I tried 10 new Taco Bell menu items this year, and the best one took 2 years to develop

Taco Bell's breakfast tacos were launched nationwide in October.

The $1.49 menu item, which is still available, features scrambled eggs, a layer of shredded cheddar cheese, and a choice of either bacon, sausage, or crispy breakfast potatoes.

I was impressed with the eggs in Taco Bell's breakfast tacos, which had a nice fluffy texture — something many fast-food chains struggle to achieve.

I also enjoyed the smoky flavor of the sausage in my taco, but there wasn't enough meat in each bite. I think the taco also needed a crispy shell or some extra breakfast potatoes to provide more texture and crunch.

In March, the chain teamed up with Yeastie Boys, a beloved Los Angeles bagel truck, to create six new limited-edition breakfast items that combined Taco Bell favorites with Yeastie Boys' bagels and cream-cheese spreads.

The "Game Over" Breakfast Crunchwrap featured scrambled eggs, bacon, a crispy hash brown, melted cheddar, and Yeastie Boys' signature cheddar-jalapeño cream cheese.

Taco Bell once again had some really delicious and creamy scrambled eggs in its "Game Over" Breakfast Crunchwrap. I also thought the Yeastie Boys' cheddar-jalapeño cream cheese tasted delicious, but there was just too much going on with this dish.

A Crunchwrap Supreme is one of my go-to orders at Taco Bell, but I think the combination of cheesy eggs, bacon, and the tortilla was a bit overwhelming. It needed some vegetables or salsa to help cut through the salty and savory ingredients and lighten the overall flavor profile.

In June, Taco Bell relaunched its beloved Volcano Menu — which had been discontinued in 2012 — for a limited run. It featured the Volcano Taco, Double Beef Volcano Burrito, and Lava Sauce, which a Taco Bell chef told me was the "real X factor" of the Volcano Menu.

The $2.49 Volcano Taco featured a red crunchy taco shell filled with seasoned beef, a three-cheese blend, shredded lettuce, and the Lava Sauce, which combines red jalapeños with the flavor of multiple cheeses.

I have always preferred Taco Bell's burritos to its tacos, but I was impressed with how much flavor the Lava Sauce added to the Volcano Taco.

The Lava Sauce was even creamier and cheesier than I expected, and its tangy flavor paired well with the subtle heat from the jalapeños. While I preferred other items on the Volcano Menu, I was still pretty happy with this taco.

This quesadilla was also part of the limited-edition menu that Taco Bell launched with Yeastie Boys in March.

The Everything Breakfast Quesadilla featured scrambled eggs, double-smoked bacon, a melted three-cheese blend, scallion cream cheese, Taco Bell x Yeastie Boys' everything seasoning, and toasted cheddar cheese on the outside.

"It's incredible that this is a fast-food breakfast," I wrote in my notes after I first tested Taco Bell's Everything Breakfast Quesadilla.

Unlike the "Game Over" Breakfast Crunchwrap, the Everything Breakfast Quesadilla manages to stay light, even though it's packed with so many different ingredients. I loved the crunchiness of the cheddar crust on the quesadilla, and the creamy eggs paired well with the crispy bacon. I was also a huge fan of the custom everything seasoning and would love to see Taco Bell add it to more menu items in the future.

Overall, the Everything Breakfast Quesadilla tasted elevated, and I was delighted and impressed with the creativity.

The Double Beef Volcano Burrito was also part of Taco Bell's Volcano Menu. The $3.99 burrito featured seasoned rice, seasoned beef, a three-cheese blend, reduced-fat sour cream, crunchy tortilla strips, and Lava Sauce in a warm flour tortilla.

The Lava Sauce once again helped elevate the Double Beef Volcano Burrito on Taco Bell's menu.

Its cheesy flavor paired well with the seasoned beef, and I loved the extra texture from the crunchy tortilla strips. The delicious dish easily surpassed some of Taco Bell's more classic items, like the Beefy Melt Burrito.

In addition to the Volcano Menu, Taco Bell also allowed you to customize classic menu items with the Lava Sauce. So I had to try it with one of my all-time favorites, the Grilled Cheese Burrito.

The $4.79 burrito, which was first introduced in July 20202, features seasoned beef (you can also get it with steak, chicken, or black beans), seasoned rice, fiesta strips, nacho cheese sauce, and creamy chipotle sauce, which I swapped for the Lava Sauce.

It also includes reduced-fat sour cream, a three-cheese blend, and a warm flour tortilla with more cheese grilled right on the top.

I didn't think it was possible to improve my favorite Taco Bell burrito, but the Lava Sauce proved me wrong. It somehow worked perfectly with the cheesiness already in the burrito, adding even more flavor and heat without making the overall flavor too cloying or overwhelming.

Everything was moist and creamy, and overall just tasted unexpected and fun. This was another huge win for Taco Bell.

Read my full review of Taco Bell's Volcano menu here.

The Cheesy Chicken Crispanada — which was tested in Knoxville, Tennessee, earlier this year — was Taco Bell's spin on an empanada.

The $3.49 menu item featured both white and dark shredded chicken meat, plus a blend of melted cheddar and mozzarella cheeses and a shell made from phyllo dough. It was served alongside a spicy ranch dipping sauce.

Every once in a while, Taco Bell makes a limited-edition menu item that I desperately wish was available nationwide, and the Cheesy Chicken Crispanada was one of them.

The crispy phyllo shell stayed true to the Crispanada's name and added some crunchy contrast to the creamy and cheesy chicken filling. While the spicy ranch could've had a touch more heat, its bright flavor paired deliciously with the chicken. This was a satisfying snack that I haven't stopped thinking about all year.

Read my full review of Taco Bell's Cheesy Chicken Crispanada here.

Taco Bell's Breakfast Tots — which were tested in Chicago earlier this year — were another breakfast experiment from the chain.

The $3.49 dish featured potato tots seasoned with Mexican spices, as well as a layer of scrambled eggs, a mix of melted cheeses, and a choice of bacon or sausage.

I was quickly won over by Taco Bell's Breakfast Tots. The eggs were fluffy, well-seasoned, and tasted delicious with the chain's breakfast salsa. The tots were golden brown and retained their satisfying crunch, even with so many ingredients piled on top.

I also loved the melted cheese on top, which reminded me of the disco fries I used to order after barhopping in college.

Taco Bell tested its crispy chicken nuggets in Minneapolis, Minnesota, earlier this year. I tried the new menu item at Taco Bell's headquarters in Irvine, California, where I learned the chain had set out to create an "elevated" nugget.

"This is real chicken," chef Brett Pluskalowski, who works on Taco Bell's food innovation team, said during the tasting. "When you go to McDonald's, that's not what you see."

Taco Bell's chicken nuggets featured all-white chicken breast meat marinated in a spiced jalapeño buttermilk. They were served alongside two new dipping sauces, Jalapeño Honey Mustard and Bell Sauce.

I was blown away by the quality of Taco Bell's chicken nuggets. They had a deliciously crispy breading and tasted fresh and tender. The texture was crunchy, juicy, and so satisfying.

The nuggets also paired well with both sauces, which tasted unique and distinct. Overall, I preferred Taco Bell's nuggets to McDonald's or Chick-fil-A, and I hope we get to see them take on the fast-food chicken wars very soon.

Read my full review of Taco Bell's chicken nuggets here.

Released nationwide for a limited time in August, Taco Bell's Grilled Cheese Dipping Taco took two years to develop.

The $3.49 taco featured slow-braised shredded beef inspired by the flavors of birria, as well as creamy jalapeño sauce. A blend of cheddar, mozzarella, and pepper jack cheeses was melted on the inside and grilled on the outside of the freshly fried, white-corn shell.

The taco was served alongside two dipping sauces: Taco Bell's red sauce and a warm nacho-cheese sauce.

I tried the Grilled Cheese Dipping Taco at Taco Bell's Irvine headquarters 10 months before it was released nationwide, and it was so hard not to tell my friends because I was so excited about the creative menu item.

The beef tasted juicy, tender, and delicious, and the crispy shell had a satisfying crunch. The jalapeño sauce added some brightness to all that cheesiness, and I loved both of the dipping sauces. I'm hoping that the Grilled Cheese Dipping Taco will make frequent appearances on Taco Bell's menu.

It's been an incredible year of tasty, playful, and innovative dishes from Taco Bell. I can't wait to see what 2024 will bring.

Read my full review of Taco Bell's Grilled Cheese Dipping Taco here.