Review: Taco Bell - Taco Seasoning and Crunchy Taco Shells

Taco Bell's Taco Seasoning and Crunchy Taco Shells are licensed to and made by Kraft for at-home consumption.

The seasoning retails for 79 cents a packet and a 12-count Crunchy Taco Shell box goes for $1.59, but I received these courtesy of Kraft and decided to make it a taco night.

The instructions are easy enough and pretty standard: just brown a pound or so of ground beef, and drain it. Then, add the seasoning plus a little water and let it simmer. Easy peasy. If you want extra "oomph" without too much fuss, I'd suggest adding diced onions before you brown the beef.

The shells are easier still: bake them in the oven at 350 until they just start to brown. I ended up putting them in the toaster oven, but they warn you not to do so because there's a risk of fire. I just watched it to make sure it was okay, but copy me at your own risk!

It might be branded as Taco Bell, but the seasoning, while still good and adding a really nice flavor to the beef, doesn't quite capture the same taste and the shells seem a little harder than Taco Bell shells. That being said, they made for some really delicious tacos for fairly cheap (the biggest cost is ground beef, especially with the dramatic rise in beef prices lately; you can do ground turkey if you're looking to save).

Overall, I liked Taco Bell's Taco Seasoning and Crunchy Taco Shells quite a bit and just had to add ground beef, shredded lettuce, and grated cheese. Just don't expect them to taste like Taco Bell.

Just as a little side story: I fed some of these to my two-year-old nephew who is currently OCD about "broken" things. After he took one bite, the taco was now "broken!" *Cue meltdown/end of the world.* He still wanted another though. Rinse/repeat. So yeah, bad idea on my part.