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Taco Bell has been in the kitchen — literally.
During its annual Live Más Live 2025 event on Wednesday, March 5, the Mexican food chain introduced a lineup of innovative products rolling out this year, along with surprising initiatives to keep customers excited.
Opening the event, hosted by Joy Ride star Ashley Park, was an in-depth look at the newest creations from Taco Bell’s Chief Food Innovation Officer, Liz Matthews, and the Food Innovation Team. From the press release provided to PEOPLE, Matthews expressed her passion for Taco Bell’s commitment to bold flavors and pushing the envelope on what’s possible for the chain.
The kitchen’s menu of new items is a mix of sauces, food items, drinks and desserts that bring new flavors together while honoring the traditions, and maybe even nostalgia, of some Taco Bell classics.
In the sauces department, Taco Bell is partnering with Brooklyn-founded brand Bushwick Kitchen to create their new Weak Knees Fire. The condiment will combine Bushwick Kitchen’s Weak Knees Gochujang Sriracha sauce and Taco Bell’s Fire sauce to create a smokey and spicy kick that has a pop of citrus. Another sauce collab in the works is with Zab’s Hot Sauce to create Zab’s Hot Ranch, adding the slow burn of the Datil Pepper that the hot sauce brand is known for with Taco Bell’s Spicy Ranch sauce.
Taco Bell keeps it crispy with its Queso Fundido Rolled Chicken Taquitos — stuffed with chicken alongside green chili queso fundido for dipping — and tempura-battered fajitas.
Empanadas make an appearance on both the savory and sweet sides of the menu with the Mexican Pizza Empanada and the Salted Caramel and Toffee Cream Empanada Bite, the latter an ode to the classic Caramel Apple Empanada with salted caramel and toffee cream stuffed inside.
Carnivores will get a kick out of the meat-centric additions, including Short Rib Chile Relleno Burrito (Anaheim green chile stuffed, melted cheese, and short rib beef), Brisket Taco (slow-roasted brisket, shredded cheese, and purple cabbage), and the poutine fries, topped with slow-roasted pork, savory gravy and cheese curds.
Digging into their roots, Taco Bell revisited the taco salad, but cup-sized. Customers who missed the item when it was on the official menu between 1984 and 2017, may get a chance to give it a try with the Mini Taco Salad that comes with salsa verde and lime.
On the flip side, the brand went the massive route for the Tacodilla, a grilled, oversized taco filled with carne asada, melted cheese, guajillo and pepper sauce.
And lastly, another addition for the dessert lovers, the Ube Strawberry Cookie, that’s filled with a rich vanilla-flavored ube cream adorned with strawberry pieces and sprinkles.
These test kitchen products are just some of the exciting new updates to the Taco Bell lineup. The brand also announced new products that will roll out throughout the 2025 calendar year. Other out-of-the-box products include Milk Bar Birthday Cake Churros, Flamin’ Hot Burrito, Steak and Queso Cruchwrap Sliders, and the Mountain Dew Baja Midnight.
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