Learn how to order low carb Taco Bell like an expert.

Get my Taco Bell low carb menu with basic macros and nutrition stats for all 35 of their low carb and keto-friendly options. It’s a great fit for keto Taco Bell eaters or anyone eating Atkins, low carb, low sugar, or diabetic friendly.

I’m on a mission to order low carb at the top 30 fast food chains in the US. For each fast food restaurant I evaluate:

Availability of low carb entrees (less than 20 net carbs). Satiety of low carb entrees. Price of low carb entrees. Taste of low carb entrees. Ordering experience.

Taco Bell has three locations within three miles of my house. For you geometry nuts, I live in the centroid of a Taco Bell triangle. If this were circa 2003, that would be perfect. As a present day low carb eater, not so much.

In a hurry? Get my free Taco Bell Low Carb Menu if you want to see full macros and nutritional stats for every low carb option at Taco Bell. It lists all 35 low carb friendly items on the Taco Bell menu.

Let’s see if Taco Bell can surprise me and deliver a good low carb eating experience.

What to order

I ordered a Power Menu Steak Bowl (“no beans, no rice”) with extra guacamole, ground beef, and creamy jalapeno sauce.

It was damn good. Gone in 30 seconds. I ate it so fast, that I was left wanting. I should have ordered two. I had to eat sliced ham, pepper jack cheese, and banana peppers at the house to feel good & satisfied.

I went back again with my family a few weeks later and ordered another Power Menu bowl. This time it was a Power Menu Chicken Bowl (“no beans, no rice”) with extra chicken and nacho cheese sauce.

It was delicious. I really liked how the chicken was tender and juicy — not dry as I was expecting. The nacho cheese was a nice touch as well. The problem was that this dish wasn’t that filling. I felt like I could easily eat two or three of these before feeling full. To compensate, I had to eat the meat and cheese out of two soft tacos that my wife couldn’t finish.

While doing some Taco Bell menu research the morning of writing this post, I discovered that they offered breakfast and had something on the $1 breakfast menu called the Mini Skillet. It came standard with eggs, nacho cheese sauce, pico de gallo and potatoes. By removing the potatoes and adding some extras, I thought I could build a filling low carb breakfast with it.

So I raced back to Taco Bell at 10:30am to try it. I got the Breakfast Mini Skillet with no potatoes and had them add extra steak, bacon, and guacamole.

It was delicious. The best breakfast item I’ve eaten on this fast food challenge to date. The nacho cheese sauce added a creamy and indulgent flavor that I wasn’t used to for breakfast, but really enjoyed. At $3.45 the Mini Skillet was a steal.

What you should order

For lunch or dinner, I recommend a Power Menu Steak Bowl (request “no beans, no rice”) with extra guacamole, extra ground beef, and creamy jalapeno sauce.

That’s 395 calories and 9 net carbs. If you’re pretty hungry, I’d recommend ordering two.

You can omit the pico de gallo if you want to save yourself a few carbs.

For breakfast, get the Mini Skillet with no potatoes. For extra caloric boost & deliciousness, I recommend adding extra steak, bacon, and guacamole.

Get a glass of ice water as your drink.

What you can order

For lunch & dinner, you can get the Power Menu Bowls without rice and beans. You may also be able to order other items like ground beef tacos and special request that it’s put in a bowl without the tortilla (I haven’t tried this as of writing this post but the drive-thru operator at my location suggested it was possible).

For breakfast, you can get a Mini Skillet without the potatoes.

For both the Power Menu Bowls and Mini Skillets, you’re going to want to add extras for more calories to make them more filling. Here’s a sample of the ingredients you can add:

Add Fire Grilled Chicken

Add Steak

Add Seasoned Ground Beef

Add Bacon

Add Guacamole

Add Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Add Sour Cream

Add Jalapenos

Add Extra Nacho Cheese Sauce

In terms of customizing your bowls and skillets for optimal calories & personal enjoyment, it would be advantageous to study my low carb Taco Bell menu before going.

Get my Taco Bell Low Carb Menu if you want to see full macros and nutritional stats for every low carb option. My menu has only the 35 items that are low carb friendly whereas the official Taco Bell menu has 300+ items.

It’s the same, custom low carb menu I used to plan my order before going to Taco Bell for this fast food challenge.

What you should avoid

Avoid all of Taco Bell’s rices, beans, potatoes, taco shells, chalupa shells, tortillas, tortilla bowls, tortilla chips, and desserts. They’re too high carb.

They don’t really have any tricky items on their menu that seem low carb, but aren’t.

Overall Ratings for Taco Bell

I rate Taco Bell as low-carb friendly thanks to their mini-Breakfast Skillets and Power Menu Bowls where you can essentially build your own meal out of proteins, cheese, and a few veggies. Looks like the Power Menu was rolled out in 2014, a smart move Taco Bell made to compete with Chipotle in the healthy Tex-Mex market.

Low carb friendly – Yes

– Yes Low carb entrees on menu – Yes. Their Power Menu Bowls become low carb when you omit the rice and beans. Their Mini Breakfast Skillet is low carb once you omit the potatoes.

– Yes. Their Power Menu Bowls become low carb when you omit the rice and beans. Their Mini Breakfast Skillet is low carb once you omit the potatoes. Satiety of low carb entrees – Average. For lunch one afternoon, I ordered a Power Menu Steak Bowl with extra ground beef, extra guacamole, and creamy jalapeno sauce for additional calories and that still wasn’t enough food. For the $8 I paid, I was hoping to be more full after eating it. I could have easily eaten one or two more Power Menu Bowls. For breakfast a few days later, I ordered a Mini Breakfast Skillet which was surprisingly filling.

– Average. For lunch one afternoon, I ordered a Power Menu Steak Bowl with extra ground beef, extra guacamole, and creamy jalapeno sauce for additional calories and that still wasn’t enough food. For the $8 I paid, I was hoping to be more full after eating it. I could have easily eaten one or two more Power Menu Bowls. For breakfast a few days later, I ordered a Mini Breakfast Skillet which was surprisingly filling. Taste of low carb entrees – Well Above Average. I have to give Taco Bell credit here. The Power Menu Bowl I ordered tasted amazing and indulgent. I didn’t feel like I was missing out by ordering it as opposed to the more carb-heavy options I used to order at Taco Bell in the past. The Mini Breakfast Skillet I ordered for breakfast is the best breakfast item I’ve had so far during this fast food challenge.

– Well Above Average. I have to give Taco Bell credit here. The Power Menu Bowl I ordered tasted amazing and indulgent. I didn’t feel like I was missing out by ordering it as opposed to the more carb-heavy options I used to order at Taco Bell in the past. The Mini Breakfast Skillet I ordered for breakfast is the best breakfast item I’ve had so far during this fast food challenge. Price / value of low carb entrees – Average. I usually associate Taco Bell with affordability but $7.69 and $6.79 for my two Power Menu Bowls felt a little high. They probably should have comped me around$1 off for omitting the rice and beans from my bowls. The Mini Breakfast Skillet, on the other hand, was super affordable at only $3.55 for what amounted to a full breakfast for me.

– Average. I usually associate Taco Bell with affordability but $7.69 and $6.79 for my two Power Menu Bowls felt a little high. They probably should have comped me around$1 off for omitting the rice and beans from my bowls. The Mini Breakfast Skillet, on the other hand, was super affordable at only $3.55 for what amounted to a full breakfast for me. Ordering experience – Above Average. I remember the drive-thru operators being patient with me for all three of my orders, despite my special requests.

Ordering a custom Power Menu Bowl without rice and beans certainly works as a low carb lunch or dinner. It’s somewhat expensive for what you get though.

Part of me wonders if you would get better value by ordering two of their new Double Chalupas ($3.49 each), for example, and ask for them to omit the the Chalupa shells.

Maybe a reader will try this and report back.

What’s next

My next low carb guide will be for Pizza Hut. I’m leaving no stone unturned in this fast food challenge :). To get my Pizza Hut low carb guide via email, sign up here:

Follow my Fast Food Challenge Get my specific LOW CARB RECOMMENDATIONS for top Fast Food Chains like, McDonald's, Subway, or Chick Fil A, etc. (1 new chain per week) You're in! Now check your email to get your Fast Food Guides. They'll be coming from me, Ryan | Mr Skinny Pants

Enter your email above and I’ll send you one low carb / keto ordering guide per week for all 30 top fast food chains in the US.

I’ll also report back with final results for how this fast food experiment affects my health, well-being, and bank account. And you’ll get some simple low carb recipes and other tips from me for all the times you’re not eating in a fast food joint.

Cheers,

“Mr. SkinnyPants”

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