Taco Bell’s chicken chipotle burrito is a fan favorite menu item, featuring flavorful grilled marinated all-white-meat chicken, seasoned rice, chipotle sauce, red sauce, sour cream, and cheddar cheese wrapped up in a soft flour tortilla. With its spicy and savory flavors, the chicken chipotle burrito has become a goto order for many Taco Bell customers. But what exactly is in this burrito that keeps people coming back for more? Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients and nutrition facts behind Taco Bell’s popular chicken chipotle burrito.
Main Ingredients
Here are the main ingredients found in Taco Bell’s chicken chipotle burrito:
Chicken
The star of the show is the marinated all-white meat chicken. Taco Bell marinates and grills the chicken to give it a smoky, charbroiled flavor.
Flour Tortilla
The chicken and other fillings are wrapped in a soft, warm flour tortilla. Taco Bell’s flour tortillas are made with enriched bleached wheat flour.
Seasoned Rice
The chicken and sauce fillings are complemented by seasoned rice. Taco Bell’s rice contains rice, water, soybean oil, seasoning (spices, maltodextrin, salt, garlic powder, yeast extract, and citric acid).
Chipotle Sauce
A signature spicy and smoky flavor comes from the creamy chipotle sauce. Taco Bell’s sauce contains water, soybean oil, chipotle puree, distilled vinegar, contains 2% or less of salt, soy lecithin, spice, garlic, acetic acid, xanthan gum, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate as preservatives, and propylene glycol alginate.
Red Sauce
Adding a tomatoey kick is Taco Bell’s original red taco sauce. The sauce contains water, tomato paste, chili pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, corn starch, paprika, natural flavors, sodium acid sulfate, citric acid, and calcium chloride.
Sour Cream
Cooling down the spicy flavors is a creamy sour cream sauce. Taco Bell uses regular sour cream made with cultured pasteurized cream.
Cheddar Cheese
Melty cheddar cheese is sprinkled throughout the burrito. Taco Bell uses a real cheddar cheese made from pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, and annatto color.
Nutrition Facts
Here is the nutrition information for Taco Bell’s chicken chipotle burrito according to the Taco Bell website:
| Nutrition Facts | Amount |
|---|---|
| Calories | 540 |
| Total Fat | 18g |
| Saturated Fat | 8g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Cholesterol | 80mg |
| Sodium | 1420mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 67g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5g |
| Total Sugars | 3g |
| Protein | 28g |
As you can see, the chicken chipotle burrito is high in calories, fat, and sodium. The burrito provides a good amount of protein from the chicken. It also contains 3g of sugar and 5g of fiber.
Burrito Construction
Now that we know what’s inside the chicken chipotle burrito, let’s look at how Taco Bell assembles and wraps this tasty handheld meal.
Tortilla
Taco Bell team members start with a warm 10-inch flour tortilla and lay it flat on the preparation station. The tortillas are steamed and heated to make them soft and pliable for wrapping.
Rice
Next, a portion of seasoned rice, about 1/4 to 1/3 cup, is spread across the middle of the tortilla. The rice gives the burrito a hearty base.
Chicken
Pieces of the grilled marinated chicken are placed on top of the rice. The chicken portions are generous to make this a filling protein-packed burrito.
Cheese
Shredded cheddar cheese is sprinkled over the chicken to add a cheesy layer of flavor. The cheese melts slightly during construction.
Sauces
The signature sauces are next – creamy chipotle sauce and red taco sauce are drizzled over the chicken and cheese. The sauces seep down into the rice and chicken to infuse everything with flavor.
Sour Cream
A stripe of cool sour cream is added next. The sour cream serves as a creamy counterbalance to the spicy sauces.
Wrapping
To wrap the burrito, one side of the tortilla is folded over everything to create a closed pouch. The team member then folds in the two open sides and continues tightly rolling the burrito. It’s wrapped in foil to hold everything together.
Grilling
As a final step, the foil-wrapped burrito is placed on the grill press and toasted for a minute or two to melt the cheeses, steam the fillings, and crisp up the tortilla.
And that completes the assembly process for Taco Bell’s mouthwatering chicken chipotle burrito! All the layers of ingredients wrapped up in the soft tortilla create a satisfying Mexican-inspired meal.
Variations
Taco Bell has occasionally offered some variations of the classic chicken chipotle burrito over the years. Some of these limited time offerings have included:
XXL Grilled Chicken Chipotle Burrito
This extra large burrito was stuffed with double the chicken and cheese along with seasoned rice, chipotle sauce, sour cream, and tomato. It was one of Taco Bell’s biggest burritos ever.
Chicken Chipotle Gordita Burrito
This hybrid burrito featured a gordita flatbread shell filled with the usual chicken chipotle burrito fillings.
Chicken Chipotle Burrito Supreme
Taco Bell bulked up the standard chicken chipotle burrito with the addition of sour cream, tomatoes, and their red strips of tortilla.
Chipotle Chicken Griller
This menu item used a grilled flatbread wrapped around the fillings of chicken, Monterey Jack cheese, chipotle sauce, and grilled onions.
Popularity & Fans
The chicken chipotle burrito has earned its place as a Taco Bell fan favorite over the years. Customers love itscombination of flavors and ingredients that you can’t find anywhere else.
The burrito frequently receives praise on social media sites like Twitter and Reddit. Fans have called it “addicting,” the “best thing at Taco Bell,” and “heaven in a tortilla.” The chicken chipotle burrito also often tops lists of the best Taco Bell menu items.
The burrito has developed a reputation as a go-to order for vegetarians too, who love substituting black beans or potatoes for the chicken. It makes for a satisfying meatless option.
Taco Bell customers are often disappointed when the chicken chipotle burrito is not available at their local restaurant. Many fans have begged the fast food chain to bring the burrito back when it has disappeared from menus in the past.
The passion for the chicken chipotle burrito shows no signs of waning. It has clearly earned a special spot in Taco Bell fans’ hearts and stomachs for years to come.
Conclusion
Taco Bell’s chicken chipotle burrito offers an enticing blend of textures and flavors that customers can’t get enough of. The marinated chicken, spicy chipotle and red sauces, cool sour cream, cheesy cheddar, and hearty rice ingredients all come together in a warm tortilla package. Although high in calories and sodium, the burrito provides a satisfying and craveable Mexican-style meal. It has become a standout menu item with a devoted fanbase after earning its reputation as a Taco Bell favorite. The chicken chipotle burrito highlights how a creative and craveable combo of ingredients can result in a fast food menu success story.