Contrary to what some people might expect there are actually several types of diets you can go with. It all depends on your particular health goals.
For most people, it’s all about losing weight. That’s not surprising, especially in the US where two-thirds of the adult population are overweight.
But others may actually be on a diet to gain weight, or more accurately to build muscle. When you’re a 90-pound adult, you’ll have to eat more to gain a bigger frame and get stronger.
Others may subscribe to a particular type of healthy diet. This can be vegetarian or vegan, or some sort of low-carb diet like keto.
You can still visit Taco Bell even if you’re following any of these diets. The trick is to just order the right items. You can’t just go with anything that looks good for a right price, and order lots of food because you can get a bean burrito for less than $1.50.
For the Weight Loss Diet
To lose weight, you have to burn more calories per day than you consume. That means working out regularly while you reduce your previous calorie intake per day by 500 or even a thousand calories.
These Taco Bell menu items are all at less than 200 calories, so they’re great for a low-calorie diet.
- Chicken Chipotle Melt, 190 calories. You have 12g of protein here, which is the most protein you get from all the low-calorie options. This offers chicken with cheese and creamy chipotle sauce, within a soft tortilla.
- Cheesy Roll Up, 180 calories. The soft tortilla contains a 3-cheese blend. You get 9g of protein, and it’s also vegetarian.
- Soft Taco, 180 calories. This comes with the seasoned beef, cheese, and lettuce, and you get 9g of protein as well.
- Black Beans and Rice, 170 calories. You still get 4g of protein, and it’s also a vegetarian option.
- Doritos Locos Taco, 170 calories. You also get 8g of protein. This is basically the Soft Taco, except you have the crunchy taco shell made with Nacho Cheese Doritos.
- Crunchy Taco, 170 calories. The same taco ingredients (beef, lettuce, cheese), but with the regular crunchy taco shell.
For the Vegetarian (and Vegan) Diet
The Taco Bell menu has a dedicated “Veggie Cravings” section in their menu. You can even make them conform to vegan restrictions, by asking for the fresco-style versions of these menu items. This fresco-style takes out the cheese and sour cream ingredients and replaces them with diced tomatoes.
- Veggie Power Menu Bowl, 430 calories. It starts with a bed of seasoned rice, on which you have the black beans, guacamole, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, and shredded cheese.
- Black Bean Crunchwrap Supreme, 510 calories. You have a crunchy taco shell with black beans and cheese sauce inside, and then topped with sour cream, tomato, and lettuce. Then everything’s wrapped in a huge tortilla and then grilled.
- Black Bean Quesalupa, 590 calories. You’ve got a blend of cheeses inside a thick and chewy Chalupa shell, then you get the usual black beans, sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes.
For the Low Carb (or Keto) Diet
Almost all the menu items here at Taco Bell aren’t really meant for low-carb diets, with the tortillas, rice, and beans ingredients coming with lots of carbs.
But you can make do with a Power Menu Bowl, but you need to tweak it a bit. First, ask for either chicken or steak, with extra meat. Then you specify that you don’t want the beans and rice. That leaves you with the meat, along with the cheese, guacamole, lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes, and avocado ranch sauce.
This order gives you just 8 grams of carbs, along with 290 calories and 29g of protein.
For the Muscle-Builder Diet
This means you need large amounts of protein, and Taco Bell has plenty of high-protein menu items. You may want to get the fresco-style versions, to reduce the calorie and fat content without reducing the protein too much.
- Quesadilla, 520 calories, 27g protein.
- Power Menu Bowls, 470 calories, 26g protein.
- Quesalupa, 610 calories, 25g protein.
- Quesarito, 650 calories, 22g protein.
- Grande Toasted Breakfast Burrito, 560 calories, 22g protein.
- Breakfast Crunchwrap, 670 calories, 21g protein.
- Hash Brown Toasted Breakfast Burrito, 570 calories, 21g protein.
- Cheesy Gordita Crunch, 500 calories, 20g protein.
Final Words
What about those whose doctors have told them to keep down their sodium intake? If that’s your case, then you might be better off not visiting Taco Bell in the near future. Or at the very least, you have to make those visits rare.
Taco Bell is infamous for the high sodium content of just about all their menu items. If you do visit Taco Bell and partake of the tasty Tex-Mex fare, then you better cut down on the sodium for the other meals of the day!