26 April 2025

2 minute read

By: Global Ag Media

North America

Taco Bell’s Crispy Chicken Nuggets are making a comeback on April 24, after selling out nationwide in December 2024 in less than a week. This time, they’re bringing bigger plans with them. Followed by a menu pipeline of chicken-led innovation, the nugget’s return is the start of Taco Bell’s journey to become a go-to destination for crispy chicken with a permanent mainstay by 2026.

“We’re a taco place doing chicken our own way and like all our best moments, it’s a little unexpected – because we've never been about following the rules,” said Taco Bell’s Chief Marketing Officer, Taylor Montgomery. “The demand for our nuggets was off the charts, which is why we’re looking at making crispy chicken permanent to give our fans what they are telling us they want. We know we’re not the usual name in crispy chicken, but our nuggets speak for themselves — they’re bold, different, and unmistakably Taco Bell.”

After testing more than 50 recipes and flavor combinations, Taco Bell perfected a crispy, tortilla chip–breaded coating. The fan-favorite Crispy Chicken Nuggets will be on menus for a limited time as one of several new creations the brand is exploring as it works toward making crispy chicken a permanent part of the menu by 2026. With new forms and sauce pairings in the works all year long, fans can expect even more craveable drops ahead. 

With 95% of innovations from the Taco Bell test kitchen feature chicken as the premier protein, the role chicken is playing in their business is clear. From the Cantina Chicken Menu to tests like Chicken Al Pastor Street Chalupas, everyone’s favorite taco place is suddenly becoming everyone’s favorite chicken place.

Taco Bell’s Crispy Chicken has already earned global acclaim as a top-selling menu item. Domestically during the initial run, roughly 5 million Americans turned to Taco Bell to satisfy their crispy chicken cravings. Almost 1 in 6 orders included Crispy Chicken Nuggets. Message received: a taco joint can do chicken, too.

These aren’t the run of the mill nuggets. Made with tender all-white meat chicken, Taco Bell’s Crispy Chicken Nuggets are marinated in a zesty jalapeño buttermilk flavor, breaded with a blend of breadcrumbs and crispy tortilla chips. 

After dipping and dunking in their sauce of choice, fans can mail in their used, empty dipping cups throughout the month of April to earn 80 bonus Taco Bell Rewards points. Thanks to Taco Bell’s Sauce Container US Recycling Program partnership with TerraCycle®, hundreds of thousands of used sauce packets and single-use sauce containers have been collected.