Review: Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza from Taco Bell

Bottom Line: The Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza is a good variation on that fan favorite, though it does not bring much heat, even with the new salsa.

Taco Bell is adding “new” menu items again, but as they have done so often in the past, this is just the spin cycle with existing ingredients. The Mexican Pizza is a fan favorite and the Cantina Chicken has been selling well since it was introduced, so add the one to the other and—presto!—you have a new menu addition. There is one truly new item included, though, and that is the Jalapeño Citrus Salsa. Here is the official description for both:

Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza: Savory, slow-roasted chicken and slow-simmered black beans layered between two crispy tortilla shells. Topped with green chile sauce, a blend of cheddar, mozzarella, and pepperjack cheeses, crisp purple cabbage, and freshly prepared pico de gallo.

Jalapeño Citrus Salsa: The latest sauce packet creation made with bright citrus, real red jalapeños and guajillo chiles that delivers a sweet and spicy flavor profile.

The black beans are actually the dominate flavor, but they bring a good, earthiness with them and you get some of the savory Cantina Chicken taste in there as well. The crispy tortillas hold their crunch pretty well, and the cheese adds a bit of sharpness. The pico de gallo brings a pop of freshness, but the purple cabbage seems to get lost in the mix. The green chili sauce adds a little bit of richness, but does not stand out too much. Some jalapenos would have been good to add some acid and tang, and I will probably add those next time.

As for the Jalapeño Citrus Salsa, it definitely brings some tang along with a bit of a peppery kick and some heat. On its own, it is a bit much, but it worked quite well when I added it to the pizza. They also include the Avocado Verde Salsa packet, but I am not a big fan of that one and did not add it to the mix.

The Mexican pizza has basically no heat on its own, but when you add the sauce, that brings the whole thing to about a Mild burn on my scale. As mentioned, if I get this again, I will probably add some jalapenos to increase the heat level.

The Cantina Mexican Pizza comes in at 520 cals (they don’t give a further breakout on the nutrition) which is not bad for the drive thru. But this is Taco Bell, and you know that you are going to add something else to your bag. A regular order of Nacho Fries comes up to 350 cals, which is getting you on the high side for a meal. Your better bet is one regular taco which only adds 170 cals and also costs less.

This new Mexican Pizza will set you back $6.99 in my area which is a bit pricy for a single fast food item. It is pretty filling, though, and if you don’t add too much to the order, you will not be going over budget. This is a limited time item, even though they have all the ingredients as regular items in the kitchen, except the Jalapeño Citrus Salsa. If you want to try it with that, I would make a trip to The Bell soon. Otherwise, they will have some other new option on the menu shortly.