Review: Classic and Sriracha Chicken Crunchadilla

Bottom Line: The Chicken Crunchadillas offer a nice spin on the typical Taco Bell fare, but hold the sour cream because it dilutes the heat.

There’s always something new at The Bell, or at least a spin on existing ingredients that they refer to as “new,” and the Chicken Crunchadillas are among their latest additions. Here is the rundown from the website:

Chicken Crunchadilla: A warm flour tortilla filled with a blend of mozzarella, pepper jack, and cheddar cheeses, grilled, marinated all-white-meat chicken, a crisp tortilla shell, and sour cream, grilled to perfection with Creamy Sriracha Sauce or Creamy Jalapeño Sauce.

I got both the Sriracha and “Classic” versions (how is it classic if it’s new?) at the very affordable price of two bucks each. And as I always do with Taco Bell, here is the scorecard:

Marinated All-White-Meat Chicken: This is their Cantina Chicken, which is quite good and flavorful, and they included a decent amount.

Three-Cheese Blend: This brings a nice sharpness, and it was melted well enough to hold everything together.

Crisp Tortilla Shell: I got mine to go, and by the time I bit into the first one, most of the crispiness was gone. Still, it added that earthy corn tortilla taste that worked well with the other ingredients.

Sour Cream: I forgot this was one of the ingredients and did not ask them to hold it like I should have. They were quite generous with it, and while it adds some creaminess and tang, it also dilutes the heat from the sauces. I advise just saying no to this ingredient because it is completely superfluous.

Creamy Sriracha Sauce: I did not detect that Sriracha funkiness you expect from this type of sauce, but that may have been covered up by the sour cream. It did have a bit of a peppery kick, though, and brought some sting. I would put the Crunchadilla with this sauce a little above Mild on my scale, and it might have gotten closer to Medium without the sour cream.

Creamy Jalapeño Sauce: This had some tang and reminded me of Ranch dressing, and it brought a little bit of heat from the jalapeño. As with the other Crunchadilla, the sour cream diluted the kick, so I would put this one just below Mild on my scale.

As for the nutrition, each of these comes in at 280 calories, so if you get two, that’s 560 total, which is not bad for the drive-thru. Heck, you can even throw in a regular taco (170 calories), and you’re still not breaking the calorie bank. But be careful because the Taco Bell menu has plenty of tempting add-ons, and you can easily find yourself over 1,000 calories (and over ten bucks) if you let your growling stomach do the choosing!

Not only are the Crunchadillas a pretty good new menu item, but they are also a heck of a value. At two bucks each, you’re under five dollars total with tax, and these are pretty filling. Even if you’re really hungry and add that taco I suggested above ($1.99 in my area), you’re still only around six bucks, which is a steal at the drive-thru these days.

So I recommend giving these a try before they get shuffled off to Limited-Time-Only-Ville (as they most certainly will) and replaced with the next spin on familiar Taco Bell ingredients. They are quite tasty and affordable, and they deliver a decent peppery kick, especially if you leave off the sour cream.

Nutrition Info:

Sriracha Chicken Crunchadilla

Calories: 280
Fat: 13g (4.5g Sat/0 Trans)
Protein: 15g
Carbs: 27g
Sodium: 660mg

Classic Chicken Crunchadilla

Calories: 280
Fat: 12g (4.5g Sat/0 Trans)
Protein: 15g
Carbs: 27g
Sodium: 650mg