Taco Bell tends to provide greasy, inexpensive food that middle-aged bodies can’t process or metabolize nearly as comfortably as before.
That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy Taco Bell from time to time as adults.
If you start to feel guilty while waiting in the drive-thru line, you may decide to outweigh the decision to eat Taco Bell by ordering something healthier than usual.
What can you order at Taco Bell if you want to stay healthy?
We cover everything you need to know about whether you can order a salad at Taco Bell and the healthiest menu items.
Does Taco Bell Have Salads?
No, Taco Bell does not have salads on the menu.
Taco Bell used to sell a Fiesta Taco Salad and a seafood salad option in the past, but both items were discontinued.
Customers may want to order a salad in order to find a healthy option, but the old salads weren’t particularly healthy anyway.
Taco Bell may not sell salads, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to find healthier options or something that resembles your favorite item from the past.
1. Fiesta Taco Salad
Taco Bell offered a Fiesta Taco Salad until 2020 (if you feel comfortable calling it a salad).
The salad consisted of a crispy taco shell bowl filled with ground beef, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes.
Altogether, customers enjoyed 49 grams of fat and more than 900 calories in one salad (excluding the drink and any additional items).
Customers could reduce the calorie count by subbing the ground beef for chicken and removing the cheese and sour cream, but the crispy bowl itself has enough calories to make removing the small extras pretty much pointless.
Why Did Taco Bell Discontinue The Fiesta Taco Salad?
Taco Bell discontinued the Fiesta Taco Bell due to the difficulty of maintaining the taco shell bowls and the lack of demand.
Taco Bell chefs would fry the taco shell bowls at the beginning of the day, and they would often break throughout the day.
The demand also wasn’t high enough for them to continue the program.
2. Seafood Salad
Some older customers may remember Taco Bell’s unfortunate attempt to offer a seafood option to compete with Lent options offered by other fast-food restaurants, such as McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish.
The seafood salad combined shrimp, whitefish, and crab with shredded cheese, olives, and tomatoes.
Customers didn’t take to the option, and most people didn’t like the smell, especially combined with the other menu options.
Eating Healthy(ish) At Taco Bell
Believe it or not, you may have more healthy options at Taco Bell than expected.
It’s all about your decisions.
When you make the right decisions when you order, you can significantly reduce your calorie and fat intake.
Taco Bell’s food also comes with high amounts of protein, providing energy and making you feel full.
Follow these tips for healthier eating when you do end up at Taco Bell.
1. Healthy(ish) Options At Taco Bell
- Chicken Soft Taco: 160 calories
- Veggie Burrito Supreme: 320 calories
- Power Bowl w/Chicken: 450 calories
- Chicken Quesadilla: 510 calories
2. Choose The Grilled Chicken
Taco Bell has three types of meat in increasing levels of healthiness: ground beef, steak, and chicken.
Ground beef is the cheapest and least healthy option.
Steak costs the most but doesn’t have quite as high of fat content as the ground beef.
Chicken costs almost as much as steak, but it is the healthiest option by far.
Despite being healthier than the other proteins available, the grilled chicken still cooks on a grill covered in oil.
3. Avoid High-Calorie Ingredients
It’s not enough to select the chicken.
You also need to be mindful of the other ingredients that go into your meal.
Avoid crispy tacos.
Opt for soft tortillas or a bowl format instead.
You should also avoid high-calorie toppings such as sour cream, nacho cheese sauce, and ranch.
Instead, ask for your meal “fresco,” which means you will get nutritious and tasty pico de gallo instead of fatty toppings.
Say no to French fries and dessert, too.
4. Eat Small Portions
Understandably, many people associate Taco Bell with gorging on food, especially with the cost-effective dollar menu.
Instead of reaching for a fifth taco, though, you should probably try to stop at two or three.
Order less food.
You can’t eat more tacos than you intended if you don’t have the tacos in the first place.
Don’t let small portions convince you to pack on the calories, though.
Apply the tips above as well.
5. Following Keto At Taco Bell
If you want to follow a keto diet at Taco Bell, you may think you’re out of luck thanks to the tortillas that are high in carbs.
You don’t necessarily have to have a tortilla with your meal, though.
Instead, consider getting a power bowl that doesn’t contain any tortillas,
There’s even a power bowl specifically designed to meet the needs of people on a keto diet.
Why keto?
Your body uses carbs to create energy.
A keto diet changes your body’s processes by not giving the body carbs.
Without carbs, the body will use fat for energy.
First, the body will eat at fat deposits stored in the body and then the fat you consume.
It takes dedication for the diet to be worth it, so you’ll need to decide if it’s worth not having bread.
The items you can eat at Taco Bell on a keto diet include:
- Naked Egg Taco Bundle.
- Breakfast Soft Taco with Bacon.
- Grande Scrambler.
- Mini Skillet Bowl.
- Power Menu Bowl.
- Beefy 5-Layer Burrito.
Problems Eating Taco Bell Regularly
While everyone deserves a treat from time to time, you may not want to eat Taco Bell as often as you may have as a youth.
Reports have found that eating Taco Bell every day can lead to negative impacts on your health, including:
- Depression
- Still feeling hungry
- Cognitive impairment
- Increased chance of stroke
- Higher risk of heart disease
- Increased weight
Taco Bell food usually doesn’t contain a lot of nutrients and fiber.
Fiber helps the body feel full, and the nutrients support the processes of your internal organs, such as your heart and brain.
On top of the lack of nutrients, much Taco Bell food contains preservatives and additives designed to keep prices low but also puts those unnatural items into your body.
Taco Bell isn’t the only fast-food culprit.
The popular documentary, Supersize Me, found similar results when its creator ate food from McDonald’s every day for 30 days straight.
Saving Money At Taco Bell
Taco Bell offers everyday low prices.
However, you can still save money in a number of ways when you make a trip to Taco Bell.
1. Value Menu Items
Try ordering from the value menu that sells items at shockingly low prices:
- Cheesy bean and rice burrito: $1.00 (410 calories)
- Spicy potato soft taco: $1.00 (240 calories)
- Cinnamon twists: $1.00 (170 calories)
- Cheesy rollup: $1.00 (180 calories)
- Beefy melt burrito: $2.00 (620 calories)
- Chipotle ranch grilled chicken burrito: $2.00 (510 calories)
- Fiesta veggie burrito: $2.00 (560 calories)
- Classic combo: $5.00 (880–1,900 calories)
2. Taco Bell Rewards
Download the Taco Bell app to sign up for Taco Bell Rewards when you order through the app or enter your email address at the in-store kiosks when you place your order.
You even get a free reward when you sign up!
You will earn 10 points for every $1 you spend, and you’ll get a new reward for every 250 points you earn.
Taco Bell Rewards come in two tiers: hot and fire.
Hot rewards include:
- Bean Burrito
- Chips & Nacho Cheese Sauce
- Cinnamon Twists
- Crunchy Taco
- Medium Fountain Drink
Fire rewards include:
- Bean Burrito
- Chips & Nacho Cheese Sauce
- Cinnamon Twists
- Crunchy Taco
- Medium Fountain Drink
- Chalupa Supreme
- Doritos® Locos Tacos
- Nachos BellGrande®
- Regular Mountain Dew Baja Blast® Freeze
Once you reach Fire rewards, you will maintain that status for a full calendar year.
If you accidentally forgot to include your email address in your order when you ordered online, you can scan the barcode on the receipt using your app.
Points are not earned when you order delivery through a third party, such as Uber Eats or GrubHub.
Rewards expire after six months, so don’t forget to use them within the designated time frame.
3. Taco Lover’s Pass
Love Tacos? Taco Bell has the perfect program for you.
Taco Bell’s Taco Lover’s Pass costs $10 a month plus tax and allows pass holders to receive a free taco a day for 30 days.
You can sign up for the program through the Taco Bell app (and only through the app) in the “Online Exclusives” category.
You must order your daily taco through the app.
Tacos you can get through the program include:
• Crunchy Taco
• Crunchy Taco Supreme®
• Soft Taco
• Soft Taco Supreme®
• Doritos® Locos Tacos
• Doritos® Locos Tacos Supreme
You will not find any breakfast menu items on the qualifying taco list.
You cannot allow tacos to accumulate.
If you miss a day, you lose your taco.
You also can’t upgrade the taco or use the pass toward drinks, sides, or desserts.
Once the 30 days are up, you will have to purchase the pass again.
The pass doesn’t automatically renew at the end of the 30 days.
You also can’t purchase more than one pass at a time.
If you live or work near a Taco Bell or pass one during your daily commute, you can save a lot of money on a daily snack.
Discontinued Taco Bell Items
Taco Bell works hard to provide the best menu for customers based on purchasing trends, meaning they adjust their menu accordingly.
Some of the items that Taco Bell has recently discontinued include:
- Fiesta Taco Salad
- 7-Layer Burrito*
- Beefy Fritos Burrito®
- Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes
- Chips & Dips
- Grilled Steak Soft Taco
- Loaded Grillers (Cheesy Potato, Beefy Nacho)
- Mini Skillet Bowl
- Nachos Supreme
- Spicy Potato Soft Taco
- Spicy Tostada
- Triple Layer Nachos
Items discontinued a long time ago that still bring up both fond and cringe-worthy memories include:
- Double-decker taco
- Mexican pizza
- Nacho Crunch Grilled Soft Burrito
- Nacho fries
- Bell beefer
- Caramel apple empanadas
- Enchirito
- Seafood salad
Conclusion
Taco Bell doesn’t have salads on the menu at this time.
They offered a Fiesta Taco Salad until 2020 but decided to discontinue it.
It didn’t provide a healthy option for customers looking for something with lower calories anyway, so Taco Bell replaced the Fiesta Taco Salad with other menu items that were healthier and easier for them to make efficiently.
If looking to eat healthy at Taco Bell, you have some options.
However, you should understand that Taco Bell still uses a significant amount of preservatives in its food.
Ultimately, it’s better to limit Taco Bell trips if looking to lose weight.
If not concerned about the calorie intake, take advantage of the rewards program and the Taco Lover’s Pass that allows you to enjoy a taco every single day for 30 consecutive days.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Taco Bell Sell Salads?
No.
Taco Bell does not currently sell salads.
However, Taco Bell sells numerous other menu options.
2. Has Taco Bell Ever Sold Salads?
Taco Bell used to sell a Fiesta Taco Salad as well as a Seafood Salad.
Both items have been discontinued.
Neither menu item offered the health benefits many people think of when they choose to eat a salad.
3. Can Taco Bell Be Healthy?
Taco Bell does offer healthier options, despite its reputation for greasy, fatty food.
The Power Menu is a great place to start.
However, you can also find a number of items lower in calories.
Taco Bell clearly displays all nutrition information of its food.
Look at the nutrition before you place your order if you want to eat healthily.
4. Can You Eat Keto At Taco Bell?
The power bell and an egg white breakfast menu option allow you to stick to your keto diet at Taco Bell.
When ordering a power bowl, be careful what ingredients you include as you may have to customize it by removing certain ingredients.
I went to a Taco Bell and asked if they offered a Taco Salad in a crunchy taco bowl and I was told “yes”. I ordered one to go and was I disappointed when I got home to see a lousy mix of lettuce, beans, guacamole, sour cream. I could have whipped up a better salad at home. Staff should know what is on the menu.
I want my taco salad back !
I want a taco salad….now! Thank you!!,!!!,