Here Are The Taco Bell Copycat Recipes You've All Been Waiting For

Taco Bell is one of the most popular fast food chains in the United States, and after seven years of growth, the beloved Tex-Mex restaurant shows no sign of slowing down. There's nothing quite like pulling up at the drive-thru window, after an anticipatory drive across town, to place an order with extra hot sauce, please. Still, when you're feeling creative or craving a discontinued Taco Bell favorite or it's 3 a.m. and the closest store is closed, we've got your back. 

Taco Bell copycat recipes are mostly simple and straightforward, and it's easy to riff on these dishes until they become your own original creations. But if you're looking for a meal that tastes like living más, you can stick to our tested instructions. With a little time, effort, and a taste for Taco Bell's ingredients, you'll be operating your own TB kitchen right there in the comfort of your own home.

When Taco Bell's Triple-Layer Nachos were removed from the menu in July 2020, the Mashed team got to work developing an easy homemade copycat version of this drive-thru favorite — after all, we couldn't in good conscience let all three nacho layers disappear into the ether. 

Luckily, you can make Triple-Layer Nachos pretty easily, using just five ingredients. We highly recommend stockpiling the pantry-friendly foods (which make up most of the recipe) for easy nacho access whenever the craving hits. 

The best part about making these nachos at home is that you can dress them up or leave them plain. For the authentic experience, you'll want to stick to the five ingredients the recipe calls for: tortilla chips, refried beans, queso, milk, and taco sauce. But if you want to make Nachos Bell Grande, Taco Bell's nachos party pack, or a masterpiece of your own creation, all you have to do is throw a few extra ingredients on top, like sour cream, ground beef, guacamole, or tomatoes. Don't forget the hot sauce!

For an easy vegetarian recipe that tastes like your fast food home away from home, this easy copycat recipe take on Taco Bell's classic Bean Burrito is the way to go. With only five ingredients, you can whip up this meal in no time and impress your friends with how similar it tastes to the original. 

The ingredients for this recipe are pretty simple — you might already have most of them in your kitchen. You'll need refried beans, flour tortillas, Ortega's mild taco sauce, half of a yellow onion, and cheddar cheese — that's all it takes to bring Taco Bell to your own home. 

This recipe is great for beginner chefs, and once you've mastered this simple version of the recipe, you can begin experimenting with your own version of taco sauce, refried beans, or even homemade tortillas. But we wanted to keep it simple with this recipe, and we highly encourage you to do the same!

In September 2020, Taco Bell announced they would be implementing a final round of changes before officially unveiling the new menu. This time on the chopping block was the beloved Mexican pizza. Fans have not taken the news well, and soon after the announcement was made, a Change.org petition began circulating in an effort to "Save the Mexican Pizza." Currently, the petition has garnered over 120,000 signatures. 

Whether the petition reaches its goal of 150,000 signatories or not, and whether that would make any real difference to the Taco Bell executives responsible for pulling the plug is yet to be determined. Regardless of what the future holds, Mashed has your back. 

If you're dedicated to recreating a near-perfect copycat version of the Taco Bell recipe, we recommend this recipe, which includes instructions for making Taco Bell meat that tastes just like the real thing. But if you're looking for a no-fuss recipe, this Mashed version of Mexican pizza tastes almost as good and only requires five ingredients.

No Taco Bell recipe roundup would be complete without the infamous Crunchwrap Supreme. In 2005, when it was first introduced, the Crunchwrap Supreme was Taco Bell's most successful new menu item — and it's only become more popular since. 

While it's hard to beat the original, there's no satisfaction like that of making (and then eating) your favorite meal with your own two hands. The Mashed copycat recipe of the Crunchwrap Supreme utilizes simple ingredients that, with a little patience and determination, can be transformed into a homemade crunchwrap even more supreme than the original. 

The trickiest part of this recipe is the tortilla fold, which makes origami cranes look easy. It may take a few tries, but you'll get the hang of it. If frustration sets in, just remember that what awaits you at the end of this journey is a delicious combination of flavors, textures, and temperatures, made all the more satisfying by the carefully pleated tortilla encasing it all.

Taco Bell's Fiery Doritos Locos Tacos are one of the gastronomic wonders of the world. An incredible feat that combines a Taco Bell classic with a perfect snack food like Doritos, these tacos are more difficult to make at home than other Taco Bell products, but that's because they require some real culinary prowess to make them right. If you lack any semblance of culinary prowess, never fear! There's a shortcut version that tastes pretty similar.  

The Mashed copycat recipe of Fiery Doritos Locos Tacos contains a recipe for ground beef that tastes almost exactly like the beef you would get at the Taco Bell drive-thru window — and it's pretty easy to whip up, whether you're already a pro at making taco meat or not. 

If you want a challenge, you can take on the endeavor of making handmade crunchy tacos. By buying your own masa and mixing it with fiery ingredients like chili powder, smoked paprika, and Cholula Chili Lime hot sauce, the flavor gets infused into the taco shell. But if shaping and frying taco shells is too intimidating, you can simply paint the spices onto plain, pre-made taco shells.

In August 2020, the world said goodbye to a classic Taco Bell snack. Fiesta potatoes, along with several other fan favorites, were retired from the Taco Bell menu to create a more, "efficient" experience, per Taco Bell's official press release. 

But just because Taco Bell is abandoning its Fiesta Potatoes doesn't mean you have to. Our copycat recipe is made up of simple ingredients you probably already have lying around your house. We've eliminated the deep-frying step in this recipe to save time and a lot of energy, but by following our simple instructions, you can still get your potatoes crispy enough to taste like they're fresh from an industrial fryer.

The trick to this recipe is tempering the spices in oil before adding potatoes. This technique infuses the oil with spice and enhances the flavor of the spices themselves. Using pre-ground spices (cumin seeds and peppercorns, in this case) is best, but ground spices work in a pinch. By tossing the potatoes in this oil mixture before baking, each potato will be coated in a spicy, flavorful sauce as it crisps in the oven.

If you've made a roux before, making the nacho cheese will be easy — if not, all it takes is a watchful eye and a bit of patience, and you'll have a velvety sauce to drizzle over your potatoes in no time. Just be sure to keep the cheese warm until your potatoes are ready!