Review: Creamy Chipotle Crispy Chicken Taco from Taco Bell

Bottom Line: The Creamy Chipotle Crispy Chicken Taco from Taco Bell is quite familiar and quite tasty, but not too spicy. A Volcano version would surely be welcome.

Taco Bell is trying to get into the Chicken Sandwich Wars action again. Not quite so blatantly as when it put out the Chicken Sandwich Taco (which was pretty good, more on that here), but they are promoting crispy chicken once more hoping to convince people that a taco is the better way to go than a sandwich. And they are really not bringing anything new, just recycling again as the Bell is want to do.

The Creamy Chipotle Crispy Chicken Taco is basically the same as the Chipotle Cantina Crispy Chicken Taco from last year (more on that one here), just a slightly different name. That one had a crispy chicken tender with lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, and chipotle sauce wrapped in a flour tortilla. The Creamy Chipotle Crispy Chicken Taco has a crispy chicken tender with lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, and chipotle sauce wrapped in a flour tortilla. Noticing a trend here?

They rename it to make it sound new, but it is no different than what they offered before. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though, because the Cantina version was good and so is the current version. How does the song go? Meet the new crispy chicken taco, same as the old crispy chicken taco. Or something like that . . .

The tender in this “new” taco is on the small side, not even filling up the tortilla (the name of the taco is a bigger mouthful than the tender). They should perhaps take a hint from Jack-in-Box and go with a bigger piece of chicken (more on that here). But it does have some good crispiness to it with a decent breading-to-meat ratio, and it is well-seasoned. The chipotle sauce delivers some creaminess and a nice bit of smoke, but not much kick. The lettuce and tomato are fresh, and while the shredded cheese doesn’t add much, who complains about too much cheese? The tortilla is fairly standard, but it holds everything together well enough.

Heat-wise, this does not even get to Mild on my scale as that chipotle sauce comes up lacking on the spice. The taco is still good as is, but could use a bigger piece of chicken and definitely more of a burn. Fortunately, they have a solution for that right now. Get some of the Volcano sauce on the side (they charge you a buck for that) and you have a chicken taco with some kick. The sauce works well with the other ingredients and amps this up to at least Medium (they should just add a Volcano version to the menu). You could also get them to add jalapenos, but they charge forty-five cents for those. (Is it legal to charge extra for jalapenos in Texas?)

This crispy chicken taco comes in at 270 calories (the exact same tally as before), so if you get two or tack on a regular taco (170 cals) or one of the Volcano tacos that are currently available (240 cals) then you aren’t doing too bad for the drive thru. Just go easy on adding anything else, because that Taco Bell menu can be like a siren’s call to your appetite. They are selling these for $2.79 in my area, so it won’t break the bank even if you double up.

And of course, they are only available for a limited time because that’s the way that the Bell rolls. But that taco joint is on my go-to list right now while they have the Volcano sauce in the house, so one of these and a Volcano taco makes for a good lunch from time to time. I expect that both will disappear by the end of Summer, so plan accordingly if you want to give this “new” chicken taco a try.

Nutrition Info:

Serving Size: 1 Taco
Calories: 270
Fat: 13g (3g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 13g
Carbs: 25g
Sodium: 690mg