REVIEW: KFC Nashville Hot Loaded Fries Bowl

/ / Reviews / 2 Comments

I enjoyed KFC’s Nashville Hot Loaded Fries Bowl…without the chicken.

All right. All right. Let me back up a little bit. The chain’s newest thing with stuff dumped into a bowl features Secret Recipe Fries topped with coleslaw, pickles, cheese, Original Recipe Nuggets, and Nashville Hot Sauce, a Nashville Hot Mess, if you will.

However, I enjoyed the bowl more when my sporkfuls didn’t contain any of the C in KFC. I’ll get to that in a moment.

The Original Recipe Nuggets were just what I expected — meaty with a slightly crispy exterior and the flavor of the Colonel’s secret recipe of herbs and spices. The Nashville Hot Sauce gave the chicken a pleasant, sweet heat with a strong pepperiness that amped up the chicken’s flavor. Although not as coated in sauce as when Nashville Hot Chicken debuted at KFC, the nuggets were tasty.

(NOTE: The photos in the KFC app show an order is topped with five nuggets, but mine came with a bonus nugget. Yes, it happened again. )

But as much as I liked the chicken, and it tastes great with the other ingredients, after eating a sporkful without the poultry, my mind decided to push to the side whatever chicken nuggets were left and enjoy just the fries, cole slaw, pickles, and cheese mixed together. My tongue thought it was a more enjoyable and unique combination of flavors that the chicken’s meatiness got in the way of. I did consume them after.

I’ve never had cole slaw on any fries, and it sounds weird to bring the two together, but that combination, along with the seasoning on the fries, the cheese, pickles, and Nashville Hot sauce, works well and tastes delightful. I’m surprised how well the slaw and the sauce complement each other despite being kind of opposing ingredients. If you think about it, it’s sort of a vegetable salad with Nashville Hot dressing.

I imagine if Colonel Sanders found out about how I had pushed aside his Secret Recipe seasoned chicken, he would be rolling in his grave like a rotisserie chicken. Then he’d want to pull out my bones to flatten me like a spatchcocked chicken and then shove a Coors Light container in one of my orifices like a beer can chicken. But his Secret Recipe does play an important role in how much I enjoyed KFC’s Nashville Hot Loaded Fries Bowl, although it was on the fries and not the chicken.

Purchased Price: $7.00*
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 910 calories, 60 grams of fat, 11 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 2530 milligrams of sodium, 63 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar (including 0 grams of added sugar), and 26 grams of protein.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

REVIEW: Taco Bell Mountain Dew Baja Dream Freeze

/ / Reviews / 3 Comments

A small chunk of my misspent youth was… well, spent in an area of the western US known for dirty soda. If you’re not familiar with it, a dirty soda is basically soda with cream of some sort mixed in, kind of like a less frozen version of a float or an ice cream soda. Similar vibes. We usually made ours with Dr Pepper and coffee creamer.

Anyway, as of late, it seems like variations on dirty soda have been spreading beyond the area they originated from, and the Baja Blast Dream Freeze feels in line with that trend.

If you haven’t had Baja Blast, it’s a lime-forward Mountain Dew flavor created for and available at Taco Bell in both standard soda and freeze/slushy versions. The new “Dream” versions incorporate “vanilla crème.”

I actually liked this freezy, cool concoction a lot! The vanilla crème brings out the lime flavor in a really pleasant way, reminiscent of lime sherbet. It mellows out the sharper notes and rounds out the overall citrusy edge of the Dew nicely, and finishes with a nice sweet aftertaste.

The vanilla crème doesn’t change the consistency at all, which I found surprising. I expected that adding the cream in would make it, well, creamier or at least somewhat richer the way adding coffee creamer to Dr Pepper does. However, it still has the same texture as any other Taco Bell Freeze but with a nice complementary flavor enhancement.

I hope this one sticks around for a while because I’ll definitely be ordering it along with my Nacho Cheese Doritos Locos Taco Supremes for as long as it’s available.

Purchased Price: $3.69
Size: Large
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 230 calories, 1 gram of total fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 55 milligrams of sodium, 59 grams of total carbs, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 57 grams of total sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Jack in the Box Smoke Show Crispy Boneless Wings

/ / Reviews / 2 Comments

Jack in the Box’s newest Crispy Boneless Wings variety comes tossed in Jack’s Smoke Show Sauce, which pleases my tongue in two ways — its flavor and its alliteration. I surely savor saying Smoke Show sauce.

However, the Crispy Boneless Wings themselves are a little disappointing. While I loved the chain’s bone-in chicken wings because of their crispy exterior and surprisingly juicy interior, these look less satisfying, mainly because of their size. When I look at the photo above, I can’t help but think they look more like premium chicken nuggets than boneless wings, which I think should be more substantial. They look less like wings and more like eggs. Even though I did get a seventh piece (6-, 12-, and 18-piece orders are available), it wasn’t enough to overcome my size disappointment.

The 100% all-white meat pieces are tender and slightly still juicy, and their breading is crunchy and thick. Although some exterior sections without the sauce felt particularly dry-ish and a little crumbly.

But back to the Smoke Show sauce, which Jack describes as “a smoky sweet BBQ serenade for your tastebuds that you won’t soon forget.” Well, it’s been 30 minutes since I finished eating these “wings,” and I haven’t forgotten about the sauce because it’s very tasty. The best way I can describe it is to call it a smoky honey mustard BBQ sauce because there’s a notable mustard-y tang with a bit of sweetness. If I remember correctly, one of the Carolinas is known for a mustard-based barbecue sauce. I’m going to say, um, “South Carolina” because it starts with the letter S.

While I love the sauce, I wish my premium chicken nuggets were tossed with more because roughly a little more than 50 percent of the chicken didn’t get to experience the Smoke Show. I desperately tried to scrape as much of the brown sauce as I could from the sides of the container they came in, but that was futile. My order was supposed to come with a side of ranch, but I didn’t receive it. But if you do get the white tangy sauce, use it for a salad, pizza, or whatever the kids on social media are dipping into it nowadays because I surmise its taste would ruin the Smoke Show experience, which is a show I think is worth the price of admission.

Purchased Price: $7.99*
Size: 6 pieces
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 480 calories. No other nutritional information is available on Jack in the Box’s website.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

REVIEW: Taco Bell Cheesy Dipping Burritos

/ / Reviews / 2 Comments

I’m no expert when it comes to Taco Bell product nomenclature, but I think the new Taco Bell Cheesy Dipping Burritos should’ve been called Meaty Cheesy Dipping Burritos because I found them to be more meaty than cheesy.

An order comes with two burritos, and two versions are available: one with Cantina slow-roasted chicken and another with grilled, marinated steak. Both also come stuffed with a blend of cheddar, pepper jack, and mozzarella cheeses and Avocado Ranch in a flour tortilla with cheese grilled to the outside. By default, a side of creamy chipotle sauce is included for dipping. But you can swap that with the equally creamy nacho cheese sauce or reduced fat sour cream. Hmmm. Maybe these should’ve been called Meaty Cheesy Creamy Dipping Burritos?

Taco Bell describes these as “two snack-sized burritos” and also says that these come with a “full serving” of chicken or steak. However, what I noticed after picking up my bag is that they don’t feel snack-sized, and without any vegetables, rice, beans, guacamole, Fiesta Strips, pico de gallo, jalapeños, or Seasoned Fries in them, they feel like they’re filled to the gills with meat. With just three ingredients in them – meat, cheese, and sauce – maybe these should’ve been called Easy Peasy Meaty Cheesy Creamy Dipping Burritos.

The cheeses inside and outside of them don’t play a significant flavor role because the Avocado Ranch and meat seem to take center stage here. But that’s without dipping it into the creamy chipotle sauce. When the smoky and peppery sauce is applied, it takes over the taste buds, mostly negating the Avocado Ranch but letting the meat’s flavor get some of the spotlight. However, the steak’s flavor stood out noticeably more, making things taste too meaty and less balanced. Between the two varieties, I preferred the Cantina chicken’s taste over the steak’s, with and without the dipping sauce.

While both varieties are good, I still can’t get behind the name Cheesy Dipping Burritos. They have cheese, but whatever is included doesn’t make them taste cheesy. I guess if you really want these to be truly cheesy, swap the chipotle sauce with Taco Bell’s bright nacho cheese sauce and turn them into the Easy Peasy Meaty Cheesy Creamy Orangey Dipping Burritos.

Purchased Price: $6.59*
Size: 2 burritos per order
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Chicken), 6 out of 10 (Steak)
Nutrition Facts: (2 burritos w/Creamy Chipotle Sauce) Slow Roasted Chicken – 720 calories, 50 grams of fat, 15 grams of saturated fat, 120 milligrams of cholesterol, 1430 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar, and 30 grams of protein. Steak – 710 calories, 49 grams of fat, 16 grams of saturated fat, 105 milligrams of cholesterol, 1580 milligrams of sodium, 36 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugar, and 30 grams of protein.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did. The advertised price is $4.99.

REVIEW: Jack in the Box Caesar and Fajita Jack Wraps

/ / Reviews

When Jack Wraps debuted in 2023, I complained in my review about how small the chicken pieces were compared to the tortilla. They were so dinky that I couldn’t help but feel ripped off. But now Jack Wraps are packing a chicken tender that’s strikingly larger and meatier than those found in the original. Also, there are two new varieties: Caesar and Fajita.

The Caesar Jack Wrap features grilled white meat chicken strips or a crispy chicken strip with shredded lettuce, tomato, and Caesar dressing wrapped in a warm flour tortilla. The Fajita Jack Wrap has grilled white meat chicken strips or a fried white meat chicken strip with caramelized onions, shredded cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and chipotle ranch swaddled in a flour tortilla. I decided to get both with the crispy chicken for this review.

Of the two, the Caesar one was my favorite, although the Caesar dressing sometimes reminded me more of tartar sauce than a salad dressing. Maybe whatever seasoning is in the chicken’s breading throws the taste slightly off. However, when I got a generous gob of the Caesar, the savory flavors of the dressing stood out more. Also, the chicken’s crispy breading kind of brought croutons to mind. As for the tomato slice, it really doesn’t offer much other than making me reminisce about how Costco’s Chicken Caesar Salad from the food court used to have cherry tomatoes.

Maybe I’ve watched too many Chili’s commercials, but I believe bell peppers are one of the main ingredients in fajitas, so I’m disappointed they weren’t included in the Fajita Jack Wrap. However, the ingredients that are in the tortilla create a tasty menu item, except for the caramelized onions, which aren’t noticeable. The cheddar and the smoky and tangy chipotle ranch give this wrap a fajita vibe. I guess the sauce’s pepperiness is a decent stand-in for the bell peppers that should’ve been in this.

While I wouldn’t recommend the original Jack Wraps back in 2023, I have no problem recommending these updated versions. Thanks to the larger chicken strips, they’re surprisingly hefty, making them quite filling. And they don’t make me feel like I’ve been ripped off.

Purchased Price: $3.69 each
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Caesar), 7 out of 10 (Fajita)
Nutrition Facts: Caesar – 430 calories. Fajita – 410 calories. Other nutritional numbers aren’t available on Jack in the Box’s website or app.

Scroll to Top