Two Quick and Easy Copy Cat Taco Bell Recipes

Copycat Taco Bell’s nacho fries

I love Taco Bell’s nacho fries. The only problem I have with them is that they take them away all the time. So instead I will be making my own nacho fries that I can eat in peace.

1. Get some French Fries, I am using Great Value regular cut ones. Heat up some oil and cook up your fries in small batches so as not to overcrowd the pan.

2. In the meantime, let’s mix up our seasoning. Mix two teaspoons of salt, 2 tablespoons of paprika, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, and 2 teaspoons of chili powder. If you want yours a little spicier, feel free to add ¼ teaspoon of cayenne. Mix it well.

3. Once the fries are done, move them onto a paper towel, letting them drain, and continue with the other batches.

4. While the fries are cooling down, let’s prepare our cheese sauce. To a small pan on low heat, add half a cup of milk, two tablespoons of the juice of the jalapeno and eight ounces of sliced American cheese. Let it slowly melt together. If you want yours thinner, you can add a little bit more milk, or if you want it thicker, add more cheese. It is also going to thicken as it cools.

5. Remove the fries from the paper towel onto a plate, and shake the spice mixture on top, using the amount you like. Mix the fries to get everything coated.

And here is the final product! What do you think? Looks pretty similar to Taco Bell nacho fries to me! It is absolutely delicious.

When I first made it, I only added one tablespoon of the juice of jalapeno, and it was not enough, but adding some more made it perfect.

Also, you should know that if you wanted to you could get the canned nacho cheese sauce at Walmart for about $3 for a can. I found the taste pretty similar to homemade, and it is a great shortcut, but my sons preferred the homemade version, and obviously it is better for our health.

In terms of the cost of such a meal, assuming that you are using the store bought nacho sauce and that the price of the seasonings used is the price of a taco seasoning packet, it comes up to $6.77.

A comparable amount at Taco Bell, which would be around five orders of nacho fries and five extra cups of nacho cheese, would cost you $20.70. That is the savings of $13.93 by making my nacho fries at home.

Now that we have successfully recreated the nacho fries, let’s try a copycat Taco Bell chicken quesadilla.

Copycat Taco Bell chicken quesadilla

Taco Bell serves their giant chicken quesadillas with a creamy jalapeno sauce on it, and after a little bit of research I was surprised to find that the ingredients of this sauce are identical to those of their homemade chipotle sauce, so that is what we are going to be using.

You will also need some sharp cheddar cheese and flour tortillas. As for the chicken, you have a choice between a shortcut way and a regular way, and we are going to try both.

1. The easy way is to grab some Perdue pre-seasoned roasted chicken pieces and heat them up for about 5 minutes on the stove top. This is perfect for the days when you do not feel like cooking but do not want to go out either.

However, if you do not want to use these or do not have access to them, just use regular chicken thigh or breast. Cut up your chicken into cubes and fry it up in a pan with some oil and basic seasonings: salt, pepper, a little shake of paprika, garlic powder and a little bit of onion powder.

2. Now that you have your chicken, cheese, tortillas and sauce ready, get started on the quesadillas. I am pretty sure that Taco Bell uses tortillas bigger than the burrito size, but honestly anything will work just fine, as I think that the filling will make up for it.

Place your tortilla on the pan, sprinkle some cheese over half of it, add some Chipotle sauce and your chicken over it, and top with some more cheese. Close the tortilla with a spatula and turn it over to allow it to get some more color, then take it out of the pan, set aside and continue with the rest of the tortillas.

3. To serve it just like they do at Taco Bell, slice each quesadilla in half and then cut each half in two as well diagonally.

I made a total of eight quesadillas, and each of them is absolutely filled with delicious filling, I was very generous with it. My sons and I enjoyed these a lot, and they tasted exactly like the Taco Bell version.

As I said, at Taco Bell the tortillas are a bit bigger, but they definitely skimp on the chicken, cheese and sauce, which I did not do. All the ingredients I used to make eight whole quesadillas cost me $17.38, which is incomparable with the outrageous $43.12 for the same amount at Taco Bell. That is a savings of $25.74 if you make them at home, and it is just as good if not better.

Copy cat taco bell recipes

Next time you or your kids are craving Taco Bell, I hope you remember this and will try to recreate your favorites at home instead of spending an obscene amount of money on something so simple.

What are your favorite restaurant dishes that you have learned or would want to learn to make at home? Share in the comments!

Next, check out my Quick and Easy Great Depression Meal Idea.