Some will look at this year’s Live Más event and see a celebration of Taco Bell and the wonderful items that will someday delight hungry customers. That’s certainly reasonable. It’s a normal reaction, really. The fast food company did tease more than 20 possible new foods, and they range from wonderful to wonderfully weird. But for me, the man/dummy who ate an entire Baja Blast Pie in a single sitting, what Taco Bell announced at the Hollywood Palladium means something very different. Why? Because they announced that yet another Baja Blast Pie is coming later this year.
And I know what that means. We all know what that means.
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Taco Bell’s New NORMAL Foods
Taco Bell’s Live Más LIVE: A Night at The Palladium showcase featured sneak peeks at new menu items, future offerings coming to stores, and some mad scientist concoctions we might one day see. That includes the permanent addition of Nacho Fries, which are also getting a spicy dip. Flamin’ Hot Nacho Fries will come with Flamin’ Hot Nacho Cheese sauce “for a fiery kick.” Taco Bell is also expanding its Crispy Chicken options with three new dusted nuggets: Flamin’ Hot, Diablo Dusted, and Doritos Cool Ranch. The latter will also come with a Cool Ranch dipping sauce.
Other notable savory dishes include:
- Cheesy G Sliders: Two soft, pillowy flatbreads wrapped around freshly fried daily white-corn shells, layered with mozzarella, pepperjack, and cheddar cheeses, lettuce, pico de gallo, and creamy chipotle sauce. Available with grilled marinated steak or slow-roasted chicken.
- Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza with Jalapeño Citrus Salsa: Slow-roasted chicken and black beans layered between crispy tortillas, topped with green chile sauce, a three-cheese blend, cabbage, and pico de gallo – served with a new Jalapeño Citrus Salsa and an Avocado Verde Salsa.
- Mexican Pizza Empanadas: Three or six bite-sized, crispy empanadas filled with seasoned beef, a melty 3-cheese blend, and a bold and flavorful sauce. Served with Mexican Pizza sauce on the side for dipping.
- Flamin’ Hot Mini Taco Salad: A new take on a classic, featuring seasoned beef, Fritos Flamin’ Hot corn chips, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and refried beans in a crispy, golden tortilla bowl rimmed with Flamin’ Hot seasoning.
Taco Bell’s New NORMAL Drinks
There will be plenty of new ways to wash all of it down, too. Mountain Dew Baja Midnight is getting a permanent Zero option. Thirsty diners will also be able to grab a “creamy, sweet” Strawberry Horchata Refresca made “with cinnamon and vanilla, swirled with juicy strawberry syrup, topped with real freeze-dried strawberry pieces and served ice-cold.” Or if you need some energy, you can instead grab a Cold Brew with Purple Horchata Cold Foam. And on hot days, you can try a Salt & Straw Tacolate Chiller.
Taco Bell’s New WEIRD Foods, Including Edible Sauce Packet, Baja Blast Under Eye Patches, and NEW BAJA BLAST MIDNIGHT PIE
Of course, it wouldn’t be Live Más without some super strange/super fun reveals. On that count, Taco Bell didn’t disappoint. We promise, these are real. We underlined the parts that are hardest to believe just so you know that we know:
- Fire Queso Sauce Packet: An edible sauce packet that transforms the iconic hot sauce packed into a fully edible and crispy Fire Queso experience that allows for even more flavor combos and discoveries.
- Mountain Dew Baja Blast Under Eye Patches: For the Baja Blast die-hard, infused with caffeine and a refreshing boost of citrus, these patches energize skin and deliver cooling hydration.
- Queso Cracked Cantina Bowl: Get cracking into a new kind of bowl at Taco Bell with seasoned rice, slow-roasted chicken, black beans, lettuce, purple cabbage, reduced-fat sour cream, pico de gallo, cotija dip, and topped off with chile lime seasoning, that features a Cheddar cheese top layer, by transforming it into crispy, cheese chips for this new elevated bowl. (purple hammer not included)
- Firecracker Burrito: A red flour tortilla shell is filled with seasoned rice, Nacho Cheese sauce, seasoned beef, Fiesta tortilla strips, Creamy Chipotle sauce, reduced-fat sour cream, and a sprinkling of cayenne poppin’ crystals for a flavor and texture experience that is sure to surprise.
Yeah, fine, an edible sauce packet. Let’s get nuts.
Let’s also leave room for dessert, because this year’s event served up some sweet treats we can’t wait to eat. That includes Crème Brulee Crunchwrap Sliders, Milk Bar Birthday Cake Empanadas, Chocolate Fudge & Caramel Empanadas (the first Live Más item to arrive in restaurants), and mini bite-sized Strawberry & Cream Mexican Pizza Bites.
…..Aaaaaand……sigh…..the Mountain Dew Baja Midnight Pie. It’s arriving in time for Thanksgiving this year. Taco Bell explains that the Mountain Dew Baja Blast Midnight Pie brings “the passionfruit flavors of Mountain Dew Baja Midnight to a pie offering a sweet, citrusy flavor reminiscent of key lime pie or sorbet.”
Someone already asked me if I’m ready to eat it. I am not. I really am not.
Will I? Look, I am genuinely excited about a whole lot of these new items from Taco Bell. The empanadas, both savory and sweet, sound especially good. I also can’t wait to eat 500 of those Cheesy G Sliders. But yeah, I’ll probably eat the next Baja Blast Pie, too. Hopefully, I survive a second one so I can live to see the next Live Más.