What Happened To Taco Bell's Naked Chicken Chips?

Taco Bell's Naked Chicken Chips were the fast food chain's approach to the classic chicken nugget. These seasoned, breaded chicken bites were triangular and dippable like tortilla chips and served with nacho cheese, giving them an even more chip-like twist. Naked Chicken Chips hit the menu in 2017, just months after Naked Chicken Chalupas arrived. "Naked Chicken" is Taco Bell's name for chicken either on its own or, in the Chalupas' case, on the outside of another food item.

Following the announcement that Naked Chicken would be returning to Taco Bell's menu in chip form, the company's chief marketing officer at the time, Marisa Thalberg, told USA Today, "The world wasn't ready to say goodbye to Naked Chicken, and neither were we." Upon the chips' release, some folks didn't think the chain's menu needed a chicken nugget option and thought the chips were one of the biggest flops in Taco Bell's history — the Spork & Barrel Facebook page left a simple review calling the chips "really stupid." Yet, plenty of folks consider the Naked Chicken Chips to be one of Taco Bell's discontinued items that need to make a comeback, as they — like so many other Taco Bell items before them — were only available for a limited time.

If you were a big fan of Naked Chicken Chips back in 2017 and have been patiently waiting for their return, there's certainly enough precedent for this sort of thing to keep your hopes up. Taco Bell famously brought back its popular Mexican Pizza in 2022 after it spent two years off the menu. And, when Nacho Fries reappeared in 2023, a Taco Bell spokesperson told People, "We never say never when it comes to any limited time offer making its permanence on menus."

Fans started a Change.org petition back in 2017 to keep Naked Chicken Chips on the menu, though it didn't make much of an impact, as the item has since been removed. That said, significant pushback did convince the fast food chain to bring back the Mexican Pizza after several years, so if you're passionate enough, it may be time to start signing — or creating — some petitions. In the meantime, fans of Naked Chicken Chip can take a page from Taco Bell's book and "never say never."