Bottom Line: The Spicy Grilled Cheese Nacho Fries are not too spicy and are a little clunky to eat, but they will satisfy your Taco Bell cravings.
Nacho Fries are back at the Bell, and as expected they have a new loaded version of those headlining the menu. This one takes a nod from their popular Grilled Cheese Burrito by throwing a bunch of stuff on top of the fries then tossing all that onto the grill before serving. You can get them with steak or ground beef and I went with the latter. So let’s go through the list and see what all we get this time:
Seasoned Nacho Fries: Gotta love these and they should be on the permanent menu!
Seasoned Ground Beef: Love this on their tacos and it works perfectly well on the Nacho Fries.
Nacho Cheese Sauce: Ooey, gooey, and cheesy, and oh so good.
Three-Cheese Blend: More cheese? Yes, please!
Jalapenos: Pile them on.
Chipotle Sauce: Smoky and creamy with a bit of a kick.
All of this is grilled up together and served piping hot. What could go wrong?
If you have had Taco Bell and you have had Nacho Fries, you pretty much know what to expect here. There is no new sauce or special ingredients, just several of the standards getting the latest spin from the Bell. The one twist is that these are grilled up so that the three-cheese blend is nice and melty, though that actually delivers a mixed result. Yes, the melted cheese is nice, but the nacho cheese sauce seemed to combine with the shredded cheeses so that it does not really stand out. I also found these somewhat hard to eat–especially with that spork–because everything was melted together. But I will consider that just a nitpick. The fries also seemed to be a bit overcooked, so I’m not sure if that was from the grilling or if they just left them in the frier a bit too long.
As for the heat? These are barely at the Mild level on my scale even with the jalapenos. I got the “spicy” version which is the same as the regular except for those pickled peppers. They deliver a nice pop of heat and some vinegary tang, but as always there are far too few of them. The chipotle sauce brings a bit of a kick as well, but nothing that will set your mouth on fire. If you want more heat, you will have to add some Fire or Diablo sauce, or might I recommend Secret Aardvark Habanero Sauce (more on that one here.)
Calorie-wise, these come in at 540 cals for the full order which is not terrible for a drive thru meal. You can even add one regular taco (170 cals) and you are not breaking the calorie bank. But don’t get tempted by too many other items on the menu because you are already on the heavy side there for a meal and you will end up even heavier if you get that Chalupa Supreme or Grilled Cheese Burrito!
The beef version of these goes for $4.49 in my area and the steak version will add an extra buck. (They don’t have a chicken version on the menu, but they will sub for that for $1.50.) These are of course headed back to Limited-Time-Only-Ville before too long, probably after football season ends. The good news is that these have all the usual Taco Bell ingredients, so as long as they have Nacho Fries they should be able to assemble this loaded version. They may not pack a lot of heat, but they will fill you up and they check all the usual boxes to satisfy your TB cravings.
Nutrition Info:
Calories: 540
Fat: 35g (9g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 16g
Carbs: 39g
Sodium: 1410mg