The Taco Bell Dollar Menu Hacks That Will Change Your Life

In late 2019, Taco Bell announced the release of a new, more expansive dollar menu featuring 21 (yes, 21!) items you can order for just a dollar. According to Thrillist, this new, expanded menu flies in the face of other fast-food restaurants, most of which have gradually started paring back their single buck offerings. 

But Taco Bell? No, the Bell can't be silenced, and it's ringing "value" loud and clear, providing customers with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert options that can be scored for next to nothing. And while the number of items available in your area may vary (some locations have temporarily reduced the number of value menu items available), there's no doubt that the value menu at Taco Bell holds something for everyone.

And even better, these cheap treats can be mixed, matched, and customized (sometimes with an upcharge) to deliver the type of personalized and affordable meal you need when you're short on time and cash. It's pretty simple — Taco Bell, like many other quick-serve restaurants — has no problem subbing in, swapping out, or adding ingredients to make its customers happy. So if you've got a craving for beef instead of chicken, or if you want to load up your Mexican-food order with veggies, go ahead and customize to your heart's content. Try these hacks suggested by Taco Bell diehards, or get creative with an order of your own. Really, the only thing holding you back is your own imagination. 

The quesadilla on the Taco Bell dollar menu is the shredded chicken quesadilla melt. It's more or less exactly what it sounds like — shredded chicken and plenty of cheese with some chipotle sauce mixed it. It's essentially a smaller version of the restaurant's traditional chicken quesadilla.

In a late 2019 Reddit thread about the updated dollar menu item, a Taco Bell employee said, "I'm excited about this... So many people add the weirdest sh** to their mini quesadillas: lettuce, black beans, another meat, rice, etc. Tasty, sure, but messy and hard to fold. This will allow folks to add whatever they want and it's basically a grilled burrito." 

But in the same thread, other people were lamenting the loss of the mini beef quesadilla from the dollar menu. The good news is, there's a workaround: Ask your store's Taco Bell employee to hold the chicken and add ground beef or steak in place of the white meat. There might be a small upcharge (one Redditor said it cost 60 cents, while another said 20 cents, so it likely depends on location), but it's a small charge, regardless to score the quesadilla of your dreams. 

The triple layer nachos come with red sauce, beans, and nacho cheese, but if you feel like your chips need an extra kick (and you don't want to pay for extra ingredients, like rice or meat), ask for extra packets of the salsa of your choice. These salsas are usually free (as long as you're not asking for a bag-full), and they add a lot of flavor (or spice) if you like your nachos served spicy. 

In one Reddit thread about Taco Bell dollar menu hacks, user Twitchster77 takes the concept of adding sauces even further, stating "One of my go-tos is triple layer nachos plus extra red sauce, creamy jalapeno sauce, and chipotle sauce or spicy ranch." He points out it costs a little extra to have these sauces added on top, but that the result is "some great nachos!" Plus, fun fact, according to Today, in 2019 a man survived for five days while stuck in the snow by eating nothing but Taco Bell hot sauces, so asking for extra sauce is really just a smart survival tactic. Throw some on your nachos and pocket the rest for a rainy (or snowy) day. 

Ordering items "fresco style" just means that Taco Bell employees remove the fat- and calorie-laden cheeses and cream-based sauces and replace them with fresh pico de gallo. So by ordering the triple-layer nachos "fresco style," you're basically asking the employee to nix the cheese and add pico, which leaves you with chips topped with beans, red sauce, and fresh chopped salsa. It's a great start to delicious, vegan-friendly nachos. 

Reddit user, fennekinsfox, who is a vegan, suggests asking for onions and jalapenos to be added on top to punch things up further. But don't let your imagination stop there. Facebook user Peter Didham suggests adding rice and lettuce to the nachos, as well as sour cream. Just remember, sour cream might be vegetarian-friendly, but it's not vegan-friendly, so proceed according to your own dietary restrictions. 

According to Buzzfeed, Taco Bell never charges for subbing potatoes or beans for whatever meat is included in a menu item. So by switching out the beef, chicken, sausage, or bacon that's included in many of the dollar menu items for beans or potatoes, you instantly expand the vegetarian-friendly menu with lots of new flavor sensations. For instance, why not try the shredded chicken quesadilla melt with potatoes instead of chicken? Or enjoy the spicy tostada with beans instead of beef? 

According to one Reddit user, you're not just limited to subbing in potatoes and beans, either. As long as your Taco Bell is currently selling nacho fries, you can ask for the employee to use fries (they're really just another version of potatoes, right?) in place of the meat without an additional charge. So your standard Beefy Fritos Burrito can be morphed into a fry-stuffed masterpiece if you're so inclined. 

There are entire Reddit threads dedicated to debating which is better, Taco Bell's shredded chicken, or the company's grilled chicken. The good news is, it doesn't really matter — you can request one to be switched out for the other, and the substitution is always free. As Reddit user frogmaskedchild stated after discovering this hack, "This has changed my Taco Bell life." 

Maybe frogmaskedchild was being a little bit dramatic (hyperbole has its place, of course), but truly, if you would prefer your dollar-menu Shredded Chicken Quesadilla Melt to come with the grilled chicken instead (some Redditors on the debate thread point out that the shredded chicken tends to make quesadillas soggier), all you have to do is ask. Just like that, your quesadilla comes stuffed with grilled chicken, and from there, you can continue customizing it as you wish. For instance, just ask for some extra sauces (one Redditor suggests chipotle sauce and creamy jalapeno sauce) for an extra kick. 

The Taco Bell Nachos Supreme generally cost about $3 (depending on the location), and they come topped with ground beef, tomatoes, nacho cheese sauce, refried beans, and sour cream. So really, they're not a far cry from the triple-layer nachos that cost just $1 — the only differences are the beef, tomatoes, and sour cream. Well, there's a hack to turn the triple-layer nachos into a supreme version without paying the full price. According to Redditor sea_munky, "I discovered I can add beef for only $.60. So triple-layer nachos, add beef, and add onions for $1.60. I don't need the sour cream and tomatoes since I can take that money and spend it on a mini quesadilla or something." Not too shabby, right?

But if you really want the sour cream and tomatoes, you don't have to add them each individually, paying an upcharge for both. Rather, ask the employee to "make it supreme," which is code for "add tomatoes and sour cream." You'll pay a single upcharge for this customization (plus the upcharge for the beef), which together ends up adding a little more than a $1 to your total price. So yeah, you'll spend roughly $2.20 for these nachos, but that's less than what you'd spend to order nachos supreme off the actual menu.