What I Bought at Taco Bell®
September 21, 2021 by Linda Loosli 54  Comments

What I Bought at Taco Bell®

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Today, I had to share what I bought at Taco Bell®. It’s a local food chain here in Southern Utah. Here’s the deal, Mark and I rarely eat out for several reasons. It’s expensive and we’re never sure what’s in the food. Plus, the fact that I can cook from scratch for so much cheaper.

When I go into town, I see almost all the fast food places with cars lined up almost around the block. I sometimes wonder, how are the people teaching their children to cook if they are handed a burger with fries?

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good burger with French fries every so often. My goal today is to acquaint you with a food chain that tries to offer quality food options at a reasonable price. If you feel the need to eat out, particularly when you’re pressed for time, this is certainly a well-known company with many locations, and a menu that provides choices for even the pickiest eater. Enjoy.

What I Bought at Taco Bell®

What I Bought at Taco Bell®

A few years ago, a friend gave me a gift card to Taco Bell® for $15.00. Well, I didn’t want to waste the card, so I asked Mark where the closest Taco Bell® was located.

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I asked Mark to pick up $15.00 worth of food the next time he was near that Taco Bell®.

Just so you know, we ate Taco Bell® food for a week. I had to laugh when he brought this huge bag into the house full of tacos and burritos. The bonus was that everything tasted delicious.

We had driven past it many times but never noticed it, or stopped to eat there. Well, now we know where it is! I realize we have a lot of families where both parents work, they shuttle kids to school, or they homeschool them, they drive kids to sports and music lessons.

We have to respect how the parents must feel having to work one or two jobs just to put food on the table. When I go to the store with Mark we both comment almost every time, how are families able to feed themselves with these prices.

Some may be blessed with small or large meat animals, super large gardens, and chickens, but not everyone is so lucky to have land to produce their own food.

I have often said, being a mom is the hardest but most rewarding job in the world. Some days are awesome, some are very very hard. I get it. I have been there.

So this is why I decided to write about Taco Bell®, I need to see why people are eating there. By now you know I love Mexican food, I mean love it! Taco Bell® Mild Taco Sauce 

What I Bought at Taco Bell®

Mark and I went to pick up $25.00 worth of food and it’s enough for us to have dinner every night for a week. We may get tired of it after 7 days, but it’s a great experiment for me. It’s inexpensive for families to feed their family, is it healthy? I don’t know the nutrition value, but it tastes great!

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We mainly bought everything in the $1.00 to $1.50 items listed below. Tacos and burritos!

Taco Bell® Boxes

Today, I saw these items that cost $1.00 (please note these prices may change or be different in your area)

  • Spicy Potato Soft Taco
  • Chicken Chipotle Melt
  • Beef Burrito
  • Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito
  • Cheesy Rollup

These items were under $1.50 (please note these prices may change)

  • Bean Burrito
  • Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco
  • Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco
  • Soft Taco
  • Crunchy Taco
  • Bowl with Black Beans and Rice
  • Bowl of Black Beans
  • Hashbrowns

Then I saw these items below $2.00 (please note these prices may change)

  • Soft Taco Supreme
  • Nacho Cheese Doritos® Locos Tacos
  • Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes

Now onto the items under $4.00 (please note these prices may change)

  • Chalupa Supreme
  • Cheesy Gordita Crunch
  • Beefy 5-Layer Burrito
  • Burrito Supreme
  • Quesarito
  • Crunchwrap Supreme®
  • Black Bean Crunchwrap Supreme®
  • Cheese Quesadillas
  • Black Bean Quesarito
  • Chicken Quesadillas
  • Nachos BellGrande®

In case you missed this post, Homemade Baked Beef Taquitos Recipe

Which states have the most Taco Bell® locations?

I quote this from Fox News

#1. California: 964 Taco Bell restaurants

#2. Texas: 590 Taco Bell restaurants

#3. Florida: 387 Taco Bell restaurants

#4. Ohio: 384 Taco Bell restaurants

#5. Michigan: 312 Taco Bell restaurants

#6. Illinois: 277 Taco Bell restaurants

#7. Georgia: 236 Taco Bell restaurants

#8. Missouri: 221 Taco Bell restaurants

#9. Indiana/Tennessee: 218 Taco Bell restaurants (tie)

#10. New York: 199 Taco Bell restaurants

End of quote.

When did the first Taco Bell® open?

I quote Wikipedia, “Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast-food restaurants originating in Irvine, California in 1962, by founder Glen Bell. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. Wikipedia“

Final Word

There are many other options for family-size meals as well. I hope you enjoyed my post today about, what I bought at Taco Bell®, I love Mexican food, you may want to check out your local Taco Bell®! Please stay safe and stay well. May God Bless this world, Linda

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54 Comments

  1. Feel lucky you’ve still got one that’s staffed and had a full menu.
    We don’t eat out much but we’ve bout given it up completely because of these issues.
    We’ve lost about 30% of these type places and those still remaining often just have drive through service left due to staffing

    Reply

    1. Hi Matt, I have heard that as well. Here in Southern Utah most restaurants or fast food places have to close at 3:00 or 5:00 pm because they cannot staff them. It’s really tough right now. Linda

      Reply

      1. There are a ton of Taco Bell’s here in Las Vegas. For some reason my wife thinks they put something in the meat and she refuses to eat there. I love the food and love to buy the Burrito Supreme and Taco Salad. Unfortunately they no longer sell the salads. I have a set of metal things that I can use to make my own Taco Salad bowls from Flour Torillas. Just need lettuce and taco meat and cheese, sour cream and whatever else you want.

        Reply

  2. I have to say, here in Michigan, my family loves Taco Bell. However, we have been very disappointed in Taco Bell for the $1.00 Menu items that have disappeared. So now, we have to find new favorites on their menu for under $1.00.

    Reply

    1. Hi Allison, I was very surprised at the dollar menu. I really do not know how they make them that cheap. They have to cook the food, pay the staff, prepare it and pay the rent on the building. I hope you find one that works, Linda

      Reply

  3. Definitely a good bargain option for dining out.

    Just make sure you go to a standalone TacoBell and not a combo KFC/TacoBell store, since the combo stores don’t have full menus for either option….although for families with picky eaters sometimes that’s the best available option (other than playing short order cook at home.)

    I used to love their chicken soft tacos then they changed how the chicken was prepared, so whenever I go I’ll get the regular soft tacos. Tasty treat if done in moderation.

    Personally my go-to cheap takeout meal is a box of pork fried rice from the Chinese restaurant in our town. Filling and even less than it costs me to fill up at TacoBell. A close second is getting a full-sized sub at our local MarketBasket supermarket. $5.29 for a foot long sub made up fresh. And I can do my grocery shopping at the same time.

    Sure, scratch cooking is cheaper, but sometimes it’s nice to get something quick and tasty after a long day at work.

    Thanks for the tasty reminder. Yum! 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hi DMWalsh, I was shocked at how good the food was for the price. Now, I rarely eat out but this is a game-changer if we are out and about. I love those full sized-subs too! Now I want one!! LOL! Linda

      Reply

    2. I wonder if some of the items that don’t have lettuce might freeze well. That way you could stock up on a trip out and about but not have to eat it all right away. It would be a treat to be able to pull some Taco Bell from the freezer for a quick meal!

      Reply

      1. Oh! Just saw the other comments about freezing☺️. I guess great minds think alike, mine just doesn’t think quite so quickly!

        Reply

    1. Hi Jody, oh yeah, we ate the tacos because they would not freeze well. My husband and I ate tacos for lunch and dinner, then we froze all the burritos. We freeze burritos all the time, or at least the ones we make. These look just like the ones we make. I will microwave them. Perfect last-minute meal. We will eat this haul for a week. But there are only two of us! Linda

      Reply

      1. We eat at only 3 fast food places. Taco Bell is one of them. I always order their bean burrito and ask them to swap out the regular beans for black beans and to grill the burrito. Delicious! My daughter and I have also found the employees to be very friendly and courteous.

        Reply

        1. Hi Pat, oh my gosh, I never thought about asking them to swap out the beans AND then grill it. This has been so fun for me to hear about all the good things about Taco Bell. Bonus with friendly and courteous employees! Thank you for sharing, Linda

          Reply

  5. I love Taco Bell and also Taco John’s. Inexpensive and filling! My kid got his first job at Taco Bell. I like to splurge on the 5 layer burrito. Of course it’s so big that it’s 3 meals for me! I bring extra burritos home, leave them in the wrapping and Food Saver them in one of the zipper bags. Frig or freezer, an easy hunger reliever! I sometimes get the soft shell taco, ask them to leave off the lettuce so I can food saver it too…then I add lettuce after heating in microwave. The wax paper they use for wrapping works good in microwave without having the shell turn hard. As to nutrients, their shells (hard or soft) are no different than what we’d make or buy, they do fry their hamburger, they chop fresh veggies, refried beans are the same as store-bought or homemade ones. To me, a taco place is pretty close to homemade except they got more types of sauce in the little packets than I have at home. My oldest son asks for extra or will grab a bunch inside, then saves to use at home. Lol, now I want a chalupa…

    Reply

      1. Check out the $5.00 special. I usually get it. It usually has something like a chalupa, maybe a hard taco
        and a burrito. This depends on the special. and it comes with a drink so I usually get that and it’s
        cheap enough. Taco’s here are $1.69 each so the $5.00 box is so much cheaper.

        Reply

        1. Hi June, oh my gosh, I need to check that out! It’s so funny I rarely eat out because it’s so expensive but then I looked at Taco Bell!! Mark and I go into town and sometimes we just want fast food that is not expensive and tastes good! Taco Bell fits the bill. Linda

          Reply

          1. I forgot to mention that the box is called The Cravings box.
            If you look most fast food places have special menu’s. Believe me I try not to buy anything to
            expensive. If my brother and I go for a expensive meal we will go to Applebee’s and usually we will
            get the 2 for $20.00 meals. Our McDonald’s around here has a hamburger and small fries for $2.00
            which isn’t bad the killer will be if you get a drink. If I am out and stop by and I get this special I will
            order a water. You can eat out cheap IF you like their specials.

  7. I love Taco Bell. We have several in close proximity, here in East Texas. I could eat Taco Bell for a week. LOL Of course, home made is better, but not quite as easy as drive through.

    Reply

    1. Hi Deborah, oh my gosh, I could eat at Taco Bell for a week too! It’s not convenient, we live about 10 miles away. But for a quick meal, we will grab some food if we are in town. Linda

      Reply

      1. Our Taco Bell is about 20-25 miles away. That’s the closest one. Needless to say, we don’t eat there often. I do love Mexican food. Yummy!

        Reply

        1. Hi Deborah, yeah that’s too far away! It has to be close for me to even think about it. I love Mexican Food too! See we could be BFF’s, oh yeah we already are!! Through the internet works for me! Linda

          Reply

          1. If we are in that town, we may stop, but not going that far to just eat. I’m going to try making chicken fajitas tonight. It’s not that hard, but I don’t know how I’ll be feeling by then. Here’s hoping.

            I’ll get Larry to cut the bell pepper and onions for me. I have a stool in the kitchen that I can sit in, if needed. I am feeling better. I got up at 6:00 am this morning, but laid back in my recliner and slept till 10. I’m going to lay back for a while now. We went to the store and I’m tired.

          4. Hi Deborah, we have fajitas at least once or twice a week. I always have frozen sliced red, yellow, and orange bell peppers. Add a bag of frozen onions, and dinner is ready asap! Linda

  8. I like Taco Bell for a fast food choice. When I have my quilting group over for the day, husband will go run his errands and likes to stop at Taco Bell. We can go into our TB’s here in Kansas but just to pick up an order, not to sit down and eat. So, the drive-through is always busy.

    Reply

    1. Hi Paula, I love hearing this! We have really long lines here as well. Going in is probably faster to pick it up. Your quilting group sounds so fun! I love hearing this. Linda

      Reply

  9. Our Taco Bell in Medford has senior drinks for .75 all day, and $1 Happy Hour freezes from 2-5, perfect for a kid treat. We, too, have had shortages of food service workers as well as delivery problems for TBell basics like tortillas…meaning there would be NO burritos!
    My favorite sauce there is the breakfast salsa…I have to ask for it but it’s good on the potato taco.

    Luvs from S. Oregon,
    Shirley

    Reply

    1. Hi Shirley, what?? LOL! Now I need to go see if they have senior drinks here! I fit that category! Happy hour freezes sound really good too! Wow if they were out of tortillas that would be awful!! Oh my gosh, some of the things we take for granted. Thanks for sharing!!! Luvs form Utah, Linda

      Reply

  11. Yup, Taco Bell is my go-to fast food place. I can’t stand fast food burgers-who knows what I’m really eating? It just creeps me out. But Taco Bell is pretty straight-forward. I could eat Mexican food every day of the week and never tire of it. I’ve noticed that almost all fast food chains do not have their dining rooms open at all. Your only option is drive thru and there seems to be 20 cars in every line, all the time! Crazy times, that’s fer sure. My favorite at TB is the cheesy crunch gordita. It’s huge and definitely all that I need for a meal. I don’t buy “meals” at any place because I don’t like to pay the prices for the drinks-I think they’re outrageous. I never leave the house without my ice water with lemon juice in it or a Diet Mt. Dew. Funny how when you get old you get picky!

    Reply

    1. Hi Robbie, we can be picky, we can own it. I love ice water (filtered)!! I could eat Mexican food every day of the week too! I will have to look at the dining rooms when we go into town next time. Everything closed early because they can’t get people to work. Crazy times! Linda

      Reply

  12. I occasionally eat a taco bell meal! One or 2 tacos fill me up so it is an inexpensive meal. And, I can get a free “senior” drink.

    Wedo have a better, albeit more expensive fast food taco place called Taco Time. The local stores source a lot of their foods locally in the northwest. I’ve seen a local farmer unloading freshly picked lettuce and tomatoes!

    Reply

    1. Hi Leanne, oh my gosh, you have Taco Time?? I love Taco Time! When we drive to California to see our daughter we freeze 30 bean and meat burritos and take 12 bottles of Taco sauce to her from Taco Time! Gotta love seeing your local farmers unloading their produce there at Taco Bell! I need to look into the senior drinks everyone is talking about! Linda

      Reply

  13. We have 4 Taco Bells in Missoula, MT. They have the same problems with staffing as everyone, but we live the food, price and the friendly staff. The manager of the location we go to all the time knows us and makes a point of saying “Hi”, even if they are really busy. When the dining room was open, he would even bring out our food to us. That is the kind of service that keeps people coming back to a store.

    Reply

  14. A second comment: if we are going to eat some in the car, I just ask for ice water. It’s free and I happen to know the 3 in my surrounding communities have Filtered water. If we eat inside, I just ask for a cup for water. Again, free right at the soda fountain. I too rarely eat at fast food places because there’s just too much salt in the processed burgers. They just don’t taste as good as they used to? So, Taco Bell, Taco John’s, thank you for continuing with the same great taste. I have an app on my phone for TB that offers free food too. Like, if I buy a $4 menu item, I get a free $1/$2 item. Or if I buy a meal, I get a free item. Not sure if they do this everyplace as these are franchise places. I like that I can buy fast food at truly cheap prices, and can easily save it for later! Like, ever heated up a burger or fries? Not so tasty. Gawd, I really miss KFC grilled chicken…they stopped having this the year before the pandemic. Yes, it was healthy. Oh, I consider burritos healthy. Peace, everyone!

    Reply

  16. Linda,

    I really like their soft tacos, beef and bean burritos and a few other items. Long ago they used to be open for breakfast and offered a breakfast burrito with eggs, potatoes, beef and a creamy white gravy. It was really good.

    They also used to make a Bell Beefer–think Mexican spiced ground beef and it was my favorite. I wish they’d bring both back.

    Jane won’t eat their food and my now grown son used to call it Park and Fart.

    Garden update: All of the lettuces, carrots, chard, pak choy, and broccoli I planted a mere 7 days ago are up. Still waiting on the spinach and beans, but they always take much longer. Within a week I’ll be thinning them.

    Never stopped me from enjoying it.

    Reply

    1. Hi Ray, oh, I love hearing you can see sprouts!! Life is so good! Your son’s comment is so true park and fart! Love it! I wonder how they made the creamy white gravy!!! Linda

      Reply

  17. We don’t eat at Taco Bell. My husband and I can’t eat it. My daughter and daughter in Love like it but my Daughter in Love was raised on Mexican Food living in New Mexico. My daughter learned to love it when she went to Job Corp and they served a lot of Mexican food. But that is a good deal if you like Mexican. For me and Jack we are sick after the first bite. I can’t even eat chilli if it is to spicy. I once made a big batch of Chilli when we were working at a camp and I made it really hot because the pastor was always saying I made chilli too mild. Well I put all the different chilli peppers I could find and it was so hot he never complained of my chilli again. There was one blind and deaf lady that was eating it and she was crying and I went to her and told her I would bring her something else she said no she would eat what everyone else was eating. I went to the kitchen and brought her something else and all she could say was Thank YOU over and over again.
    When I make Chilli now I just use Granulated Garlic and Granulated pepper and of course Hungarian Paprika. I use the mild though because even that has a good tang to it.

    Reply

  18. Sorry. I haven’t eaten at Taco Bell for years. I can cook better than that and we don’t go out to eat. I prefer to eat at home. I can fix what we like in Mexican food and avoid anything we don’t like. Besides, the prices are better at my house!

    Reply

  19. We have an outstanding Taco Bell in our little Texas town. I eat the beef chalupa supreme almost every day for lunch. The staff know me by name.

    Reply

    1. Hi Gene, oh my gosh, I need to go try the beef chalupa supreme! I bet I could eat one every day too! Isn’t it fun when the staff at Taco Bell knows you by name! Love it! Linda

      Reply

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