Taco Bell understands that true innovation isn’t accomplished in broad strokes, but mild refinements. The Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza is proof of this.
This fusion of the Cantina brand with the Mexican Pizza works wonderfully, to the point I’d contend it’s one of the best things you’ll find in the entire Taco Bell canon.
By now, we all know how TB’s Mexican Pizzas work. We’ve got two tortillas, with a smattering of black beans and what the restaurant touts as “savory, slow-roasted chicken” wedged in between them. The quality of the poultry here is much better than what you’d expect from the franchise. Like, it actually has some chewiness, and it isn’t buried alive in salt like the rotisserie-style chicken you get at rival fast food chains. Maybe it’s not on par with Chipotle, but it doesn’t feel like run-of-the-mill TB chicken, either.
Atop the pizza, we’ve got a smorgasbord of toppings. We’ve got a tri-cheese blanket consisting of pepperjack, mozzarella, and cheddar, we’ve got the iconic green chile sauce, we’ve got pico de gallo, and we’ve got purple cabbage … and lots of it. I’ve never been a big fan of cabbage in Tex-Mex, but I actually liked the textural variety it adds with this particular product. It’s a bit muted, but in a fast food item like this, muted cabbage is hardly a negative.
All by itself, the Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza is exactly the kind of limited-time-only offering you’d want from the Bell. It’s crispy, it’s chewy, it’s comically cheesy, and it has a richer, more varied amount of ingredients in the mix than the standard Taco Bell product. Pretty much my only complaint is that the interior chicken was a little skimpy, but that’s the kind of thing that varies from store to store. As is, it’s still a top-tier Taco Bell item and something any long-time Mexican Pizza fan would almost certainly enjoy.
Yet the thing that pushes the Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza from being a very good fast food selection to a genuinely great one comes in the side dressings. The Avocado Verde Salsa isn’t exactly a “new” offering from Taco Bell, but the Jalapeño Citrus Salsa certainly is. The latter is reason alone to give these things a try. It’s the best sauce I’ve tried from TB in ages, and it’s something that already deserves to be a year-round item. Heck, I’d even pay extra for it — it’s that good.
Once you’ve mixed the two salsa packets onto the Mexican Pizza, not only do you get a nice green and orange color palette, but you also get an absolutely stellar combination of flavors that’s unlike anything else you’ll find at Taco Bell. It’s chunky, it’s gooey, it’s zesty, it’s delightfully spicy, and it’s filling like you wouldn’t believe. Taste-wise, this is one of the ritziest and most complex dishes we’ve ever gotten at the Bell. It’s definitely worth checking out — especially considering it could leave the menu and never, ever come back.
Purchased Price: $6.49
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 520 calories, 29 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 75 mg of cholesterol, 1,190 mg of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 9 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugar (includes less than 1 gram of added sugar), and 27 grams of protein.
My son has always been a big fan of Taco Bell’s regular Mexican Pizza; I’ll have to tell him about this new chicken version!
Looks like shit. But the chicken ceaser cantina burrito doesn’t. But it’s in Stl. 90 minutes is a bit far for a burrito. Me sad panda.
No, It looks objectively good. I can tell you’re the kind of person that if you won the lottery you’d furnish your house with weird Wayfair furniture that you sorted by highest price.
Yeah…I’m in STL and we have a Cantina/Ceasar something or another, but no Cantina Mexican pizza available. Figures…I wanted to try this.
I had this about a week ago. Fan-freaking-tastic. The black bean mash works as wonderfully as the base pavement layer as its Pinto Bean frijoles refritos cousin does, but different. The pulled Cantina chicken is beyond just good as the protein – it’s Top Shelf Bell protein. The kind that wants consumers to forget about the fried tender phase that the ‘Bell has been going through of late.
And the toppings – the red tomatoes, the purple cabbage – really drive a nice contrast to an otherwise *beige* topping of three cheeses above a smearing of the green chile sauce and the crispy white corn tortillas.
And the Jalapeño Citrus Salsa. YES. Such a great flavor and a noiiice burn after the fact that made me smile a bit for Mi Campana. Man! Go out and get this NOW, because people will be talking about this item for a long time, like Lava Sauce in the Volcano menu.
I started ordering the cantina mexican pizza 2 days before its release to the public through the app. I’ve been to Taco Bell to order the cantina pizza since its release more times than I’ve been in the last 6 months. It is delicious. I don’t use the citrus sauce. Not my cup of tea. It’s tasty, but too spicy for me. I mix the avocado sauce with a little bit of sour cream for a quasi-guacamole and slather that on the top. In your pic, it looks like the cheese was added on top, but the way I’ve had it served the veggies are on top. Anyway, I reiterate, it’s delicious!
I just tried this cuz of your review. LOVED it! I have a new favorite Taco Bell order! Thank you! I hope they bring it on permanently!