Taco Bell's Brand New Cantina Chicken Menu Is Finally Here
As originators of the term "fourth meal" (the fabled meal between dinner and breakfast), Taco Bell has long been known as a fast food brand that values late-night snacking. Still, every restaurant chain eventually seeks to branch out beyond its familiar trappings, and Taco Bell is no different. To that end, the company is finally unveiling its new Cantina Chicken offerings following an announcement earlier this year, according to a press release shared with Daily Meal.
Perhaps most surprisingly, the menu features some ingredients new to the chain, which often remixes many of the same core ingredients into new and interesting packages (so much so that The Onion once satirized it). These additions aren't limited to just sauces, either, but items like purple cabbage, pico de gallo, and avocado verde salsa.
All told, the Cantina Chicken menu contains five new items. The Cantina Chicken Crispy Taco and Cantina Chicken Quesadilla will be available on March 14 to Taco Bell Rewards members, while on March 21, everyone gets access to them — along with the Cantina Chicken Soft Taco, the Cantina Chicken Burrito, and the Cantina Chicken Bowl.
Special chicken forms the basis of all of the new menu items
Every item on the menu starts with the same core conceit: Cantina Chicken, a slow-roasted bird cooked with spices such as garlic, onion, and different kinds of chiles. From there, each branches off in its own direction. The Cantina Chicken Crispy Taco costs $2.99 and comes with creamy jalapeño sauce and a blend of three cheeses. It's also coated with a layer of grilled cheese on the outside — much like the Cantina Chicken Quesadilla, which features creamy chipotle sauce and sells for $6.49.
For those who prefer tenderness over crunch factor, the Cantina Chicken Soft Taco ($2.99) comes with lettuce, purple cabbage, cheese, and pico de gallo; the Cantina Chicken Burrito ($5.99), meanwhile, has a double helping of meat, many of the same fixings as the taco, plus avocado ranch sauce and creamy chipotle sauce. Finally, the Cantina Chicken Bowl is $7.99 for layers of rice, black beans, lettuce, purple cabbage, cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, guacamole, and avocado ranch sauce. All new menu items are served with a side of avocado verde salsa; the quesadilla also comes with sour cream and guacamole.
This is just the latest in Taco Bell's attempts at fast food innovation, much like its highly anticipated breakfast tacos. Time will tell if the Cantina Chicken menu items hang around permanently like the returning Nacho Fries or disappear like the long-lost Bell Beefer Burger.