Review: Luxe Value Menu, Taco Bell

I tried all the items from the Luxe Value menu at Taco Bell so you don’t have to.

I went with my husband on a date and we ordered one of everything from the value menu. Some of these items are limited time only, but here’s what we got and what we thought of everything, in order of how we ate it:

  1. Mini Taco Salad: 5/5
    • I had high expectations and this did not disappoint. My school lunch in high school used to serve the best taco salad and this is a miniature version of that: a crispy shell, meat, beans, cheese, and some veggies. Loved it.
  2. Nacho Supreme Dip & Chips: 4.5/5
    • This was like my high school nachos, which were also popular. I loved dipping in the chips, though there was more dip than chips. We particularly loved the pico de gallo situation, with onions and cilantro.
  3. Cheesy Roll Up: 2/5
    • You can make this at home by putting cheese in a tortilla and putting it in the microwave. It doesn’t taste bad, but it’s not worth getting unless you are feeding a small child who won’t eat anything else.
  4. Cheesy Double Beef Burrito: 4/5
    • We enjoyed this a lot. It had crispy bits and some texture with added rice.
  5. Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito: 3.75/5
    • The rice helps the texture, and I appreciate a vegetarian version.
  6. Spicy Potato Soft Taco: 3.5/5
    • These are good, but the tortilla was sort of dry, and the taco felt underfilled.
  7. Beef Potato Griller: 4/5
    • This was very hot and gooey and the potatoes were delicious.
  8. Avocado Ranch Chicken Stacker: 4.75/5
    • This was a surprise in a really good way: it was huge, and the flavors were so good. The only bad thing was the somewhat dry tortilla. It felt a bit lighter than many of the other options, which was appreciated.
  9. Three Cheese Chicken Flatbread Melt: 3.5/5
    • I like flatbread, but the filling wasn’t cutting it. Too soft. I did put the avocado chicken stacker filling into some flatbread, and that was a really good bite.
  10. Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes: 3.5/5
    • These are great, but a little boring.
  11. Chocolate fudge and caramel empanadas: 1/5
    • These were a huge disappointment. The flavor was just not great at all. It was more bitter and did not taste right.

And my overall ranking:

  1. Mini Taco Salad
  2. Avocado Ranch Chicken Stacker
  3. Nacho Supreme Dip & Chips
  4. Double Beef Burrito
  5. Beef Potato Griller
  6. Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito
  7. Spicy Potato Soft Taco
  8. Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes
  9. Chicken Flatbread Melt
  10. Cheesy Roll Up
  11. Empanadas

12. What are good meals for camping?

I don’t really want to cook that much when I’m camping: all I want to bring is a camp stove, a skillet, and a small pot, and it better be ready in around 20 minutes or less. I more want to assemble things together and still have something nice to eat. The food also had to be able to be cooked if there is a fire ban and fires aren’t allowed, and it’s preferable to not use a cooler as much as possible.

  • Breakfast:
    • Pancakes
    • Scrambled eggs
    • French toast
    • Precooked sausage and bacon
    • Hash browns
    • Breakfast burritos
    • Instant oatmeal
    • Cereal
    • Bagels
  • Lunch:
    • Pack lunch meat, cheese, veggies, fruit, crackers, chips, bread, tortillas, peanut butter & jelly, etc., and then assemble them together in different ways to eat lunch. So you can have salad, sandwiches, wraps, lunchables, etc.
  • Dinner:
    • Hot dogs and beans
    • Asian chicken salad (cabbage, canned chicken, mandarin oranges, crunch noodles)
    • Nachos (with canned cheese sauce)
    • Chili and chips
    • Soup from a can (beef stew, whatever)
    • Tacos and taco salad (meat made ahead or just use canned chili)
    • Chili in a bag of chips with toppings
    • Spaghetti
    • Macaroni and cheese
    • Ramen noodles and frozen veggies (with eggs if you would like)
    • Tuna sandwiches/tuna salad
    • Pasta salad
    • Black bean salad
  • Dessert:
    • S’mores (cook marshmallow on stove if fire isn’t available)
    • Baked goods and snake cakes made in advance

What other ideas do you have?