Drive-Thru Gourmet
The egg comes out of its shell in new Taco Bell breakfast sandwich
This week, I reached out for a Naked Egg Taco, new and scantily clad, from everybody’s favorite Mexican-style cross-country drive-through, Taco Bell with 7,000 restaurants.
By scantily clad, we’re talking about this breakfast item with minimal ingredients … hopefully not you. At least throw some pants on. And for most Taco Bell customers, a shirt, too. We’ve seen you throw down a half-dozen tacos at 3 am.
Here’s the Naked Egg Taco breakdown
A fried egg twisted into the shape of a taco shell, filled with bacon or sausage crumbles, crispy potatoes, grated cheese, and nacho cheese sauce.
Total calories (the bacon option): 310. Fat grams: 21. Sodium: 690 mg. Carbs: 15 g. Dietary fiber: 2 g. Protein: 14 g. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price: $1.99. The sausage model has about the same nutritional damage.
The naked truth
The Naked Egg Taco is another nudie from Taco Bell’s bag o’ tricks. Last year, they pulled Naked Chicken Chalupas and Naked Chicken Chips out of their, er, hat. Somebody in Taco Bell's research and development has been spending a little too much unsupervised time on the Internet.
Here’s how they do the Naked Egg Taco. They fry an egg – a whole egg, good for them – with the yolk unbroken or slightly broken, Egg McMuffin-style. The egg is slid into a cardboard sleeve, forming a taco shell. It’s something familiar in an unexpected shape – like actor Val Kilmer.
Then come the goodies, the bacon, cheese, etc., and you’ve got a Naked Egg Taco. This will appeal to people cutting back on bread. The egg is thoroughly cooked, so there’s no runny yolk to sop up with bread, which is okay since there’s no flour tortilla. Makes sense.
It’s easy to eat on the run, just shimmy it into your mouth. Hold on to the cardboard carrier, though, eggs can be pretty greasy.
There you have the Naked Egg Taco. An egg in the shell. And if this flops, you can bet Taco Bell's executive team will be walking on egg shells.
