Taco Bell’s Dipping Taco.Photo:Taco BellLike any hot-blooded American woman — or any human, anywhere — I love a goodtaco.By good, I mean I pickle my own onions and slow braiseshort ribsfor hours for my weekly Taco Tuesday night. I’ve also been known to add Taco Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Mondays into the mix. Tacos — what’s not to love?So when I saw thatTaco Bell was coming out with a birria-inspired dipping taco on August 3, officially called the shredded beef grilled cheese dipping taco, I had to see if it was any good. I’m not a huge fast food aficionado, though I am a fan of Taco Bell as far as chains go. (Their cheap bean and cheese burritos got me through my brokest days in college.) Still, I had my doubts that they could pull off birria.Birria is a slow cooked beef from the Jalisco region of Mexico, where the meat is slowly simmered in a broth of vinegar, chilis, garlic, herbs and spices until it’s shredded. The tacos are usually served on a small corn tortilla with chopped onions, a lime wedge and maybe some cilantro. They’re also often served with a side of broth to dip your tacos into. Could a fast food chain really pullthatoff?Taco Bell’s birria dipping taco.Gillian TellingTaco Bell, I apologize for my doubts. Their spin on the birria taco was quite simply, delicious. So maybe it wasn’t super traditional, but the slow-cooked beef was flavorful and didn’t taste cheap or over-salted or mass produced. The tacos did come with a smoky, chipotle mayo sauce that I thought was unnecessary added flavor, but I also didn’t hate it. (If I ordered them again though, I’d probably say to leave off the sauce. That’s just a personal preference when it comes to “smoky” flavors.)A look inspire Taco Bell’s birria taco.Gillian TellingThe best part of Taco Bell’s spin on the birria taco is the gobs of melted shredded cheese coating one full side of the taco. It makes them more like a quesabirria taco, or a half-quesadilla, half taco.The dipping tacos also come with two sauces to dip into if you’re inclined. One was just a small tub of generic nacho “cheese sauce,” which I didn’t even bother with because of the sheer amount of real cheese on the taco. The other was a red sauce that basically tasted like a watery version of their hot sauce packets. Not bad, but not mind-blowing.But that’s okay! As I said, the hand-held taco itself was perfect, no notes. Slightly greasy, definitely filling. I don’t think it would constitute as diet food (each one is 360 calories, more if you use the nacho cheese sauce) but one was certainly enough for lunch without slowing you down.In fact, there was only one issue with the new menu item: It might make me seek out Taco Bell more often when I’m in the mood for fast food.
Taco Bell’s Dipping Taco.Photo:Taco Bell
Taco Bell
Like any hot-blooded American woman — or any human, anywhere — I love a goodtaco.By good, I mean I pickle my own onions and slow braiseshort ribsfor hours for my weekly Taco Tuesday night. I’ve also been known to add Taco Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Mondays into the mix. Tacos — what’s not to love?So when I saw thatTaco Bell was coming out with a birria-inspired dipping taco on August 3, officially called the shredded beef grilled cheese dipping taco, I had to see if it was any good. I’m not a huge fast food aficionado, though I am a fan of Taco Bell as far as chains go. (Their cheap bean and cheese burritos got me through my brokest days in college.) Still, I had my doubts that they could pull off birria.Birria is a slow cooked beef from the Jalisco region of Mexico, where the meat is slowly simmered in a broth of vinegar, chilis, garlic, herbs and spices until it’s shredded. The tacos are usually served on a small corn tortilla with chopped onions, a lime wedge and maybe some cilantro. They’re also often served with a side of broth to dip your tacos into. Could a fast food chain really pullthatoff?Taco Bell’s birria dipping taco.Gillian TellingTaco Bell, I apologize for my doubts. Their spin on the birria taco was quite simply, delicious. So maybe it wasn’t super traditional, but the slow-cooked beef was flavorful and didn’t taste cheap or over-salted or mass produced. The tacos did come with a smoky, chipotle mayo sauce that I thought was unnecessary added flavor, but I also didn’t hate it. (If I ordered them again though, I’d probably say to leave off the sauce. That’s just a personal preference when it comes to “smoky” flavors.)A look inspire Taco Bell’s birria taco.Gillian TellingThe best part of Taco Bell’s spin on the birria taco is the gobs of melted shredded cheese coating one full side of the taco. It makes them more like a quesabirria taco, or a half-quesadilla, half taco.The dipping tacos also come with two sauces to dip into if you’re inclined. One was just a small tub of generic nacho “cheese sauce,” which I didn’t even bother with because of the sheer amount of real cheese on the taco. The other was a red sauce that basically tasted like a watery version of their hot sauce packets. Not bad, but not mind-blowing.But that’s okay! As I said, the hand-held taco itself was perfect, no notes. Slightly greasy, definitely filling. I don’t think it would constitute as diet food (each one is 360 calories, more if you use the nacho cheese sauce) but one was certainly enough for lunch without slowing you down.In fact, there was only one issue with the new menu item: It might make me seek out Taco Bell more often when I’m in the mood for fast food.
Like any hot-blooded American woman — or any human, anywhere — I love a goodtaco.
By good, I mean I pickle my own onions and slow braiseshort ribsfor hours for my weekly Taco Tuesday night. I’ve also been known to add Taco Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Mondays into the mix. Tacos — what’s not to love?
So when I saw thatTaco Bell was coming out with a birria-inspired dipping taco on August 3, officially called the shredded beef grilled cheese dipping taco, I had to see if it was any good. I’m not a huge fast food aficionado, though I am a fan of Taco Bell as far as chains go. (Their cheap bean and cheese burritos got me through my brokest days in college.) Still, I had my doubts that they could pull off birria.
Birria is a slow cooked beef from the Jalisco region of Mexico, where the meat is slowly simmered in a broth of vinegar, chilis, garlic, herbs and spices until it’s shredded. The tacos are usually served on a small corn tortilla with chopped onions, a lime wedge and maybe some cilantro. They’re also often served with a side of broth to dip your tacos into. Could a fast food chain really pullthatoff?
Taco Bell’s birria dipping taco.Gillian Telling
Gillian Telling
Taco Bell, I apologize for my doubts. Their spin on the birria taco was quite simply, delicious. So maybe it wasn’t super traditional, but the slow-cooked beef was flavorful and didn’t taste cheap or over-salted or mass produced. The tacos did come with a smoky, chipotle mayo sauce that I thought was unnecessary added flavor, but I also didn’t hate it. (If I ordered them again though, I’d probably say to leave off the sauce. That’s just a personal preference when it comes to “smoky” flavors.)
A look inspire Taco Bell’s birria taco.Gillian Telling
The best part of Taco Bell’s spin on the birria taco is the gobs of melted shredded cheese coating one full side of the taco. It makes them more like a quesabirria taco, or a half-quesadilla, half taco.
The dipping tacos also come with two sauces to dip into if you’re inclined. One was just a small tub of generic nacho “cheese sauce,” which I didn’t even bother with because of the sheer amount of real cheese on the taco. The other was a red sauce that basically tasted like a watery version of their hot sauce packets. Not bad, but not mind-blowing.
But that’s okay! As I said, the hand-held taco itself was perfect, no notes. Slightly greasy, definitely filling. I don’t think it would constitute as diet food (each one is 360 calories, more if you use the nacho cheese sauce) but one was certainly enough for lunch without slowing you down.
In fact, there was only one issue with the new menu item: It might make me seek out Taco Bell more often when I’m in the mood for fast food.
source: people.com
