Taco bell for bodybuilding is actually one of the best tools to put on muscle. With incredibly cheap food and most foods having high protein and high calories, you’re good no matter what option you get.
The best part of eating at Taco Bell for bodybuilding is how transparent they are with their nutrition. You’ll know how many calories and protein are in your food no matter what you get, and you’ll be able to easily customize it.
Let’s discuss the best foods to eat on a bulk and the best foods to eat on a cut.
Best Taco Bell Bodybuilding Foods for a Bulk
Here are the best taco bell bodybuilding foods for a bulk. Honestly, most of it is pretty cheap and great calories for your money.
Cheese Quesadilla [BEST MACROS]
The Cheese Quesadilla has been one of my best friends for my bulks the past year. (And my fiance loves stealing them from me, so she doesn’t complain about it either)
Look, I don’t know why they got so expensive recently, but that’s outside the scope of this post.
First of all, I don’t even think I need to tell you that the cheese quesadilla is phenomenal. And probably one of the main reasons I use taco bell for bodybuilding.
I think in my post last year I wrote about eating cheese quesdillas to fix your shin splints or something? Lol? They have pretty good calcium and they’re actually pretty healthy for athletes.
Regardless, the nutrition on this is great. Honestly, probably the best food on this list if you’re concerned about the ‘healthiest’ bulking food.
| Calories: | 470 |
| Protein: | 19g |
| Fat: | 25g |
| Carbs: | 37g |
Personally, turns out I’m not really a man, so I get my cheese quesadilla without the spicy sauce or whatever. It cuts out 80 calories and 6g of fat, so if you’re really focused on macros- it might be in your interest to do that.
Any $5 Box [BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK]
Any $5 Combo Box is an incredible amount of calories and protein for a pretty low amount of money.
I put this as #1 on my bulking list as I’m not a big fan of dropping tons of money on fast food. But, who doesn’t have $5 to spare? Especially for 1300-1700 calories of pretty good food.
The best part is the food can be eaten pretty quickly. It’s designed as something you can eat on a lunch break.
And if you don’t like something on the box you can customize the box.
This means you won’t waste 50 hours eating and can slam down 1600 calories super quick and get that muscle building. All for $5.
Remember, you can eat 200g of protein a day, but if you aren’t gaining weight then it’s all useless as your body can’t grow that muscle.
Knocking out those thousands of calories for the day can go a long way in building your muscle.
Plus, it’s dang good food. Nobody complains about eating taco bell.
Although, I would mention that this box is known for having higher sodium typically. So be careful for that!
- My personal $5 box is set up like this:
(And, you might want to try it, it’s pretty good for $5)
- Cheesy Gordita Crunch
- Beefy 5 Layer Burrito
- Nachos & Cheese
- Baja Blast (Diet for this one, but depending on how the bulk is going..)
| Calories: | 1200 |
| Protein: | 40g |
| Fat: | 59g |
| Carbs: | 128g |
Beefy 5 Layer Burrito
The beefy 5 layer burrito is a kingpin at Taco Bell. Everybody loves it, and for $2.49 and 500 calories, it’s hard to beat.
It tastes phenomenal, is easily eaten, and you can drop $5 for two of them and get 1,000 calories and 36g of protein.
This is one of the best foods to buy at taco bell when bodybuilding.
| Calories: | 490 |
| Protein: | 18g |
| Fat: | 18g |
| Carbs: | 63g |
Quesarito
The quesarito is a fan favorite. And while it’s unclear if Taco Bell is getting rid of it or not, you can rest assured it’s a good food to eat on your bulk.
At 650 calories, 23 grams of protein, and pure deliciousness- this food is sure to help your bulk.
Plus, you can add chicken for an extra 45 calories but crucial 10-15 extra g of protein.
| Calories: | 650 |
| Protein: | 22g |
| Fat: | 33g |
| Carbs: | 67g |
Nachos Bellgrande
If you like the addicting nachos at Taco Bell, fear not. The Nachos Bellgrande is one of the best foods for bulking at Taco Bell.
First of all, it tastes really good, is relatively cheap, and most people won’t have any problem eating it.
But, most importantly, it actually has some pretty good macros. Let’s take a look.
| Calories: | 710 |
| Protein: | 13g |
| Fat: | 40g |
| Carbs: | 73g |
While I’d definitely like a lot more protein in there, if you need a quick and easy 710 calories for your bulk, the Nacho Bellgrande isn’t a bad way to do it.
Plus, you can share with your friends. This is one of the best reasons to use taco bell for bodybuilding, you can slam on like 5 of these and have a real fiesta.
Breakfast Crunchwrap
I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t doing an impromptu dirty bulk anytime I drive by a Taco Bell during breakfast.
Like, the breakfast crunchwrap has something really addicting to it. No matter what I do, I can’t resist it.
Thankfully, the macros are pretty good. And the breakfast crunchwrap itself is phenomenal like I’ve never heard somebody ever complain about the crunchwrap.
And I know Taco Bell is making a lot of menu changes, so if Taco Bell corporate is reading this, do not remove the crunchwrap from your menu under any circumstances.
Here’s the macros, but, your taste buds will thank you enough.
| Calories: | 660 |
| Protein: | 19g |
| Fat: | 42g |
| Carbs: | 50g |
And honestly the crunchwrap like fills you up. So you won’t be trying to eat anything for a little bit after, which kind of makes up for its high calories.
I recommend eating one of these before the gym, waiting 30-45 minutes, crushing your workout, then eating a ton the rest of the day.
Some might call it a dirty bulk, I call it business baby, there’s only one way to get big, and that’s by eating big. (And that’s why I’m always using taco bell for bodybuilding, cheap food, good calories)
Honorable Mention: Mountain Dew Baja Blast
The Mountain Dew Baja Blast is an honorable mention on this list.
Honestly, if you’re really focused on keeping a super clean diet- skip it.
But everybody who regularly goes to Taco Bell knows the Mountain Dew Baja Blast by heart. It’s one of the most popular drinks at Taco Bell and for good reason.
This thing tastes like heaven opened up. To this day, even with my Diet Coke/Coke Zero addiction for bodybuilding, Baja Blast still holds king as my favorite.
Taco Bell offers the baja blast in like a freeze or whatever, which I swear makes it taste 1000x better.
While the nutrition isn’t exactly great, it still is calories at the end of the day. There is a lot of sugar, but if you need some fast calories I recommend it. There is a diet version that doesn’t taste too far off from the main product if that’s what you’re concerned about.
Regardless, mental health is important in bodybuilding right, and for me, the baja blast is like my ultimate comfort food. So I always get it, and maybe you should too.
| Calories: | 200 |
| Protein: | 0g |
| Fat: | 0g |
| Carbs: | 51g |
Best Taco Bell Bodybuilding Foods for a Cut
Alright boys, if you’re doing a cut and you’re reading this, first of all- I’m sorry. I know its tempting to pull up to a Taco Bell and want to order everything on the menu, I’m going to need your discipline for this one.
While Taco Bell isn’t the best place to eat at a cut (personally I’d recommend McDonald’s, you can read my guide here) but we can make it work. And honestly, it’s not that bad.
Power Menu Bowl
Now the power menu bowl is advertised by Taco Bell as their end all ‘healthiest’ option. I personally disagree because the salad is a ton of calories even if you don’t remove the sauces.
Let me put this in bold:
If you’re trying to lose weight. DO NOT ORDER THIS SALAD WITH ANY OF THE SAUCES. That means no guacamole, no sour cream, and no avocado ranch sauce. (That’s a lot of sauce they’re putting in this…)
I mean, if you manage to get the salad without the 55 sauces, it’s not that bad. I personally recommend Chipotle if you’re trying to get a bowl like this, but let’s take a look at the nutrition for this.
- Power Menu Bowl with NO sauces.
| Calories: | 380 |
| Protein: | 25g |
| Fat: | 11g |
| Carbs: | 46g |
Honestly at the end of the day it’s not horrible. It is pretty filling, but I would personally go with a different choice on this list.
Nacho Cheese Doritos Locos Tacos/Normal Crunchy Taco
Now I’ve personally been a big fan of the Doritos locos tacos since the first day they were released.
And I still love them. Thankfully, each one is really only 170 calories, with 8g of protein. Can you believe that?
I swear they taste so good you’d think they’d be 300-400 calories each, but they really are sub 200.
You can buy 2-3 of these on a cut and get a pretty decent fill up for cheap.
Here’s the full nutrition stats:
| Calories: | 170 |
| Protein: | 8g |
| Fat: | 9g |
| Carbs: | 13g |
I figured I’d also mention the normal crunchy taco is the exact same nutrition-wise. So if you don’t like the nacho cheese/cool ranch shell, you can stick with the normal stuff and you’ll be in a good spot too.
Soft Taco
Honestly, I was surprised to find out the soft taco is so low calorie too.
It’s basically the exact same nutrition as the crunchy taco, which doesn’t really make sense but whatever- when has blindly trusting a corporation ever gone bad?
Regardless, if you’re a soft taco fan, you’re set to have 2-3 of these and not even break 600 calories. Here’s the full nutrition:
| Calories: | 180 |
| Protein: | 9g |
| Fat: | 9g |
| Carbs: | 17g |
Steak Quesadilla
The steak quesadilla is one I recommend for good reason: it makes you feel really full, and it takes a while to eat.
One of the ways most people can succeed on a cut in bodybuilding is simply by eating a ton of food that fills you up. If you eat a ton of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, and a sirloin steak, you’ll break 600 calories and not be hungry for the next 9 hours. In fact, I would find it hard for you to even eat for the next 9 hours.
The same thing applies to the steak quesadilla. The steak quesadilla is probably the best nutrition item on this whole list, sitting at 520 calories and 27g of protein, this will be sure to fit your macros and keep you happy.
The best part is the steak. Steak is known for just filling you up, and the 27g of protein in here highlights that. This is my go-to taco bell food when I’m trying to lose weight. (But as always, I get rid of the sauce, which removes 80 calories!)
| Calories: | 440 |
| Protein: | 27g |
| Fat: | 27g |
| Carbs: | 38g |
Chicken Quesadilla
I mean, I could’ve really combined the chicken quesadilla and steak quesadilla into one subheading, but to be honest they’re complete different vibes.
The steak quesadilla will make you feel really full, but I don’t feel like the chicken quesadilla does the same. But, I do think the chicken quesadilla tastes better and more people like lean meat like chicken instead of red meat.
They apparently have the same nutrition (getting suspicious of Taco Bell now) but that’s not the important part.
The important part? They taste great, they keep you somewhat full, they’re low calorie, and they can really hold you over on a cut.
I always say to avoid the sauce, but on the chicken one, you might want to keep it as I feel the taste gets bland. Also, I’ve heard spicy food makes you less hungry, but not in my case at least.
| Calories: | 510 |
| Protein: | 27g |
| Fat: | 26g |
| Carbs: | 38g |
You Can Substitue A LOT At Taco Bell
At Taco Bell, they are SUPER FLEXIBLE with their items and how you can change them.
I recommend if you’re bodybuilding to get the Taco Bell mobile app and order off of there. Not only will you skip the wait, but you’ll have more control of what’s put in your food.
Plus, you can always add things like meat or substitute things you don’t like. This maximizes your protein and happiness.
Conclusion
Well, turns out, Taco Bell actually is a pretty good place to eat if you’re bodybuilding.
Considering most items have cheese/meat in them, there’s always some protein you’re getting out of it.
Hopefully this list helped you! Tell me in the comments below this post what your go-to item is at Taco Bell for bodybuilding!
