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Taco Bell tests plant-based Naked Chalupa at one locationTaco Bell tests plant-based Naked Chalupa at one location

In the new version, the chicken ‘shell’ is replaced by fried vegan protein

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

June 23, 2021

2 Min Read

Taco Bell is testing a vegetarian version of the Naked Chicken Chalupa that it reintroduced last month.

The original naked chalupa, first offered in 2017, is a hand-held menu item in which the shell is replaced by a breaded and fried chicken breast. In the new item, the chicken shell is replaced by one, certified vegan by the American Vegetarian Association, that’s made with a proprietary pea protein-based blend that’s shaped into a Chalupa and fried to order. The shell is then filled with lettuce, cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes and avocado ranch sauce. It’s called The Naked Chalupa with a Crispy Plant-Based Shell and it’s only available at one location, in Irvine, Calif. — at 2222 Barranca Parkway — for $3.49 until June 27 or while supplies last,. Like all Taco Bell items, it’s customizable, so it’s also available without cheese.

Taco Bell has long offered a wide variety of meatless options thanks to its abundant use of beans, and has received praise from both vegetarian and animal welfare organizations as a result.

In announcing the test, Taco Bell’s global chief food innovation officer, Liz Matthews, said the new meatless Naked Chalupa continues the Irvine-based chain’s tradition of being a “food disruptor.”

“We’ve seen our industry follow patterns of sameness, but we understand that consumers are looking for creativity and craveability in this space,” she said in a statement. “So whether someone is craving plant-based protein or crispy chicken or gooey cheesiness, we have something that's not only flavorful, but also uniquely Taco Bell."

In April, Taco Bell did a one-unit test of a meatless Cravetarian Taco in Tustin, Calif. In 2019 it launched a vegetarian menu, making its meatless options easier for customers to find, while also rollling out new black bean items.

Taco Bell is also working with plant-based food manufacturer Beyond Meat to develop more meatless options, a partnership that was announced in February .

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]

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About the Author

Bret Thorn

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, with responsibility for spotting and reporting on food and beverage trends across the country for both publications as well as guiding overall F&B coverage.

He is the host of a podcast, In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN.

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2^nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends.

Bret Thorn’s Experience:

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

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