Evening Latte

Taco Bell is my favorite fast food chain. For a long time, one of my favorite menu items was their chicken quesadilla. I guess a lot of other people also liked it because the price was increased significantly a few years ago. Today, it’s $5.99 a la carte.

If I’m spending more than $5 for a single item at Taco Bell, it’s going to be a Cheesy Gordita Crunch.

So it fell out of my regular rotation for years. Then while looking through the Cravings Value Menu one night, I saw a new item called a Stacker.

That sure looks like a quesadilla to me. But the main reason I like the chicken quesadilla is it’s a break from the standard “ground beef and nacho cheese” menu theme. Specifically: the protein is chicken, and there’s a different sauce. But hey, there’s a Customize button.

Turns out I can easily swap the protein to chicken and add whatever sauce I want.

A quick Google search suggests Creamy Jalapeno Sauce is the standard one for the chicken quesadilla, but I’m a notorious wuss when it comes to spice, so I get Chipotle (and sad as it is, that’s still a tad spicier than I prefer).

After any customization, you should be prompted to save it to your Favorites list so you can easily order it again.

Admittedly, it’s not exactly the same. The biggest difference is the hot press touches a much smaller percentage of the tortilla because of the folds, so you don’t get as much overall texture from the “char.” The taste is a little different because it also has nacho cheese, but you can obviously remove that. All that said, I think it’s definitely close enough to save $2.60 every time I order it.

Worth noting: I’m incredulous of their claim that a regular chicken quesadilla has almost 20% more calories than a Stacker. The past few times I got quesadillas, the amount of chicken in them was…minimal, and the packages felt noticeably light in my hand. Before I looked at the menu, I assumed the Stacker had more calories: compared to the quesadilla, I’ve gotten at least as much (if not more) chicken in it, it feels heftier, and it has an additional sauce.