This Genius Taco Bell Hack Makes the Most Delicious Nacho Fries
Diners have Taco Bell to thank for some of the wildest and most inventive menu items in fast-food history, from the Doritos Locos Taco to the retired Naked Chicken Chalupa with a shell made from crispy fried chicken. But out of all the tantalizing Taco Bell creations we've seen over the years, few have been able to rival the iconic Nacho Fries in hype and ingenuity.
First introduced in 2018, this popular menu item (330 calories) features crispy fries dusted with Mexican spices and served with a cup of nacho cheese sauce for dipping. The fries were such a big hit during the initial rollout that the chain sold a whopping 53 million orders in just five weeks, making them the most successful new launch in Taco Bell's history. The massive popularity of the Nacho Fries has inspired Taco Bell to bring them back again and again over the years and develop a series of new flavor spins on the side, such as the Jalapeño Ranch Nacho Fries that hit menus this past July.
While fans on social media attest that the Nacho Fries are already "delicious," I was recently introduced to a genius hack that makes them even tastier. Simply mix your favorite Taco Bell hot sauce packet directly into the cup of cheese to make an upgraded dipping sauce for your seasoned fries.
The trick was created by Taco Bell customer Urchit Chokshi, who originally tried mixing in a hot sauce packet to stretch the amount of nacho cheese sauce he was given.
"I feel like sometimes the Taco Bell cheese is not enough to cover the fries. So in order to kind of make do with what they gave me, I had to add a little bit more substance," Chokshi told Eat This, Not That!
Not only did the hot sauce add more substance to the cheese, but it also resulted in an improved flavor and texture, according to Chokshi.
"It's a little bit spicier. It's a little bit more liquidy," he said, adding that it has a "better consistency."
As a longtime Nacho Fries devotee, I had no choice but to try out the hack for myself during a recent Taco Bell visit—and I was blown away. Taco Bell's nacho cheese sauce is creamy, cheesy, salty, and overall pretty darn tasty to begin with. However, the hot sauce packet added a delicious hit of spice and peppery smokiness that I'd never experienced when enjoying Nacho Fries before.
Those flavors paired impeccably with the savory fries, which have notes of paprika, garlic, sweetness, and a little tang from the seasoning blend. And as Chokshi noted, the hot sauce loosens the nacho cheese sauce and makes it an even better consistency for dipping.
Another reason I adored this trick? Unlike other fast-food hacks that sometimes require you to get your hands dirty and reassemble foods to get your desired end result, this one is easy, convenient, and practically mess-free. I just emptied a hot sauce packet directly into the cheese cup, used a fry to mix it all together, and dug in.
While Nacho Fries are currently only available for a limited time, the probability that they'll eventually become permanent is all the more reason to start embracing this delectable hack. Earlier this year, Taco Bell Chief Marketing Officer Taylor Montgomery announced that the chain was working on making Nacho Fries a year-round offering.
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