With over 7,000 restaurants across the States, Taco Bell’s delicious burritos, quesadillas, and tacos are always within arm’s reach.
Someone who’s looking to adopt a healthy lifestyle might find escaping the Mexican fast-food chain impossible, but who said you need to escape it?
There’s a common misconception that all fast food, including Taco Bell, is bad for you. However, you can find plenty of healthy options in fast food restaurants, and Taco Bell is no exception.
If you pay closer attention to the ingredients of Taco Bell menu items, you’ll find several healthy options. Keep reading to learn how to spot the tastiest and healthiest options at Taco Bell.
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How to Spot Healthy Options at Taco Bell
Compared to other fast-food restaurants, Taco Bell offers a wider variety of nutritious options to choose from. After all, most items on the menu contain all five essential food groups, which are:
- Vegetables
- Protein
- Carbohydrates
- Fat
- Dairy
Vegetables should be the primary part of a typical balanced meal, followed by carbs and protein. Fats, oils, and dairy should be used in small amounts unless you’re on a keto diet.
One of the most frequent mistakes eaters make when ordering from Taco Bell is swamping their tacos and wraps in fatty sauces.
Another mistake is picking more than one carb option. This increases the carb content, which, in turn, overpowers the benefits of the other food groups. It might also cause a blood sugar spike.
Luckily, customizing Taco Bell meals to fit your healthy lifestyle is simple.
All you need to do is stick with one carb choice, either a tortilla wrap or rice, then add as many vegetables to your meal as possible. The dairy and fat part will come from melted cheese.
Finally, including beans as additional protein gives you all your daily macronutrients and protein requirements. It also reduces your need for red and processed meats.
7 Tasty and Healthy Options From Taco Bell
| Food | Calories | Protein (g) | Fat (g) | Carbs (g) | Protein per 100 Calories (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Menu Bowl | 500 | 27 | 20 | 54 | 5.40 |
| Bean Burrito | 350 | 13 | 9 | 54 | 3.71 |
| Chicken Quesadilla | 510 | 27 | 26 | 38 | 5.29 |
| Crunchy Tacos | 170 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 4.71 |
| Fresco Style Grilled Burrito Supreme | 360 | 15 | 12 | 49 | 4.17 |
| Grande Toasted Breakfast Burrito | 560 | 22 | 31 | 49 | 3.93 |
| Chicken Chipotle Melt | 190 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 6.32 |
Here are some of our top healthy options from Taco Bell:
1. Power Menu Bowl
Macros: Calories: 500, Protein: 27g, Fat: 20g, Carbs: 54g
The Power Menu Bowl is one of the best-selling Taco Bell options for a reason. Just like all Taco Bell items, the Power Menu Bowl tastes phenomenal. And the best part is that it’s suitable for almost every diet.
If you’re only looking to eat healthier without following a specific diet, the Power Menu Bowl is a no-brainer. It combines all the food groups in one bowl of rice, beans, veggies, and meat.
It’s surprisingly filling despite being relatively low in calories. That’s because it’s a low-carb choice, so your body takes time to digest and absorb the meal. This also means more balanced blood sugar levels.
As for people with dietary restrictions, the Power Menu Bowl comes in a variety of options. First, there’s the chicken bowl, supplying you with all the essential, low-fat protein.
There’s also a steak bowl if you’re not a fan of chicken. While the fat percentage is a bit higher, it’s still super healthy.
As for vegans, you can get the veggie bowl, which omits the meat. Still, you’ll get your fair share of protein and macronutrients from black beans.
2. Bean Burrito
Macros: Calories: 350, Protein: 13g, Fat: 9g, Carbs: 54g
Since you wouldn’t want to mix two carb options at Taco Bell, the bean burrito makes an exceptional meal. It’s basically a tortilla wrap with refried beans, lettuce, and nacho cheese.
Refried beans contain 5% protein and are rich in vitamins B, K, iron, and fiber. Accordingly, the bean burrito is an excellent source of protein with none of the cholesterol or glycemic load.
Still, if you’re trying to bulk up, you can add your protein of choice to the bean burrito, whether it’s chicken or beef.
3. Chicken Quesadilla
Macros: Calories: 510, Protein: 27g, Fat: 26g, Carbs: 38g
When thinking of healthy food, cheese might not be the first thing that pops into your mind since it’s high in saturated fat and sodium.
Here’s the thing, though; you can still enjoy a healthy serving of cheese without completely abandoning your healthy lifestyle.
In this case, the chicken quesadilla is the best item to order. Despite the high-fat content, it contains a lot of protein, thanks to the grilled chicken.
While you can order this chicken quesadilla plain, we recommend a couple of add-ons to boost the health benefits.
The reason is the quesadilla doesn’t have any veggies. So, you might add tomatoes, lettuce, jalapeños, and guacamole for some healthy fats.
Moreover, refried beans with the chicken quesadilla won’t hurt. Instead, they’ll make this meal filling and supply you with extra protein.
4. Crunchy Tacos
Macros: Calories: 170, Protein: 8g, Fat: 9g, Carbs: 13g
There’s nothing like Taco Bell’s plain, old crunchy tacos. On their own, these tacos make the perfect midday snack. They contain only seasoned beef, lettuce, and cheese.
Still, these tacos might not be as filling as other Taco Bell menu items. So why not upgrade them with some add-ons?
Some popular add-ons include refried beans, more beef, tomatoes, and low-fat sour cream. Even if you include all three upgrades, that’s still an exceptionally healthy option.
5. Fresco Style Grilled Burrito Supreme
Macros: Calories: 360, Protein: 15g, Fat: 12g, Carbs: 49g
As the name suggests, Taco Bell burrito supreme contains extra meat and beans in place of the rice, thus extra protein and significantly fewer carbs.
You have the choice between chicken or seasoned beef, making this sizable burrito the perfect, filling meal regardless of your dietary restrictions. You can also add extra beans, jalapeños, and sauce to make this the perfect post-workout meal.
Here’s the kicker: you can order this item Fresco style, which means any high-fat toppings will be replaced with equally delectable tomatoes and spices. Not only does this reduce calories for people watching their weight, but it also significantly lowers the fat in the burrito.
Be sure not to add any extra cholesterol to this burrito since it’s already filled with beef.
6. Grande Toasted Breakfast Burrito
Macros: Calories: 560, Protein: 22g, Fat: 31g, Carbs: 49g
The breakfast menu at Taco Bell is also filled with some healthy gems, including the grande toasted breakfast burrito. With protein, eggs, and cheese, this burrito is the ideal keto breakfast. It will keep you full all day while feeling light and energetic
The breakfast burrito also includes potatoes to give you the warmest wake-up in the morning. Yet, if you prefer to keep the carbs low, you can remove this ingredient.
You have the choice between three proteins, which are sausage, bacon, or steak. Just like most Taco Bell items, you can add more than one protein choice and make it Fresco!
7. Chicken Chipotle Melt
The healthiest Taco Bell items are often the ones that keep the ingredients to a minimum. So, it’s only natural that the chicken chipotle melt is one of the healthiest yet heartiest options you could get.
This choice is simple: grilled chicken, chipotle sauce, and some cheese wrapped in a corn tortilla and grilled. The reason this choice is so low in calories is that it’s mainly chicken. 12 grams of protein at 190 calories? I’ll take it!
Unfortunately, this might be a bland wrap compared to other Taco Bell items. This means you might be inclined to drench it in some of Taco Bell’s most tasty sauces, such as sour cream or guacamole.
Instead of doing that, we recommend adding some onions, tomatoes, and jalapeños. This will give you extra crunch and macronutrients with zero fat.
Wrapping Up
Whether you’re following your New Year’s resolutions, making a lifestyle change, or slimming down, you don’t need to let go of your favorite Mexican fast food.
In fact, there are numerous Taco Bell healthy options, if you know what to look for. All you need to do is stick to one carbohydrate source, load up on the vegetables and beans, and go Fresco!
Some perfectly healthy, yet tasty, Taco Bell items include the classic bean burrito, the chicken quesadilla, and of course, the power bowls.
