Chicken Nuggets Are Returning To Taco Bell Twice In 2025

Remember Taco Bell's chicken nuggets? The ones that were released for a limited time just before the end of last year? Taco Bell has announced that the company will be re-releasing the tortilla-crusted chicken nuggets not once, but twice this coming year, during its Live Más event yesterday. Taco Bell is also collaborating with Mike's Hot Honey to create a new Diablo sauce to accompany the nuggets — probably so our taste buds don't get bored.

The company hasn't specified just when they'll be out, but Restaurant Business reports that you'll have a lot of time to get them. The trade outlet says the crispy nuggets will be available for 21 weeks this year, which means you won't have to scramble to your nearest location to get an order when they're initially released. 

My recollection is that they were fine. The whole chunks of white chicken were a little on the dry side and the shell was somewhat hard and knobby, but I know superfans loved them. They were served with a new Bell dipping sauce along with a Hidden Valley Fire Ranch and a jalapeño honey mustard (which was my favorite). There was no information on whether or not those sauces would return as well.

Taco Bell is also releasing chicken strips this year, which means the much anticipated release of McDonald's Snack Wraps is going to have a competitor on its hands. The strips will be featured in both tacos and burritos. Two sauces will accompany those creations, including Ranch (which McDonald's original Snack Wraps featured, so this seems like a power play) as well as a Spicy Ranchero Ranch sauce. 

The strips were being tested in the Flint, Michigan area late last year, and they feature the same breading as the nuggets, so I'd expect a fairly thick shell on them. Neither of these two chicken products are exactly market disruptors, but it definitely tracks with the fast food market's desire to lean more towards chicken than towards beef lately. Beef is increasingly becoming more expensive as an ingredient, and is therefore becoming less of a profit center for fast food chains. As usual, Taco Bell's staying busy and keeping our attention, which means its marketing and innovation efforts are likely to keep heading in the same direction as last year.