Taco Bell’s new Crispy Chicken Nuggets roll out nationwide Thursday for a limited time, along with a trio of unique dipping sauces.
The Irvine, California-based fast-food chain gives chicken nuggets a crunchy twist by combining crushed tortilla chips with breadcrumbs for the coating. The all-white meat chicken bites are slightly rounded in shape and flavored with a jalapeño buttermilk marinade for extra zip.
“We’ve taken a product that’s in a lot of different places—there’s no shortage of chicken nuggets—but we’ve made that product our own,” said Matt Prince, Taco Bell’s director of brand communications and public relations. “It’s similar to what we did with our Nacho Fries.”
Chicken nuggets demand dipping sauces, and Taco Bell tested over 100 before launching three new options. For the first, the chain collaborated with Hidden Valley, the brand behind America’s best-selling ranch, to create the exclusive Hidden Valley Fire Ranch Sauce, a blend of ranch dressing and Taco Bell’s most popular hot sauce.
Also debuting is an all-new Bell Sauce, a rich, creamy, tangy blend of tomatoes, red chilies and garlic. Rounding out the dip lineup is Jalapeno Honey Mustard, a honey mustard sauce with a spicy jalapeno kick.
The new nuggets were launched in test towards the end of 2023 in Minneapolis and earlier this year in Houston with successful results.
Starting Thursday, customers can order a five-piece nugget box with one dipping sauce for $3.99 or 10 nuggets and two sauces for $6.99. Combo meals are also on offer, which include an order of Nacho Fries, nacho sauce and fountain drink for $5.99 and $8.99 respectively.
Loyalty club members can score exclusive digital deals to celebrate the nugget launch. Through Dec. 31, Taco Bell Rewards members receive a free fountain drink or freeze of any size with the purchase of a five-piece nugget box a la carte on delivery orders of DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates or Grubhub.
Then from Jan. 1-Jan. 22, a regular order of Nacho Fries is $1 with any nugget order via the Taco Bell app. And on Jan. 10 only, a five-piece nugget order will be $1 on DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub.
Taco Bell is also giving fans a chance to be rewarded for sustainability efforts. They can mail in their used, empty dipping cups throughout the month of December to earn 80 bonus Taco Bell Rewards points, courtesy of Taco Bell’s Sauce Container US Recycling Program in partnership with TerraCycle.
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