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Taco Bell Just Dropped 3 New Menu Items (Plus A Returning Favorite) — Here's My Honest Review Of Everything

How does the Shredded Beef Dipping Taco compare to real birria?

True life: I love Taco Bell. Ever since I sank my teeth into my first bean burrito as a kid, I couldn’t get enough of the beefy, cheesy, texturally wondrous selection. By the time I became a food writer, I already had my favorites (ILY, Chalupa Supreme). But after years of writing meticulous fast food rankings and reviews, I’ve tasted every single burrito, protein, condiment, and breakfast item on the menu, not to mention dozens of fleeting new items. Needless to say, when Taco Bell’s most recent launch hit stores, I made a beeline to the drive-thru.

Taco Bell Shredded Beef Dipping Taco and Shredded Beef Nacho Fries
Taco Bell

The fast food giant just released three new items, plus brought back a fan-favorite: shredded beef. Birria lovers, Mexican Pizza loyalists, and fruit fans alike have something novel to drool over for a limited time. To find out which were worth abandoning my usual Crunchwrap for (just this once…), I tasted all four bites and reviewed them below.

The Menu Items

These temporary Taco Bell dishes were released on May 21. They include two items starring Taco Bell’s revived shredded beef, which first launched in 2023. In addition, there’s a new riff on the Mexican Pizza of ’80s and ’90s lore, plus a spin on one of the chain’s signature desserts, Cinnabon Delights. Bonus? The Mexican Pizza launched alongside the new Jalapeño Citrus Salsa, a sauce packet meant for pairing. It’s teeming with red jalapeños, guajillo chiles, and zippy citrus. Here’s everything you need to know:

Taco Bell Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza
Taco Bell

Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza ($7.49): Slow-roasted Cantina Chicken, black beans, green chile sauce, three-cheese blend, purple cabbage, and pico de gallo, layered between two crispy tortilla shells and served with jalapeño citrus salsa

Shredded Beef Dipping Taco ($4.49): Slow-braised shredded beef, three-cheese blend, and jalapeño sauce in a white corn tortilla with a grilled cheese crust, served with zesty red sauce for dipping

Shredded Beef Nacho Fries ($6.99): Fries seasoned with “bold Mexican spices,” slow-braised shredded beef, three-cheese blend, warm nacho cheese, creamy jalapeño sauce, and pico de gallo

Strawberry Cinnabon Delights ($2.59/two): Warm dough bites filled with Cinnabon cream cheese frosting and coated in strawberry-flavored sugar

The Test

I ordered the items for pickup and tried them at home. First, I photographed them in their packaging to show how they come. I also took cross-section photos when needed to better show the fillings. I tasted each item and took notes on texture, flavor, and appearance, then considered each item’s value for its size and quality. I determined a rating, then ranked the dishes from worst to best with each average score being rounded to the nearest whole or half out of 10.

Taco Bell Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza, Shredded Beef Nacho Fries, Shredded Beef Dipping Taco and Strawberry Cinnabon Delights
Taryn Pire

The Results

4. Strawberry Cinnabon Delights — I’m never going to turn down fried dough filled with cream cheese frosting…but where’s the fruit?!

Taryn Pire

If you haven’t had the pleasure of trying Taco Bell’s Cinnabon Delights before, allow me. The dough is crisp and just greasy enough on the outside. When you bite into it, the tender interior crumb buckles into a pool of tangy, sweet-and-salty cream cheese filling. Nothing wrong with that, right? With fruit in the mix, I thought we could only go up from there. But alas, there wasn’t enough strawberry flavor in the sugar coating (or perhaps enough coating at all) to distinguish these from the classic. If the filling had been berry-infused, I wouldn’t have minded as much. But TBH, these barely tasted different.

That said, I did find this iteration of the T-Bell dessert less cloying than the original, so maybe the sweet-tart strawberry sugar pulled more weight than I realized. And for about $1 a piece, I wouldn’t discourage anyone from ending their drive-thru trek with a two-pack.

The Ratings

Texture: 8/10

Flavor: 6/10

Appearance: 6/10

Value: 8/10

Average: 7/10

3. Shredded Beef Nacho Fries — For maximum indulgence, turn to this loaded dish that’s equal parts saucy, cheesy, meaty, and stick-to-your-ribs hearty.

Taco Bell Shredded Beef Nacho Fries
Taryn Pire

I’ve tried nearly every fast-food fry there is, and Taco Bell's is, admittedly, not my favorite. That said, I consistently appreciate their seasoning and color, not to mention their tendency to strike a balance between crispy and soggy. 

They look tasty and are more filling than the average side of spuds, but for the price, I felt they could have had more shredded beef. After all, that’s the true highlight. The creamy jalapeño sauce added zest and heat, but it was so rich that the nacho cheese felt excessive, especially with melted cheese on top. The pico was nice for contrasting color and freshness. 

The Ratings

Texture: 7/10

Flavor: 7/10

Appearance: 8/10

Value: 7/10

Average: 7.5/10

2. Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza — The original is legendary for a reason (well, many reasons, like the cracker-thin corn crust and its generous fillings).

Taryn Pire

Reader, I have a confession. Despite the pounds and pounds of Taco Bell I’ve consumed in my life, I’d never tried a Mexican Pizza. Given its fandom and epic return after being temporarily discontinued in 2020, I felt I needed to try the OG to fairly judge the Cantina Chicken version. My favorite part of both was the razor-thin crispy “crust,” which was light and delightfully oily. Its texture made the pizza feel like a nacho sandwich. The beans were my next-most-loved component; they were starchy, creamy, and more homestyle than the refried beans on the original.

As much as I loved the red sauce on its predecessor, I’m a sucker for salsa verde, and adored the acidity it contributed. The chicken (apart from the quick-sogging slaw on top; dig in fast!) was the low point. While it was soft and flavorful, its texture in parts reminded me of precooked grilled chicken strips you find at the grocery store.

Overall...

Taco Bell Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza and Original Mexican Pizza, side by side
Taryn Pire

I enjoyed the original Mexican Pizza better — IDK, chalk it up to TB's signature ground beef slop that tastes like my childhood — but the chicken iteration was prettier (although they’re both likely to look messy and a bit smashed), brighter, and more complex, thanks to its upgraded toppings and tangy green sauce. As for the jalapeño citrus salsa, it was electrifyingly citrusy, modestly spicy, and had a thick, silky texture, sort of like a mango-habanero hot sauce. 

The Ratings

Texture: 9/10

Flavor: 7/10

Appearance: 7/10

Value: 8/10

Average: 8/10

1. Shredded Beef Dipping Taco — Taco Bell’s answer to birria is definitely not authentic, but that didn’t make it any less tasty.

Taryn Pire

A lot of the birria that you can get stateside is legit…and a lot of it isn’t. Is Taco Bell’s shredded beef a one-for-one match for birria? No. Was it still tasty? Absolutely. (Hey, some purists would argue that birria with cheese is sacrilegious, but that didn’t stop quesabirria tacos from taking over America.) The meat was fall-apart tender and saucy. The cheese was more notable for its texture than its flavor, although it offered milky respite from the smoky, heavily seasoned protein.

I also liked the grainy, earthy crunch of the corn tortilla. For the best texture, I recommend eating it ASAP so the cheese doesn’t turn from crispy to sweaty, dampening the shell in the process. I also wonder what this would be like without the creamy jalapeño sauce; it was a bit overpowering in some bites, and I’d like to know what the meat tastes like solo.

Pros aside, the most damning element was the red sauce substituting soul-soothing consommé, aka the meaty, savory broth that birria is prepared in and served with for dipping and drizzling. Even though it’s my favorite Taco Bell condiment, thanks to its smoky, tomato-y, enchilada sauce-like flavor, it’s a far cry from consommé and doesn’t provide the same taste, warmth, or nuance. That said, I tip my hat to Taco Bell for the visual similarity.

The Ratings

Texture: 8/10

Flavor: 9/10

Appearance: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Average: 8.5/10

Final Thoughts

My love for Taco Bell hasn’t waned, even though there were cons to each new menu item. I like that the chain stays on top of trends and prioritizes innovation; it’s apparent in their launch of two birria-inspired dishes, a new iteration of one of their most timeless specialty items, and a seasonal sweet just before summer.

After tasting them, the Shredded Beef Dipping Taco surpassed the new items that accompanied its return. It’s no quesabirria dupe, but there’s no harm in trying it anyway. I’d also recommend both Mexican Pizzas, which are distinct enough to satisfy just about every preference. The nacho fries and Strawberry Cinnabon Delights are worth it mostly for folks who haven’t tried them before; the shredded beef is one of the best proteins you could have on the fries (although I’m still partial to Fiesta Potatoes), and the dessert is tasty, despite not being robustly fruity.

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