Score A Bigger Taco Bell Burrito For Less By Ordering It Like This

Taco Bell, like most fast food joints, has gradually got more expensive over the years, leading fans to look for and come up with their own Taco Bell ordering hacks and share secret menu items to get the most bang for their buck. Oftentimes, this involves creatively swapping one menu item for another with some clever, additional adjustments. For instance, one TikTok user who claimed to work at Taco Bell found a way to mimic the chain's Beefy 5-Layer Burrito for a much cheaper price.

This ordering hack involves adding seasoned beef to their Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito. The Beefy 5-Layer Burrito costs $4.99 in the Cincinnati area, but the Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito goes for just $1.69. Adding seasoned beef costs $1.10, but this still brings your total to just $2.79, a full $2.20 less. In addition, you can ask to have it grilled for free. In the video, the TikToker notes that the burrito costs less than $2, but this is inaccurate at least in and around Cincinnati. 

But it's worth keeping in mind that the clip in question is also from 2021, so the prices have obviously changed in the interim. While inflation has made this burrito more expensive, you still save compared to the Beefy 5-Layer Burrito. It should be noted that this isn't a perfect dupe, though. The Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito lacks shredded cheese, with just nacho cheese, and replaces the sour cream with creamy jalapeño sauce. Still, for over $2 less, it's a good replica.

Taco Bell's priciest combo is almost $12, at the time of writing, thanks to rising prices across the board but it's still possible to find some pretty good deals if you know where to look. The most commonly touted money-saving hack at Taco Bell is to exclusively order meal boxes rather than individual items. On a Reddit thread discussing the best Taco Bell deals, one user argued that building your own Luxe box gets you a better deal than anything else on the menu. 

In the Cincinnati area, the build your own Luxe box costs $6.99, and one of the items you can get is the aforementioned $4.99 Beefy 5-Layer Burrito. Of course, your total savings depends on what you get, but if you get the most expensive item in each category — the $4.99 Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, the $6.89 Crunchwrap Supreme, the $2.69 Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes, and a $2.79 soft drink — then that's $17.36 worth of food for just $6.99, saving you more than $10.

In fact, if you're hungry for more than one item and plan to get a drink, this may be a more worthwhile deal than the $2.79 Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito ordering hack. If you aren't, and you're just looking for a little snack during a lengthy road trip, for instance, it's tough to beat a burrito with cheese, beans, and meat for under $3, particularly since it's also cheaper than any of the Taco Bell burritos that already come with beef.