What's Really Inside Jack In The Box Tacos

The number of tacos sold by Jack in the Box is absolutely staggering. In 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported that the brand sells 554 million per year — that's over a thousand tacos per minute. They're also widely criticized as being terrible. You can find list after ranked list of fast food tacos online, and Jack in the Box invariably lingers near the bottom. That WSJ article likened them to a "wet envelope of cat food," while GQ called them "unquestionably bad" — and that last one was in an article supporting them. When Tasting Table ranked fast food tacos, they came dead last. So, what's inside these things that people love to hate?

First, you may want to sit down. There's more in a Jack in the Box taco than you think. According to the ingredient list found on the company's website, there are nine main ingredients, but those nine break down into 37 others. We won't cover them all, just some highlights. Despite looking sort of like ground beef, there are four separate proteins in that tortilla. The first five ingredients in Jack in the Box tacos are beef, water, ground dark chicken, textured vegetable protein, and defatted soy grits.

Textured vegetable protein is made from soybeans after the oil is extracted. It's dried out and develops a meaty texture, which can add protein. Defatted soy grits are similar but are coarsely ground and tend to be used in animal research diets, though they're perfectly safe for human consumption. It just makes the cat food jab hit a little closer to home, though.

After those main ingredients, there's a long list of seasonings that Jack in the Box uses to flavor its tacos, including onion powder, chili pepper, salt, garlic, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce. Then, on its ingredients list, a funny thing happens. The word "or" appears, followed by an entirely new set of taco ingredients that are similar, but not identical, to the previous set. The proteins seem to be the same in both sets of ingredients, although they are listed slightly differently. While the first ingredient list includes bleached enriched wheat flour, the second one includes oat fiber and torula yeast. It's unclear why there are slightly different formulations. Functionally, they seem nearly identical, and it's unlikely you'd notice a difference in taste.

A Jack in the Box tortilla is fairly straightforward. It's just ground corn, water, and hydrated lime. You can't really ask for much more than that out of a tortilla. They are, however, deep-fried in canola oil. The taco is topped with a half slice of American cheese, lettuce, and some Jack in the Box hot sauces. Despite the abundance of flavoring added to the filling, there is surprisingly little taste to Jack in the Box tacos, which is one of the main criticisms. Combined with the oil the tortillas are fried in, which seems to overpower the palate, perhaps there's simply too much going on — and not enough of it is good. Nevertheless, now you know what the fast food chain packs inside each of those one thousand tacos sold every minute.