Why Taco Bell's Store-Bought Bottled Sauces Don't Taste Quite Like The Packets

For all the iconic menu items that Taco Bell has, the sauces still reign supreme. There has been some online discourse, though, about the bottled sauces tasting different than the packets from the restaurant, perhaps giving credence to the old saying that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. While all sauces bearing the Taco Bell logo are certainly delicious whether they're in a bottle or a packet, there's just something about the bottled sauces that don't quite hit the same. That's because the bottled sauces are made with slightly different ingredients and produced by a third-party distributor.

The prolific fast-food chain is notoriously generous with its sauce packets, and die-hard Taco Bell fans were elated in 2014 when the company announced that the sauces would be available for purchase by the bottle at grocery stores. Bid farewell to an entire kitchen drawer dedicated to Diablo and signature Bell sauce packets, because consumers could now buy an entire bottle at a time. But upon closely inspecting a bottle of Taco Bell sauce, you'll notice a familiar name: Kraft Heinz. That's right — the folks behind the famous Heinz ketchup are the very same ones producing and bottling all of the Taco Bell sauces you find at the grocery store. 

The ingredients list reads a bit differently between the packets from the restaurant and the Heinz-produced bottles from the supermarket. The packets of classic Hot sauce from Taco Bell, for example, list tomato puree, jalapeno, vinegar, food starch, chili spices, minced onion, sugar, natural flavors, maltodextrin, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, and garlic concentrate. The bottled version of the same sauce, however, lists the ingredients as water, tomato puree, vinegar, jalapeño peppers, less than 2% of salt, chili pepper, dried onions, spices, xanthan gum, dosium benzoate, potassium chloride, maltodextrin, yeast extract, datem, and natural flavor.

The differences are small but noticeable, and this pattern of variance between the packets and bottles remains true for the other sauces too. Luckily, that doesn't stop either the packets or the bottled sauces from being downright delicious. Even Taco Bell's spicy ranch sauce is fantastic, taking first place in our rankings of fast-food ranch sauces. If you're a Taco Bell purist, though, then you might be better off sticking to the packets for that iconic, just-right flavor.