Bottom Line: Many of the familiar Taco Bell flavors are there in this Nacho Fries mix while the White Hot Ranch sauce adds a boost of flavor and heat.
The Bell is at it again, hitting the spin dial on its list of menu ingredients to come up with yet another “new” item to entice people into the drive-thru. But at least this time they added something that is truly new to the mix.
Here’s the checklist for the latest take on Taco Bell’s ever-popular Nacho Fries:
Seasoned Fries. Check. And they’re pretty darn good as usual.
Nacho Sauce. Check. The old standard.
Steak. Check. A step up from ground beef.
Shredded Cheese. Check. Can always use extra cheese.
Diced tomatoes. Check. Gotta have your veggies.
Reduced-Fat Sour Cream. Err…reduced fat? That’s really going to make a difference in this mix?
White Hot Ranch Sauce. Wait! That’s something new for the Bell!
Now usually when I do a review I order the item exactly as it is on the menu. But as tallied above, we know the basic Taco Bell flavors, so this all comes down to the new sauce and whether that justifies making a trip to the drive-thru. Given that, I tweaked my order by withholding the reduced-fat sour cream and adding jalapenos. Sour cream has no place on Mexican food (yeah, it’s a stretch referring to Taco Bell as Mexican food), and jalapenos belong on nachos. They charged me fifty cents for the latter but gave me no credit for taking off the sour cream which certainly costs them more. It is almost a crime to have to pay extra to get Jalapenos added to anything that has nacho in the title, and it may very well be a crime in the state of Texas. But I digress . . .
The Nacho Fries make the base of this dish, and as I have said before, they are pretty darn good (and should be part of the permanent menu). The steak is plenty tender and has a good beefy taste, but the pieces of meat are definitely sparse. (What do you expect for three and a half bucks?). Both cheeses come together to add plenty of creamy goodness. And the diced tomatoes? Well . . . Look mom, I’m eating my vegetables!
As for the new White Hot Ranch Sauce? Three guesses as to whether it is really “white hot”. The first two don’t count.
Okay, you know it’s not going to be super hot because major fast food joints like the Bell cater to the average consumer. It’s not even as hot as the Lava Sauce that they need to bring back. But all that said, this new sauce does have some burn. It also has a nice bit of tanginess, but surprisingly, it doesn’t have much Ranch flavor. If I didn’t see that mentioned in the title, I would assume it’s a spicy crema (making that glop of sour cream completely superfluous). And they were rather generous with the sauce, so you get a fair amount of it across your fries. The sauce itself approaches Medium heat and the bites with Jalapenos (which were too few, especially for an extra charge) pushed it beyond that level.
I rather liked this new variation on the Nacho Fries, though given the choice I might do just ground beef next time because I’m guessing they would be more generous with that. This is a fairly filling serving, but this is Taco Bell so you know that you are at least going order a taco on the side. The fries with all the toppings total up to 510 calories which is not too high for a drive-thru item. (Taking off the sour cream only drops the calories by 20. It really is reduced fat!) If you don’t order too much extra (a regular taco only adds 170 calories), you may not have to pull out the fat pants that evening. Though you may have to do some penance on that 1040 mg of sodium.
So does the White Hot Ranch make the difference? I enjoyed it enough that I would get these again, and that sauce did kick up the heat on the already awesome Nacho Fries. They are only around for a limited time, though, so don’t dally if you want to give them a try. The Nacho Fries will be gone before you know it, but the Mexican Pizza is coming back in May (more on that here).
Tale of the Tape:
Calories: 510
Fat: 33g (6g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 14g
Carbs: 40g
Sodium: 1040mg