Triple Steak Burrito from Taco Bell
It’s Big. With plenty of steak. But not enough variety or balance for most folks.
In these tough economic times, hunting down a good value becomes extra important. For fast food addicts, Taco Bell provides a great selection of value items that fill you up while still going easy on the wallet. It came as a surprise to see them introduce a big burrito at a higher than average cost. The focus here is size, not price. Aimed at steak lovers with large appetites, the new Triple Steak Burrito is now available.
The tagline is “Steak, Steak and More Steak”, and it lives up that claim. It’s loaded up with plenty of Carne Asada steak, and is probably the biggest, most filling burrito I’ve ever eaten at Taco Bell. Along with the big pile of meat, there’s fire roasted salsa, reduced-fat sour cream, Mexican rice and cheddar cheese. At $4.49 you’d expect to get a large burrito, and this thing definitely had some weight to it. More than I was expecting. I made the mistake of ordering $.89 Triple Layer nachos and $.99 Big Taste Taco to go with the burrito. I didn’t realize it was going to be this large, and I also didn’t look at the price beforehand. So I had two surprises and was filled to the gills.
I thought the burrito was pleasantly spicy. Everyone has their own threshold for heat and mine is pretty low, so take that into consideration. But I felt the fire roasted salsa was mildly hot, though not at all uncomfortable. The Mexican rice tastes great, when you actually find some. The distribution of ingredients was off, and the amounts of each are small to begin with. No question this burrito was packed front to back with morsels of steak but the rest of the ingredients were barely noticeable. The cheese was only in the middle, and not enough to properly complement the meat.
I was also disappointed the sour cream and Mexican rice were rationed in such small amounts. I guess there just isn’t room for much else besides “Steak, Steak and More Steak.” If you’ve had Taco Bell steak before, there’s no surprise here. The steak has a decent flavor and it’s fairly juicy, but still a little on the tough/chewy side. It’s OK, but it’s not great. Having more cheese, rice and sour cream would’ve helped a lot. I could only taste two ingredients at a time. It was either steak/salsa, steak/cheese, steak/rice, etc. Things would be improved with a better balance between them. Luckily the steak still adds flavor to all those bites. For such a large burrito it held together well. It’s not very messy and doesn’t drip with grease, making on-the-go eating possible.
Overall, the Triple Steak Burrito is as advertised. It’s big and packed with steak. But with a hefty price of $4.49 I doubt I’d pick it up again. If I want a big burrito I’ll head to Chipotle and pluck down an extra $1 and customize my own special giant burrito, with as much of each ingredient as I want, and a wider selection to choose from. The Triple Steak Burrito is plenty large, and it’s not a bad value for the money, but the steak is not good enough to carry the entire load alone. If this was some type of new super premium steak, that would be different. The other ingredients are lacking, and it’s just not a very exciting item. Taco Bell really shines with their Value Menu, and in my opinion you can’t beat it. I’d rather stock up on 4 items from that menu, and get more variety for the same price. If you’re a big fan of TacoBell’s brand of steak, it’s worth giving this burrito a try. If you prefer variety and a broader range of flavors, skip it.
Price: $4.49 / Website: TacoBell.com
Fast Food Critic Score: C+
Click here for rating system details.
Nutrition Facts - Taco Bell, Triple Steak Burrito.
Calories - 660
Calories from Fat - 230
Total Fat - 25 grams
Carbs - 70 grams
Saturated Fat - 11 grams
Trans Fat - 1 gram
Cholesterol - 90 milligrams
Sodium - 2050 milligrams
Protein - 37 grams
Agreed; for the price, I’d much sooner head to Moe’s or Chipotle for a big burrito. Their steak is fine in tacos and chalupas, but the thought of eating nearly a pound of it wrapped in a tortilla doesn’t really appeal to me.
On a side note, it’s nice to see the volcano taco found a permanent place on TB’s value menu… although, I kind of prefer the Big Taste Taco myself. What do you think?
I think Chipotle uses better quality ingredients than Taco Bell but I do still enjoy the basic Taco Bell menu, great bang for the buck.
Nice review. Fair. I agree with it.
The price is way too high. Don’t they realize that real mexican restaurants can give you a much larger burrito for a bit more than 4.49.
Their burritos often seem too tightly stuffed and dry to me.
The stuffed burrito is the obvious example.
And their rice just doesn’t cut it.
I like mine more loose and with a nice mix of ingredients, better mouth feel that way.
I do love their tacos though.
Might have to try one of these, if they have it locally. (one mini-TB is all that’s around!) Wish I was in Denver–best TB I’ve ever been to is at the airport!
(btw Ryan, it’s “complement”…)
I enjoyed this burrito though I do agree that the ingredients seemed out of balance.
I’m not against meat dominating a food item. Sometimes it’s a treat. But maybe more rice or cheese would have evened it out again.
I will order it again, though I may customize it.
I’m less concerned with the price. Certainly if you were burrito comparison shopping, you could find a better deal. But with Taco Bell’s value menu in particular, low prices often lead to cheese sauce.
Ryan, you mentioned low-fat sour cream. Where did you hear that? In the ’90s, Taco Bell had their lite menu where they offered low-fat sour cream, cheese and guac. After they dropped it several years later, I haven’t heard of low-fat dairy at TB since.
That would be awesome if they some in the back. I might be able to re-introduce sour cream in my weekday diet.
Jeff from Knowzy,
The Taco Bell website shows the ingredients…(although they don’t mention rice for some reason…I assure you there is rice)…anyways…yeah…reduced-fat sour cream is one of the ingredients. It’s not too noticeable on this burrito. It gets lost.
Got one here in NYC today (Union Sq TB). Nothing like your pic. It was dominated by rice, and did not have a lot of steak, nor was it huge. The TBs here in NYC suck, basically. $^(
Was the fire roasted salsa similar to their ‘fire sauce’?
Got to agree with the majority here . .Taco Bell is awesome for late night/cheap meals.
for big burritios or authentic style mexi food Taco Bell is not the place to go.
stick to the tacos, (volcano), nachos, and other dollar menu items hahaha.
ps. . taco bell/pizza huts are the fuckin best.
This thing was a let down for how much it costs. Not to mention the tastes and textures disappear into a mess of steaky cheesy goo. Not cool they can do better.