Old El Paso’s new Mexican Pizza Kit has gone on sale across the United States, and a side-by-side test against the Taco Bell classic it clearly evokes suggests the home version can hold its own.
The kit, priced at $4.98, contains 12 corn tortillas, a seasoning mix, taco sauce and queso. Shoppers add a pound of ground beef, shredded cheese and any toppings they like; the box suggests diced tomato and green onion. Vegetarian cooks can swap in refried beans or black beans.
Taste of Home’s Joe Erbentraut assembled the pizzas by browning the beef with the seasoning, layering the tostadas with queso, sauce, beef and cheese, and melting everything in the oven before adding the fresh toppings. He noted that the pre-fried tortillas were fragile and some arrived damaged, but enough survived to build the pizzas, and they would be covered in melted beef and cheese anyway.
Compared with Taco Bell’s version, the Old El Paso pizzas were built on crisp corn tostadas rather than larger flour tortillas, used only beef where Taco Bell mixes beef with refried beans, and added queso, which the chain does not. The corn base gave a distinct corn flavour and a crispier bite, and the hand-chopped toppings tasted fresher. The verdict: less greasy, lighter and, at $4.98, excellent value. The tester said he would buy it again, and even preferred it to the fast food original.
The kit does not mention Taco Bell by name, but the tester said the inspiration was clear, and he added green onions, which the chain has left off its Mexican Pizza since 2006.
Fast food fans can also browse our round-up of Domino’s secret menu pizzas and our ranking of the best stuffed crust pizza from the big chains.
The full review, including photos of the build, is in the original Taste of Home article.