Taco Bell Expands Menu, Targets Bigger Orders Against McDonald’s Value Deals

Taco Bell is quietly shifting its playbook to encourage larger customer orders, adding new sweet empanadas and leaning on an expanded drink lineup to lift average check values, TheStreet reported. The move positions menu additions, rather than deeper discounting, as the company’s response to rivals that emphasize value deals.

The product rollout centers on two new items, Chocolate Fudge Empanada and Caramel Empanada. QSR Magazine reported, “Inspired by the beloved Caramel Apple Empanada, the Chocolate Fudge & Caramel Empanadas bring back the fan-favorite format with a new indulgent twist. Served as two warm, crispy empanadas for $2.99, the duo delivers double the decadence: one filled with salted caramel in a classic crust, the other wrapped in a crisp chocolatey shell filled with rich chocolate fudge, designed to give way to warm, velvety filling in every bite.” QSR Magazine also noted, “Beginning March 19, the Chocolate Fudge & Caramel Empanadas join Taco Bell’s Luxe Value Menu for a limited time.”

Industry analysts and operators frame the empanada launch as a margin-first tactic. AOL and Chef’s Store materials emphasize that drinks and desserts typically cost restaurants less than protein entrees and therefore raise per-visit profitability. As Chef’s Store put it, “By strategically incorporating desserts into their menus, restaurants can increase their average check size per customer. Since desserts typically have a higher profit margin compared to other menu items, they are a profitable way for restaurants to improve sales. In fact, 60 percent of restaurant owners and operators say that offering dessert options helps drive up profits.”

Taco Bell’s beverage assortment is part of the same calculus. AOL reported that “Taco Bell has an expansive beverage lineup, which also helps drive margin,” and that the chain has already diversified its drink menu to boost check size. Marketing plays built around urgency and limited-time offers are a companion strategy: Paul Drecksler, an e-commerce expert and founder of Shopifreaks, told The Food Institute that Taco Bell has “mastered limited-time offers that create urgency, like the ‘Bajaversary’ for Baja Blast, which pulled in customers and spiked visits.” That marketing playbook, industry sources say, amplifies the impact of adding low-cost, high-margin items.

Longtime restaurant operator Norman N. Habermann echoed the operator perspective, with supplied reporting noting that getting customers to buy dessert “can be very important in improving margin.” TheStreet characterized the overall approach as a “quiet shift in fast-food competition,” contrasting Taco Bell’s menu-expansion strategy with McDonald’s focus on value deals.

Several details remain unreported: QSR Magazine lists the empanadas as starting “Beginning March 19” but no year is specified, and the coverage does not indicate whether the Luxe Value Menu placement is a national rollout or limited to select markets. Taco Bell has not provided unit-level sales, projected check-size lifts, or an official company comment in the material reviewed. For now, the empanada push functions as a clear wager: by adding low-cost desserts and leaning on beverages and limited-time marketing, Taco Bell is betting it can grow per-visit spending while its biggest rival leans on cheaper value bundles.