Taco Bell Is Getting Into the Chicken Nugget Game

Taco Bell is known for serving cheap Tex-Mex food. Some of the most popular items from the fast food giant include the chalupa supreme, the crunchwrap supreme, and the cheesy gordita crunch. Now, the chain is entering new territory by adding chicken nuggets to the menu. 

Food blogger Markie_devo leaked the news on Instagram earlier in November. According to the post, the new “crispy chicken nuggets” will consist of white meat marinated in a mild jalapeño buttermilk and coated in a breading made with crunchy tortilla bits. The promotional photo shows the nuggets served as a five-piece set.

Taco Bell is selling the item with three dipping sauces: jalapeño honey mustard, cheddar cheese sauce, and its special “bell sauce.” Markie_devo describes the first as a sauce that “combines sweet honey, spicy jalapeño, and tangy mustard” and the latter as a “savory and tangy sauce that presents ‘subtle notes of chili peppers.’ ” The cheddar cheese sauce has no description, but you can probably guess what it tastes like.  

The crispy nuggets have already been sampled by select groups of lucky customers. Tasting Table shared that the items were tested in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2023 and Houston, Texas, earlier in 2024. The bell sauce and the jalapeño spicy mustard sauce were also released as part of the test runs.

As of this writing, there’s no news of how much the chicken nuggets will cost. They are expected to be released for a limited time starting December 19, 2024, and it’s unclear how long they will be available. But even if they don’t become a permanent menu item, they may come back later. Taco Bell has a habit of bringing back discontinued items for short periods: The chain brought back popular items from past decades earlier this year, and it revived the Mexican pizza in 2022 after fans begged for it.

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