Taco Bell’s Chicken Nuggets Are Here – but Its New Dipping Sauces May Be the Real Star

You now, finally, officially, have one more place to enjoy chicken nuggets. 

On Tuesday, Taco Bell announced that its highly anticipated Crispy Chicken Nuggets are officially finally hitting nationwide menus on December 19. But that’s not all. According to the brand, the menu drop also has three new dipping sauces, including its first-ever ranch collaboration with Hidden Valley. 

“As the inventors of Nacho Fries, Taco Bell is fully aware that reinventing an American classic with a Taco Bell twist is a responsibility we don’t take lightly. But in a world dominated by chicken cravings, it was time to show the world how Taco Bell does chicken nuggets — unexpected and undeniably bold,” Taylor Montgomery, the chain’s chief marketing officer, shared in a statement provided to Food & Wine. “The Crispy Chicken Nuggets deliver a crispier, more flavorful nugget experience, and combined with the Hidden Valley Fire Ranch Sauce, we hope it will test people’s devotion to their favorite nuggets.”

The Taco Bell team truly took its time perfecting this new dip addition, noting that its chefs tested more than 100 variations to get to its final trio. The best of the best include the aforementioned Hidden Valley Fire Ranch Sauce, which it describes as “a spicy, tangy dipping sauce that elevates the new crispy chicken nuggets to the next level,” along with the Bell Sauce, which “offers a familiar, rich, creamy, and tangy signature blend with subtle chili notes crafted with tomatoes, red chiles, and garlic,” and the Jalapeño Honey Mustard, which “fuses sweet and heat” for just the right amount of kick. 

“We’re thrilled to partner with Taco Bell on the new Hidden Valley Fire Ranch Sauce, combining the bold flavors of Hidden Valley Ranch with Taco Bell’s signature heat,” CC Ciafone, the marketing director at Hidden Valley Ranch, added. “Ranch and chicken nuggets are an iconic pairing, so it just made sense to create a ranch perfectly designed for Taco Bell’s unique twist on nuggets.”

Of course, none of the dips would be here without the new chicken nuggets, which are tortilla chip-breaded for an only-at-Taco-Bell taste. 

Fans can purchase the new nuggets in a five-piece order with one dipping sauce for $3.99 or a 10-piece order with two dipping sauces for $6.99. (Combo offers are also available.) But if you want to try them, you better act fast. As Taco Bell says, they will be at participating locations only “for a limited time.”

If you happen to be a Taco Bell Rewards Member, you can try them for just $1 on January 21, 2025. You just have to be one of the first 20,000 users to redeem the five-piece crispy chicken nugget, which hits the app at exactly 2 p.m. PT. 

There’s also one more way Rewards Members can score a deal. Throughout the month of December, after trying the new nuggets and sauces, fans can mail in their used and empty dipping cups back as part of the brand’s recycling program with TerraCyle, and earn 80 bonus Taco Bell Rewards points to use on a future purchase — you know, for more nuggets.