Doritos Locos Tacos at Taco Bell: Flavors and Calories

The standard Nacho Cheese taco is 170 calories and the Supreme is 190, according to the delivery menu data. Both match or sit just above the plain Crunchy Taco, which is also 170.

Calories side by side with a plain taco:

One nutrition tracker lists a standard taco at about 9 grams of fat, 13 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of protein and 360 milligrams of sodium. Treat those figures as approximate, since trackers differ and Taco Bell's own nutrition guide is the official source. Everything above is per taco and changes when you customize.

Allergen listings usually include milk, soy and wheat, which come from the shell seasoning, the cheese and the shell itself. Anyone with a serious allergy should confirm in the app's allergen tools. You can also check the full calorie chart to see how these tacos compare with burritos and bowls.

Taco Bell Nacho Cheese Doritos Locos Taco Ingredients and Build

The build is simple and has four layers, from the outside in:

1. A crunchy corn shell coated with Nacho Cheese seasoning.
2. Seasoned beef.
3. Crisp shredded lettuce.
4. Shredded cheddar cheese.

People also type "dorito loco taco" when they search for it, but the order name is the same one you see in the app. The seasoning is part of the shell, so you cannot remove it, and the beef is the same seasoned beef used in the other hard tacos.

The cheese layer gives a second cheesy note, so the taco can taste a little heavy on cheese for some people. If you want to dial it back, ask for less cheese in the app or skip the Supreme version, which adds sour cream and tomatoes.

Nutrition databases list milk, soy and wheat as allergens, which fits a shell with cheese-flavored seasoning. Taco Bell does not publish every sub-ingredient of the shell seasoning on the delivery menu.

Nacho Cheese vs Supreme: The Calorie and Topping Gap

The Supreme adds reduced-fat sour cream and diced tomatoes to the standard build and costs 20 more calories and about $1.22 more on delivery. The standard starts at $3.65 and the Supreme at $4.87.

Pick the standard when you want the pure shell flavor and the lowest price. Pick the Supreme when you want a creamy, cool contrast to the seasoning. The sour cream softens the saltiness, and the tomato adds freshness.

If you are not sure, order one of each and compare. The price gap is the cost of the toppings, and the calorie gap is small enough not to matter for most meals.

Taco Bell has sold five flavors over the years, and only Nacho Cheese is on the current delivery menu. Here is the status timeline, with dates drawn from news coverage and fan wikis, so treat the exact days as approximate:

Nacho Cheese came first and has stayed the best seller. Cool Ranch followed in 2013, and Fiery came later that year. Both were reported as dropped in 2019 because of low demand. The Flamin' Hot shell launched in 2020, returned afterward, and a Flamin' Hot Cool Ranch crossover followed in 2022.

Cool Ranch has made limited comebacks on throwback-style promotions. Whether it is on sale right now depends on the store and the promotion, so check the app before you plan around it. The limited-time returns page tracks what is rotating in.

Fiery Doritos Locos Tacos and Other Retired Flavors

Fiery was a spicier, red-orange shell with a hot, peppery flavor, and it joined the lineup in 2013. Taco Bell later retired it along with Cool Ranch, mainly because demand did not justify keeping them permanent.

Retired flavors keep returning as limited items because they get attention. A short run creates urgency, and fans who remember a flavor are quick to order it. That is why a shell can disappear for years and then come back for a few weeks.

To find out what is available near you, open the app, pick your store and browse the Tacos and Limited Time categories. The retired and returning items page is a good place to see which older favorites have come back.

The Supreme version has the same seasoned shell and beef, plus reduced-fat sour cream, lettuce, diced tomatoes and shredded cheddar. It is listed at 190 calories and $4.87 and up on delivery.

The sour cream is the biggest change. It adds a cool, creamy layer that tones down the seasoning, and it makes the taco feel more like a full build. The tomatoes add a little juice and brightness.

This one suits you if you find the standard taco too salty or if you want something that feels more like a restaurant-style taco. It also suits you if you plan to eat it with your hands and want the extra moisture.

It is also a good pick for a mixed order. Pair one with a plain Crunchy Taco Supreme and you will taste the difference between a seasoned shell and a plain one without changing anything else.

The trade-off is cost. The Supreme costs more than the standard, and it is the most expensive single taco in the Taco Bell Crunchy and Soft family, since a Crunchy Taco Supreme starts at $3.65.

The shell is a crunchy corn taco shell coated with Nacho Cheese seasoning, and it is the one thing that sets the item apart. The seasoning is applied during production, which is why the shell has an orange color and a strong cheesy smell.

Taco Bell has needed special packaging for the shells because the seasoning can rub off, which is why the shells arrive in a wrapper that is handled differently from plain shells.

Shells are filled to order, then wrapped. If you wait too long, the filling softens the shell, and a seasoned shell can feel greasy or soggy faster than a plain one.

As for buying shells alone, this is not something the delivery menu lists, and policies vary by store. Some people ask at the counter, but there is no guarantee. If you want to cook at home, grocery stores sell seasoned shell kits, which is a separate product from Taco Bell's own.

The Doritos locos concept came from a partnership between Taco Bell and Frito-Lay, the maker of the chips. The idea was to put a famous snack flavor into a taco shell, and the first version used Nacho Cheese.

Taco Bell tested it in Mankato, Minnesota before going national. It then launched across the country in March 2012, and sales were huge. Reports at the time said it passed 200 million tacos sold in about nine months and made up around 7 percent of the menu mix.

That launch changed how fast food chains think about flavor partnerships. It also set the template for later flavors, which Taco Bell added over the next several years.

The reason the idea worked is simple. Everyone already knew the chip flavor, so the taco needed no explanation. A shell that tasted like a familiar snack gave people a reason to try a taco they might have skipped, and it gave Taco Bell a new item without changing the beef, lettuce or cheese.