Taco Bell could’ve just named these Spicy Crispy Chicken Nuggets and called it a day. But the marketing folks there went with some alliteration to make these the Diablo Dusted Crispy Chicken Nuggets, then dusted the Diablo dust off their hands and called it a day.
The limited time offering features all-white-meat chicken nuggets in a crispy, tortilla chip coating with Diablo dust made from the chain’s Diablo sauce packets. I imagine the seasoning is produced in Hell by heating up vats of Diablo sauce over a fiery pit and letting the liquid evaporate so all that remains is a fine powder, which gets stomped into a finer powder by those in Hell who are there because they never used their blinkers when turning or changing lanes. Also, I imagine El Diablo says the powder is being used by Taco Bell, but being El Diablo, he’s lying. Half is being used by Taco Bell and the other half is his nose candy.
An order is available with five or ten pieces, with a sauce of your choice. Because these are Diablo Dusted Chicken Nuggets, I had to go with the Hidden Valley Diablo Ranch Dipping Sauce. Although I would like to note that I’d be somewhat okay if my nuggets ended up without any sauce because their peppery and savory flavor is surprisingly good on its own. Also, when I ate them this way, the Diablo coating that ended up on my lips did make them tingle.
The nuggets are definitely spicier than the Hidden Valley Diablo Ranch, and I’d say they’re roughly as spicy as Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Nuggets. Maybe a tad more? It’s not an unpleasant heat that demands a cold beverage, but I was glad one happened to be within arm’s reach. The dipping sauce added a tangy ranch flavor and helped lessen the heat, even though it has a bit of a kick too. That cool ranch tanginess pairs extremely well with the hot, peppery seasoning on the nuggets, and I believe it’s enough to make this worth buying.
While I enjoyed the flavor of the nuggets and the dipping sauce, I wasn’t a fan of how dry the chicken was, and the dry, but on purpose, crunchy coating wasn’t helping. Thankfully, they weren’t as arid as Hell’s Diablo Dust stomping pits, and the creamy ranch did help hide some of that dryness. Of course, your results may vary, but the dryness did lower my overall enjoyment of what was otherwise a tasty order.
Purchased Price: $5.79*Size: 5-pieces
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (5 pieces) 340 calories, 14 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 1340 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 27 grams of protein.
*Because I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.
Looks decent, but the value is horrendous.
Tried these because they were free with my order. Dry and too spicy for me. Even if I did like them, it’s not worth the price IMO.