mex cooking. Chili, not Chile. Ro-tel tomatoes. Ground beef.Texas has a lot more cows than New Mexico, so ground beef chili became an American staple. Ground beef doesn't involve as long a cooking time as chunks of meat, especially tough less expensive cuts. 

 

So, you Taco Bell devotees, ring in. What's so Tex-Mex about it? Does it just come down to ground beef and Velveeta? 

 

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Well, @Katie Meadow,

 

Although this will not be a treatise on the history of fast food, I will give my take on why I occasionally crave Taco Bell.

 

We have a very large Hispanic community here. Surprisingly, North Carolina is a very attractive magnet for them, and many have settled here and started businesses, including restaurants. Just in walking distance, I have Esmeralda Grill, Rancho Grande, El Cuscatleco and Tacos Estilo Hildago, and many more. They offer authentic Mexican and Salvadoran  dishes and are very excellent, as you can see from the Yelp ratings. My current fave is Esmeralda for the cachete de res (beef cheek) tacos in house made tortillas that are served so hot they are hard to handle at first. A close second is Rancho Grande for their made to order specialties and salsa bar. I love authentic Latino cuisine, and am very lucky to have access to it!

 

I also crave Taco Bell sometimes. It's out of my walking distance, and I miss it. There are only a few things I like there though, and they have priced the false bottomed-3 oz. containers of Pintos and Cheese out of my tolerance. I'm not payin' you $1.19 for that little bit of beans with a mere dusting of cheddar which I can make at home for a few pennies. I used to like them when they were 59 cents for 8 ounces.

 

I still want their "hard" taco with a little ground beef, lots of lettuce and a dusting of cheddar, though. If you're doing takeout, the taco shell will be steamed in its paper wrapper and almost as soft as a proper Mexican corn tortilla. Weird thing is though, it still tastes good, even hours later? I have read the "seasoned beef mixture" is only 80% ground beef. I don't doubt it, but I've never followed it up. I think I really don't want to know.

 

I think this is a combination of their abundant budget for marketing and food chemists. They come up with things that are far cheaper to supply and market them to the masses and actually make them taste good and craveable sometimes. 

 

I have never seen Taco Bell ads that say they are Tex-Mex, but that certainly doesn't mean they haven't happened. I agree that Tex-Mex or just Southwestern American takes on Mexican cuisine have become an admirable thing in their own right. If Taco Bell actually ever did try to cash in on that with an ad campaign I missed, it's just part of their marketing, and nothing to do with reality. Tex-Mex sounds a lot better than Americanized Mexican or dumbed-down Mexican, dontcha think?

 

I also have never seen American cheese at Taco Bell, let alone Velveeta. They seem to use a mild to medium cheddar, at least in my area.