Taco Time can be a reasonable fast food choice if you pick carefully, but most of the menu leans heavy on sodium and saturated fat. The best items on the menu fall between 260 and 450 calories with solid protein, while the worst top 790 calories with a full day’s worth of sodium in a single meal. Your order matters more than the restaurant itself.
The Best Lower-Calorie Options
Several items on the Taco Time menu come in under 500 calories while delivering enough protein to keep you full. The Crisp Taco with seasoned beef is the lightest option at 260 calories and 15g of protein. The Crisp Chicken Burrito hits 380 calories with 18g of protein, and the Soft Pinto Bean Burrito lands at 380 calories with 14g of protein and 8g of fiber, making it one of the more filling choices per calorie.
The Casita Burrito with chicken is a strong pick if you need a bigger meal: 450 calories, 29g of protein, and 6g of fiber. That’s comparable to a grilled chicken sandwich at other fast food chains. The Crisp Meat Burrito (390 calories, 20g protein) and the Soft Seasoned Beef Burrito (420 calories, 23g protein) also stay in reasonable territory.
Items That Can Derail a Meal
The Navajo Taco is the calorie king at 790 calories for a single item, before you add any sides or a drink. The Big Juan burritos range from 590 to 680 calories depending on the protein, and the Chicken Ranchero Burrito matches the high end at 680 calories. These aren’t catastrophic for an entire meal if you skip sides, but pairing them with Mexi-Fries or nachos pushes a single fast food stop past 1,000 calories quickly.
The Super Soft Tacos sound like a modest choice, but they range from 500 to 590 calories each. Ordering two, which is easy to do with tacos, means you’re looking at over 1,000 calories before extras.
Sodium Is the Biggest Concern
This is where Taco Time’s nutrition profile gets genuinely problematic. The recommended daily sodium limit is 2,300mg, and a surprising number of single menu items blow past half that threshold. The Beef Soft Taco contains 1,471mg of sodium. The Chicken Caesar Soft Taco hits 1,598mg. These are individual items, not combo meals.
Burritos are worse. The Soft Beef Burrito packs 1,887mg of sodium, and the Habanero Soft Beef Burrito reaches 2,726mg, which exceeds an entire day’s recommended intake in one burrito. Even items that sound lighter, like the Veggie Soft Taco (1,055mg) or the Soft Pinto Bean Burrito (1,235mg), carry substantial sodium loads.
Combo meals are where things really escalate. The Soft Habanero Chicken Burrito combo can reach 3,713mg of sodium. The Classic Burrito combo tops 3,000mg. If you’re watching your blood pressure or trying to reduce sodium, ordering a la carte and skipping the combo is a meaningful difference.
Ingredient Quality: A Mixed Bag
Taco Time uses real beef in its seasoned meat, but it’s blended with a spice mix that includes textured soy protein, salt, and tomato paste. That’s standard for fast food Mexican chains, though it means you’re not getting pure ground beef. The seasoning blend also contributes to those high sodium numbers.
On the positive side, the salsa and picante sauce are made with fresh jalapeños and fresh onions. The salsa bar offers whole-food toppings like guacamole, cilantro, black olives, and lime wedges that add flavor without piling on calories.
The cooking oils are a concern for anyone paying attention to fat quality. Taco Time’s ingredient list includes partially hydrogenated corn oil and partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening, both sources of trans fats. Palm oil and cottonseed oil also appear throughout the menu. These are used primarily in fried items like the Crisp Burritos and Mexi-Fries, so choosing soft tortilla items over crispy ones reduces your exposure.
How It Compares to Taco Bell
Taco Time’s portions tend to be larger than Taco Bell’s, which cuts both ways. A Taco Time Crisp Taco runs about 260 calories compared to Taco Bell’s Crunchy Taco at 170 calories, but the Taco Time version delivers more protein and fiber. Where Taco Bell pulls ahead is in saturated fat: its Crunchy Taco contains about 26% of the daily recommended saturated fat limit versus 42% for Taco Time’s version.
The gap widens with bigger items. Taco Time’s Soft Taco can reach 630 calories with over 100% of your daily saturated fat recommendation, while Taco Bell’s Burrito Supreme sits at 400 calories and 46% of the saturated fat limit. Taco Time’s Tostado Salad, which sounds healthy, hits 1,040 calories and nearly double the recommended daily saturated fat. If you’re comparing the two chains strictly on calories and fat, Taco Bell’s smaller portions work in its favor. Taco Time’s advantage is in the fiber and protein content of its bean-heavy items.
Vegetarian and Gluten-Free Options
Vegetarian choices exist but aren’t formally labeled on the menu. The Veggie Burrito (440 calories, 17g protein, 7g fiber), Soft Pinto Bean Burrito, Crisp Pinto Bean Burrito, and Original Nachos without meat are your main options. Black beans, refritos, and seasoned rice work as standalone sides or add-ons.
For gluten-free eating, the options are more limited. Black beans, refritos, seasoned rice, tortilla chips, and most salsa bar items don’t contain wheat. But most burritos and tacos use flour tortillas that contain wheat, so building a complete gluten-free meal typically means sticking to sides and nachos. Taco Time notes that cross-contamination is possible during preparation, so the wheat-free designation applies to ingredients only, not to kitchen handling.
How to Order Smarter
The simplest strategy is to stick with crisp-shell tacos or smaller crisp burritos, skip the combo upgrades, and load up at the salsa bar instead of adding cheese-heavy extras. A Crisp Taco with seasoned beef plus a side of black beans gives you a meal around 350 to 400 calories with solid protein and fiber, and keeps sodium more manageable than any burrito on the menu.
If you want a burrito, the Casita Chicken Burrito is the best balance of calories, protein, and fiber on the menu. Avoid anything with “Habanero” or “Classic” in the name if sodium is a concern, as those items consistently land above 1,500mg. And think twice about the salads. The tostado salads at Taco Time are among the highest-calorie, highest-sodium items available, largely because of the fried shell and heavy toppings.
Choosing soft tortilla items over fried ones helps you avoid the partially hydrogenated oils used in frying. It’s a tradeoff, though, since the soft burritos tend to be larger and higher in sodium than their crisp counterparts. Your best bet for keeping the overall nutritional profile in check is to pick a smaller item, add fresh toppings from the salsa bar, and treat Mexi-Fries as an occasional indulgence rather than a default side.