Taco Bell is doubling down on its dollar menu, saying it plans to add at least 20 more items to the 3-year-old value menu over the course of 2018.

The Irvine-based chain officially announced the news Tuesday, Dec. 5, the same day McDonald’s revealed it was reviving its once-popular value menu after a two-year absence.

The Taco Bell Dollar Cravings menu will continue to offer 20 different foods for $1, but starting in 2018, the company said it plans to add as many as 20 new dollar items. The new foods will be staggered throughout the year.

Taco Bell said its Dollar Cravings menu is a major sales driver. (Nancy Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Taco Bell is doubling down on its dollar menu, saying it plans to add at least 20 more items to the 3-year-old value menu. This Stacker deal is new to the $1 menu. (Courtesy Taco Bell)

Sound The gallery will resume in seconds

Taco Bell said it is introducing new value menu items throughout 2018. (Nancy Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Taco Bell’s Cravings Menu will add this Stacker deal later this month. (Courtesy Taco Bell)

Taco Bell has done well with value promotions such as this Taco 12 pack deal. (Courtesy Taco Bell)



Taco Bell is doubling down on its dollar menu, saying it plans to add at least 20 more items to the 3-year-old value menu over the course of 2018. This Stacker item will debut in December. (Courtesy Taco Bell)

Taco Bell is doubling down on its dollar menu, saying it plans to add at least 20 more items to the 3-year-old value menu over the course of 2018. The Cravings Menu will add this seasoned beef Stacker for $1 in mid-December. (Courtesy Taco Bell)

Taco Bell is doubling down on its dollar menu, saying it plans to add at least 20 more items to the 3-year-old value menu over the course of 2018. The Cravings Menu will add this breakfast Stacker in mid-December. (Courtesy Taco Bell)

Taco Bell did not disclose any of the new dollar foods, only stating The Stacker would launch later this month on the $1 menu. The item, spotted at Taco Bell stores in Alabama earlier this year, is a folded quesadilla with three layers of seasoned ground beef, melted shredded cheese and nacho cheese sauce.

There also will be a breakfast version featuring three layers of melted cheese and scrambled eggs. For an extra 49 cents, consumers can add bacon or sausage.

Chief Marketing Officer Marisa Thalberg said Taco Bell’s new $1 meals will be just as craveable as the rest of the chain’s menu.

“We believe passionately that people should have more than just the ability to eat for $1; they should feel like they can feast for $1,” she said in a statement released Monday.

McDonald’s also on Monday said it would reintroduce its old Dollar Menu but with menu items priced at $1, $2 or $3, according to the Associated Press.

The “$1 $2 $3 Dollar Menu” will become a permanent part of the McDonald’s nationwide menu starting Jan. 4. Some of the dozen new items include a sausage burrito for a buck, a bacon McDouble for $2 and a Happy Meal for $3, the AP article stated.

Fast food consultant Tim Powell said “Barbell’ pricing — when you have a $1 burger and a $7 Baconator, for example — is a common strategy to increase foot traffic. But over the last decade, Powell said dollar menus have “evolved into more mix and match for a low price – but not necessarily a dollar price.”

Today, consumers are demanding the return of flat dollar prices on value menus, as well as higher quality, said Powell, a senior food and retail analyst at Q1 Consulting in Chicago. This is forcing chains like McDonald’s and Taco Bell to refresh menus to keep customers in the drive-through lane.

At Taco Bell, the new items will stagger throughout 2018 alongside the current $1 menu. Those items include the Spicy Potato Soft Taco, Beefy Fritos Burrito, Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito, Cheesy Roll-up, Beefy Mini Quesadilla, Shredded Chicken Mini Quesadilla, Triple Layer Nachos, Spicy Tostada, Cinnabon Delights 2 Pack, Caramel Apple Empanada and Cinnamon Twists.

The Morning Value Menu includes the Sausage Flatbread Quesadilla, Grilled Breakfast Burrito, Mini Skillet Bowl, Breakfast Soft Taco, Hashbrown, Cinnabon Delights 2 Pack and a small Mountain Dew Kickstart Orange Citrus.

How does Taco Bell make a buck by deeply discounting more than 20 foods on its menu?

Company officials said its value packages ($1 menu foods and $5 boxes) are huge sales drivers for the company. So far in 2017, Taco Bell has had 500 million value-menu transactions. The company has generated $1 billion from sales of its $5 boxes.

Cheap eats have been a winner for McDonald’s, as well.

In October, the world’s largest hamburger chain attributed a rise in third-quarter sales to its $1 sodas and a two-for-$5 promotion called McPick 2, the Associated Press reported. McDonald’s said customers visiting its restaurants for deals also bought pricier items on the menu which helped boost overall sales.