by Bottom Line: Taco Bell makes its already good Cantina Chicken Crispy Taco even better with the Caliente sauce, and that brings a kick.
Taco Bell has something new on the menu, but regulars at this fast food joint will know that really means they’ve just jazzed up something they were already selling. This time around, it’s their popular Cantina Chicken items, but I like the “new and improved” version because now they bring some heat. The Bell has put out a Caliente Cantina Chicken menu, and that highlights their new Caliente sauce. The Crispy Chicken Tacos were my favorite item from the first run of the Cantina selections, so I decided to give the spicy upgrade of those a try. Below is the official description of the sauce and the tacos:
Caliente Sauce – Fans can feel the heat and let their spicy sides shine through by adding the all-new Caliente Sauce to their favorite Taco Bell menu items for an additional charge.
Caliente Cantina Chicken Crispy Taco – A white corn shell that is freshly fried daily, filled with slow-roasted chicken and a 3-cheese blend, generously coated with a layer of grilled cheese on the outside, drizzled with the Caliente Sauce.
The Bell seems to have adjusted the way they’re cooking the tacos, because they are crispier now. Since they melt the cheese on the outside of the shell, that resulted in more of an al dente texture before, but the two Caliente tacos I got were quite crispy. I have really liked these since the Cantina Chicken menu first came out because the combination of the chicken, cheese, and taco shell all work together quite well (you can see my previous review here). But one of the things I noted when I first tried these is that they needed more heat, and now Taco Bell has delivered on that.
The Caliente sauce is based on red jalapeños, and it really delivers on the taste of those chilis. It has a nice richness to it, with some sweetness and a little bit of tang. It also has a peppery kick along with some creaminess and hints of tomato and garlic. It does have a bite, going beyond Medium on my scale, and while it may not be the hottest sauce Taco Bell has put out, it is certainly one of the tastiest. The Cantina Chicken taco with the sauce comes close to Medium and delivers the kick I was looking for previously. So an already pretty darn good menu item gets bumped up to great with this sauce. Note that the tacos each come with a packet of the Avocado Verde Salsa, but I liked the Caliente sauce so much I didn’t even bother with that.
Nutrition-wise, the Caliente Cantina Chicken Crispy Taco comes in at 290 calories, so two of them won’t set you back too much. But be careful, because the menu at the Bell is quite tempting, and it’s easy to add on a couple more items and get yourself over a thousand calories! At $3.19 per taco in my area, that’s somewhat pricey, but if you stick to just two, you’re still under seven bucks, and these are rather filling.
As you would expect, the Caliente version of the Cantina Chicken menu is a limited-time deal. But I’m hoping they at least keep the Caliente sauce around because that is a real winner. That would go particularly well with their Nacho Fries (which are currently back in Limited-Time-Only-Ville), so hopefully, at some point, I’ll get a chance to try those two together.
Nutrition Info:
Calories: 290
Fat: 17g (6g Sat/0 Trans)
Protein: 15g
Carbs: 17g
Sodium: 540mg
