Food News and Trends Fast Food Taco Bell’s New Menu Has Us Speeding to the Drive-Thru Things are about to get heated. By Courtney Kassel Courtney Kassel Courtney Kassel is a Brooklyn-based writer and recipe developer with over five years of experience writing and producing food content for various media outlets including Food Network, Food52, Paper Magazine, and more. She is driven by the idea of making the most of every meal, snack, and every bite in between. This means staying on the lookout for new trends and product releases, constantly cooking and experimenting in the kitchen, and spending way too much time on TikTok for "work." In her spare time, she also writes Sifted, a newsletter of recipe recommendations and general food musings. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines Published on September 30, 2024 Close Photo: Shutterstock/Allrecipes Listen, we love Taco Bell as much as the next person, but sometimes the Tex-Mex chain has the vibe of a mad scientist out of a Halloween movie—always tinkering and coming up with Frankenstein-esque mashups like the Cheez-It Crunchwrap and Baja Blast Gelato. It seems like these days, we can barely go a week without something new and exciting coming out of the Taco Bell test kitchen. In the last week alone, Taco Bell brought us a new hot sauce and some returning fan favorites. Taco Bell employees—do you ever sleep? But hey, we're not complaining, because in the world of fast food, nothing gets us heading to the drive-thru faster than the words "new" and "menu item". So here we are again, and it's not just a menu item—it's a whole new menu. Taco Bell Is Testing a New Caliente Cantina Chicken Menu Taco Bell Back in March, Taco Bell released the highly-anticipated Cantina Chicken menu featuring seasoned, slow-roasted chicken and a new signature hot sauce: the Avocado Salsa Verde. It must have proven to be a successful addition, because now the Fourth Meal purveyor is putting out a new iteration on the menu: the all-new Caliente Chicken Cantina menu. As its name would suggest, the menu features all the same menu items as the Cantina Chicken menu, but with a little extra heat in the form of a new Caliente sauce. The bright red sauce is made with red jalapeño peppers and designed to kick things up a notch. The Caliente Cantina Chicken Menu features six items: the Cantina Chicken Crispy Taco, Cantina Chicken Soft Taco, Cantina Chicken Burrito, Cantina Chicken Quesadilla and Cantina Chicken Bowl all with a new Caliente sauce. Each menu item features that same Mexican-seasoned, slow-roasted chicken, and gets topped off with Caliente sauce, which is spicy, bright, and creamy with notes of citrus. Craving it already? Now for the bad news. Like most of Taco Bell's new menu items, the Caliente Cantina Chicken menu is being tested in select markets first before coming nationwide. So if you're in the Cincinatti, Ohio area, you're in luck. If you're not, it will probably be at least a few months before we know if this menu makes it nationwide. If you happen to be in Charlotte, N.C. you can also test some new Agua Refrescas, a new set of drinks made with fruit flavors, real fruit pieces, and green tea for a light energy boost. The Agua Refrescas come in three flavors: Strawberry Passionfruit, Mango Peach, and Dragonfruit Berry. Not in either of those cities? The good news is the giant Cheez-It is back and so are its famous Nacho Fries, so there's plenty of cheesy, crispy consolation prizes waiting for you in the Taco Bell drive-thru. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit