Taco Bell’s Fresco Menu

I was in Taco Bell a couple weeks ago, picking up some tacos and quesadillas for the kids. Okay, I bought a couple things for myself. I was out of town without my husband and well, I’m not a great cook….but more about that another time.

While I was waiting for our order, I noticed a little container of pamphlets about Taco Bell’s Fresco menu. Sure, I had heard of it — though to be honest, I tend to forget this restaurant chain has attempted to cater to those of us with weight issues. I imagine this is because they’re too busy advertising the latest gooey, cheesy, crunchity taco concoctions to be bothered with mentioning they have cheese-free burritos.

So here’s the deal. If you order any item that normally comes with sauce and/or cheese, it will instead be replaced with 5-calorie Fiesta Salsa. Taco Bell claims you can order 15 items under 10 grams of fat, and that most items ordered “fresco-style” will be 25% less calories than ordered standard. Below I’ve listed a few items from the menu and their nutritional value, before and after the removal of the best part of any Mexican food cheese and/or sauce.

Beef Crunchy Taco – 170 cal/10g fat to 150 cal/7g fat 

Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco – 270 cal/14g fat to 170 cal/4g fat

Grilled Steak Taco – 280 cal/17g fat to 170 cal/5g fat

Baja Beef Gordita – 350 cal/19g fat to 250 cal/9g fat

Bean Burrito – 370 cal/10g fat to 350 cal/8g fat

Chicken Fiesta Burrito – 370 cal/11g fat to 340 cal/8g fat

So, you can see that some items are a better option than others. I think the soft tacos are probably a good choice, especially if you need 2 for a meal. However, if a gordita is enough to fill you up for lunch, you really can’t go wrong with 250 calories — if you watch your fat intake for the balance of the day.

Also, keep in mind these nutritional values are based on standard serving sizes. If the worker behind the counter slops in more beans or ground beef than is required for the item, your calories are going to be higher.

You can view the entire Fresco menu on Taco Bell’s website, or use their nutritional calculator to find any menu item’s nutritional value.