Taco Bell Is Crossing Its Crunchwrap Supreme With International Flavors
Three chefs are reimagining the iconic menu item with Indian spices, Thai noodles and hot chicken.
Photo courtesy of Taco Bell
Taco Bell is generally associated with one specific cuisine: Mexican American. Obviously. But now the fast food chain is bringing other international flavors — Indian spices, Thai noodles and hot chicken — into its menu mix.
That’s thanks to the brand’s TBX program, which it unveiled at its Live Mas Live event earlier this year. The new program aims to “spotlight and support” up-and-coming chefs, in part by offering them a chance to co-create Taco Bell menu items to introduce “a wider range of flavors and cultural exploration.”
Now, Taco Bell is presenting the initial efforts of its debut class of TBX chefs: Reuben Asaram, Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin and Lawrence “LT” Smith. The chefs have deployed their innovative inclinations and eight new ingredients to reconceive a Taco Bell staple, the Crunchwrap Supreme.
First introduced in 2005, the hexagonal Crunchwrap Supreme historically features seasoned beef, nacho cheese sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, reduced-fat sour cream and a tostada shell encased in a warm flour tortilla. But each TBX chef has offered a creative new take on the classic menu item.
Asaram’s “Indian Buffet Crunchwrap Supreme,” evokes the flavors of the Philadelphia chef, who was born in India and raised in New York, recalls from his childhood. It features “marinated, slow-roasted chicken tossed in a creamy tomato curry paired with Mexican-spiced rice” that has been “layered with cucumber mint sauce … Taco Bell’s classic crunchy corn tostada, fresh lettuce and bright pico de gallo,” according to the brand. A vegetarian version, subbing in “crispy potato bites” for the chicken, is also available.
Dobbertin’s “Crispy Thai Noodle Crunchwrap Supreme,” meanwhile, was inspired by the San Antonio-based James Beard nominee’s Asian American heritage. It boasts “marinated grilled chicken tossed with a khao soi aioli” that is “paired with a crunchy wheat noodle nest” and finished with “cool reduced fat sour cream, fresh onions and cilantro,” as well as “an avocado basil ranch to add that South Texas twist” to Dobbertin’s “Thai-inspired take,” Taco Bell says.
Smith, a former college football player turned Phoenix-based culinary phenom, offers a modern, Southwestern take on a classic chicken nugget in his “Southwest Hot CHX Crunchwrap Supreme.” Nuggets are the starting point for Smith’s creation. He tosses them in “spicy salsa macha, Oaxaca-style mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheeses, a bright purple cabbage slaw, fresh cilantro, apricot hot sauce and cool reduced fat sour cream.” The result, the brand says, finds “a perfect balance of heat and craveability.”
So how can you get your hands on these tasty-sounding new Crunchwrap Supreme creations? If you’re in New York, you can try them for free at two preview events. The TBX food truck will host pop-up tastings in Williamsburg (160 N 6th St, Brooklyn, NY 11249) on October 16 and in Washington Square Park (14 Washington Square N, New York, NY 10011) on October 17. Both will run from noon to 7 p.m., while supplies last. These preview events are, in part, to gather fan feedback, which Taco Bell says “will inform future availability in 2025.”
But, don’t worry, Taco Bell is not making the rest of the country wait to try the new TBX flavors. For a limited time, the chain is offering its Rewards Members up to $3 worth of free customizations so Taco Bell fans nationwide can create “their own dream Crunchwrap Supreme.”
“We’ve long tried to push the boundaries of what culinary creativity can mean, and our
collaboration with these leading chefs allows us to honor different culinary traditions while creating bold, new bites that are distinctly Taco Bell,” the chain’s global chief food innovation officer, Liz Matthews, said in a statement. “Our mantra for TBX has been ‘Our thing + their thing = a whole new kind of thing’ and we’re so excited to share these reimagined Crunchwrap Supremes with fans.”
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