Taco Bell’s Debut Chicken Sandwich Comes In None Other Than a Fluffy Taco Shell
The Chicken Sandwich War saga continues.
Photo courtesy of Taco Bell
Taco Bell has officially joined the Chicken Sandwich Wars with its own take on the popular menu item, which boasts a Mexican-inspired twist.
The fast-food chain announced Monday that it is slated to debut a new Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco in several test markets on March 11. Taco Bell fans in Nashville, Tennessee, and Charlotte, North Carolina, will be the first to get a taste of the restaurant’s answer to the chicken sandwich craze, which will cost $2.49.
According to Taco Bell, the Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco, which also comes in a spicy version, is expected to rollout to the rest of the country later this year.
So what exactly is in this new item? The Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco features premium all-white-meat crispy chicken, marinated in jalapeno buttermilk, then seasoned with bold Mexican spices and rolled in a crunchy tortilla chip coating.
But here’s where the twist comes in — instead of a standard sandwich bun, the dish will be served in a puffy bread that's shaped as a taco and slathered with a creamy chipotle sauce. The spicy version will also feature some jalapeno slices for even more spice.
Taco Bell first hinted that it would finally be taking part in the Chicken Sandwich Wars back in January when the chain’s global chief food innovation officer, Liz Matthews, told Business Insider that it was planning to "interrupt" the chicken sandwich category with significant chicken innovation.
What’s more? The Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco is just one of several chicken-centric menu items Taco Bell plans to introduce in the coming months. “Taco Bell fans everywhere will be excited to know this isn’t our only crispy chicken innovation arriving in 2021,” the company said in a statement.
Taco Bell has also experimented with other crispy chicken-focused items in the past. The Crispy Chicken Chickstar, a star-shaped tortilla wrap filled with crispy chicken, debuted in 2015, while Naked Chicken Chips — chip-shaped crispy chicken pieces that came with nacho dipping sauce — arrived two years later. 2017 also saw the debut of the Naked Chicken Chalupa, a piece of chicken shaped like a tortilla stuffed with standard taco fillings.
The arrival of Taco Bell’s Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco comes on the heels of several chicken-related fast-food announcements pertaining to the (seemingly never ending) Chicken Sandwich Wars. KFC announced its new made-to-order chicken sandwich last month and McDonald’s is slated to launch three fried chicken sandwiches on February 24. The chain previewed its Crispy Chicken Sandwich last week with a “Chicken Drop” that included limited-edition merch.
Chick-fil-A and Wendy’s have each released competing chicken sandwiches of their own as well, stemming from the wildly popular Popeyes Chicken Sandwich that rocked the food world in August 2019.
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