by Bottom Line: Taco Bell has scored a win with its new Crispy Chicken Nuggets, and the Jalapeño Honey Mustard Sauce brings some good heat.
You will find chicken nuggets of some sort in pretty much every fast food chain out there (except for burger-slinger In-N-Out Burger). Whether they are made from ground-up chicken parts or chunks of whole chicken, most drive-thru joints have them on the menu. So with so many places offering the poultry pieces, does it really make sense for a taco place to jump into the fray and offer its own version (seeing as they don’t fit too well among its other selections)? Well, the executives at Taco Bell said yes it does, and surprisingly, they seem to have scored a win.
Here is the description of those from the website: “all-white meat chicken marinated in jalapeño buttermilk and breaded with tortilla chips.” Sounds fairly standard except for the twist of using tortilla chips for the breading (that at least brings them closer to other items on the menu), but the Bell puts a little love into these to make them stand out. They also added three sauces to pair with the new nuggets: Hidden Valley™ Fire Ranch sauce, Bell sauce, and Jalapeño Honey Mustard sauce. And the last of those three is what you really want to go with.
That tortilla crust on the nuggets delivers a nice crunch, and there is a good meat-to-breading ratio. These are seasoned quite well, and the tortilla adds just a bit of earthiness to stand out from the standard nugget breading. These are sizable chunks of chicken, and the meat is tender and moist with good flavor and just a kick of heat from that jalapeño buttermilk marinade. With so many chicken nuggets out there, you would think there isn’t really a way to improve on them, but the Bell succeeded at just that. I certainly like these better than the ground-up poultry pieces you get from McDonald’s and other fast food chains, and I see myself making a return trip to get more of these.
As for the heat, the nuggets themselves do not deliver much burn. They do have a little bit of kick from the seasoning and marinade, but they don’t even get to Mild on my scale, as is typical of Taco Bell. They have a sauce that amps up the heat quite nicely, though, and that helps bump these up to the next level of quality.
The ads are pushing the Fire Ranch sauce because I assume they have a deal with Hidden Valley to promote that brand. And that offers a nice twist on Ranch, bringing the expected creaminess and tang with some additional heat from the Fire Sauce (though it barely gets to Mild on my scale). But I am not a huge Ranch fan, and this sauce did not stand out enough that I would get it again.
The real winner is the Jalapeño Honey Mustard, as that brings good flavor and a nice kick. It has the expected sweetness balanced by some creaminess, and it is not too heavy on the mustard tang. Even those who may not enjoy mustard would probably like this one. And the Bell must be using some spicy jalapeños because this sauce has some heat, going above Medium on my scale and approaching Hot. It pairs quite well with the nuggets, and it certainly is my top sauce choice for heat. (I have not tried the Bell Sauce, but from what I understand, it comes in around the Mild Heat range.)
As for the nutrition, a five-piece order of the nuggets comes up to 330 calories (they don’t offer a further breakdown of that yet, though) while the Jalapeño Honey Mustard adds another 120 cals (both the Fire Ranch and Bell sauce have the same calorie count). That’s not bad for a fast food place, and those five nuggets are pretty filling. If you want to get a taco to go with that, it only adds 170 cals, or a regular order of Nacho Fries adds 330 cals. So that won’t kill your diet, but be careful while perusing that menu for add-ons because there are plenty more tempting items that will pack on additional pounds if you go overboard!
The Crispy Chicken Nuggets are here for (say it with me) A Limited Time Only. But the early word is that these have proven quite popular, and the reviews have been mostly good as well. Still, don’t expect these to hit the permanent menu. Just like the Nacho Fries, I am guessing these will go through regular limited-time returns if they remain popular because the geniuses in the Taco Bell marketing department believe that is the best way to profit on these items. But while they are around, I definitely recommend a trip to the location near you to pick up an order of their new nuggets, and get that spicy honey mustard sauce with them if you are looking for some heat.
