Taco Bell's new, limited-time Cantina Double Steak Quesadilla features a double portion of thick-cut, marinated steak with pepper jack cheese folded inside a large flour tortilla, which is then pressed/grilled. It measures a pretty good size and comes with tortilla chips, sour cream, and new fire-roasted tomato Cantina salsa on the side.
An order comes in at
$4.99, which is in line with the rest of the Cantina Menu. A chicken version is also available for $4.79 at my local Taco Bell.
The quesadilla was pressed to a pretty crispy sear. As advertised, there's a good amount of steak inside the Cantina Double Steak Quesadilla. It had a nice flavor, a serviceable texture, and an attractive browning. The steak tended to bunch up towards the center though, with a bit of a dead zone of just flour tortilla starting about an inch from the edge.
The biggest change from Taco Bell's regular quesadilla is the cheese. While Taco Bell's standard 3-cheese blend melts nicely, it tends to lack in flavor. The pepper jack here was gooey and, more importantly, it delivered a flavorful note of jack to the proceedings, as well as just a touch of heat.
It actually compares to what you might get at an average taqueria, which isn't that notable here in Los Angeles, but is real nice if Taco Bell is the closest thing to Mexican food in town.
The sour cream and salsa is there for dipping, which gives you a little bit of variety if you so choose. I'm more used to eating my quesadilla without dipping and that's what I prefer though. I used the salsa with the chips, which I could have used a little more of; they ran out pretty quickly leaving me with a lot of salsa left.
The salsa is pretty comparable to the store-bought stuff like Pace and tastes very similar. There's a pleasing smoky note that differentiates it a little though. I ended up eating the leftover salsa with some packaged chips from the supermarket.
Overall, Taco Bell's Cantina Double Steak Quesadilla was pretty good and an improvement over their regular quesadilla. The cheese is key and lends a good deal of flavor plus a satisfying stretchy gooey-ness.
Nutritional Info - Taco Bell Cantina Double Steak Quesadilla (438g)
Calories - 960 (from Fat - 400)
Fat - 45g (Saturated Fat - 19g)
Sodium - 2070mg
Carbs - 97g (Sugar - 10g)
Protein - 43g
