Cheesy Dipping Burritos and the Quesarito return — but does the Confetti Cookie Freeze steal the show?

The year 2025 is almost over, but there’s still time to squeeze in one more edition of Snackology that’s all about Taco Bell. (This’ll be the ninth review that I’ve published this year about the fast-food chain.) On Tuesday, the restaurant released another mega-menu, bringing back Cheesy Dipping Burritos (available in steak and chicken), Steak Garlic Nacho Fries and the Quesarito while also introducing the Confetti Cookie Freeze.

It’s funny how these Taco Bell releases snowball. First you get the news about Cheesy Dipping Burritos. Then a week or two later comes the news about the Quesarito. And then you go to put your order in on the app and the Confetti Cookie Freeze is waiting for you.

The return of the Cheesy Dipping Burritos (back on the menu after an appearance late last year) brings with it the Creamy Garlic Sauce. I missed out on the Creamy Garlic Sauce craze when it was first introduced, but the sauce apparently crossed over from being a topping on Steak Garlic Nacho Fries to Taco Bell customers using it for the Cheesy Dipping Burritos.

“The community showed us how powerful a simple drizzle of Creamy Garlic Sauce could be. What started as a fan hack quickly became a shared passion, and we made sure to listen,” Liz Matthews, global chief food innovation officer at Taco Bell, said in a statement. “Bringing back Cheesy Dipping Burritos alongside Steak Garlic Nacho Fries celebrates the role our fans played in this menu innovation and delivers the bold flavors garlic lovers have been craving.”

Creamy Garlic Sauce wasn’t the only thing I had to bring myself up to speed on for this wave of Taco Bell releases. The Quesarito became part of NBA lore when the Denver Nuggets drafted Nikola Jokić ... during a commercial for the Quesarito.

“We heard our fans loud and clear,” Luis Restrepo, chief marketing officer at Taco Bell said in a statement. “Their passion turned the Quesarito into a Taco Bell legend and bringing it back for the holidays felt like the perfect way to celebrate that energy. And as for the moment that helped keep its story alive — Jokić, we hope there are no hard feelings.”

It turns out Jokić still has hard feelings.

Welp, doesn’t mean that the rest of us can’t enjoy all these returning Taco Bell items!

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What they cost

Both versions of the Cheesy Dipping Burritos are $5.49, Steak Garlic Nacho Fries are $4.99, the Quesarito is $4.99 and a regular-sized Confetti Cookie Freeze is $3.99.

My thoughts

Everyone ready for a magical journey through the latest Taco Bell menu? Let’s do it.

Cheesy Dipping Burritos Slow-Roasted Chicken

As I mentioned before, I missed the release of the Cheesy Dipping Burritos last year, but I was eager to try them this go-around. Taco Bell described them as “dip-ready, snack-sized burritos,” which need to be torn apart before you can dip them. (They’re basically the Kit Kats of Taco Bell food.)

Regardless of the meat you choose for your Cheesy Dipping Burritos, they’re also filled with Taco Bell’s three-cheese blend and avocado ranch sauce. In the case of the slow-roasted chicken option, this mixture of fillings led to a very soggy tiny burrito. Everything kind of ran together, and this version of the Cheesy Dipping Burrito lacked anything that would add some texture when biting into one.

Snack score

🍪🍪 (2 out of 5 cookies)

Cheesy Dipping Burritos Steak

The steak version of the Cheesy Dipping Burritos were a different story. I’ve really gotten on board with steak as a protein in Taco Bell items while reviewing new offerings for Snackology this year. (I’m a huge fan of the California Crunchwrap, the Fan Style Menu item that added steak to a Crunchwrap. Genius and delicious.)

If you’re going to get the Cheesy Dipping Burritos, I’d highly recommend going with steak as your meat of choice. It stands on its own and actually creates bites that have some nuance to them.

While Taco Bell also offers Creamy Chipotle Sauce and Nacho Cheese Sauce as options to go with the Cheesy Dipping Burritos, I chose the acclaimed Creamy Garlic Sauce for mine.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)

Steak Garlic Nacho Fries

While the Steak Garlic Nacho Fries are nowhere near as pretty in real life as they look in Taco Bell’s promotional materials, they’re still pretty darn tasty. I’m not an economist so I can’t grasp the supply and demand involved with Taco Bell repeatedly taking Nacho Fries off the menu, but they really should be a permanent option. They elevate pretty much every Taco Bell item (looking at you again, California Crunchwrap), and are a much sturdier base for Taco Bell nachos than standard tortilla chips that are without a doubt going to be soggy by the time your food makes it home.

In the case of Steak Garlic Nacho Fries, we once again get steak, this time mixing it up with the Creamy Garlic Sauce, Nacho Cheese Sauce, cheese and pico de gallo. I’ve found just about every version of Taco Bell’s Nacho Fries to be irresistible.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5 cookies)

Quesarito

Look, if Nikola Jokić refuses to eat a Quesarito, I’ll do it for him. This was my first time trying a Quesarito, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around exactly what I ate. Not in terms of taste. Taste-wise, it was fantastic. But architecturally? Maybe Taco Bell can better explain ...

The first rule of burritos is that burritos are best when they’re also quesadillas. Hence why the Quesarito exists. We start with a quesadilla, and then treat that quesadilla like a burrito, full of seasoned beef, creamy chipotle sauce, reduced fat sour cream, nacho cheese sauce, and seasoned rice. The second rule of burritos is that there are no rules to burritos.

Huh. I dunno if that helps. I didn’t realize there were rules when it came to burritos, but I’ll gladly abide by them if it means I can eat another quesarito.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5 cookies)

Confetti Cookie Freeze

When I was putting together my game plan for Taco Bell on Tuesday, I didn’t envision that plan involving sprinkles. But then I went over to the beverages tab in the Taco Bell app with the intention of adding a Baja Blast Zero Sugar to my order and found the Confetti Cookie Freeze waiting to surprise me.

I didn’t even read up on what a Confetti Cookie Freeze was before I tapped the button to add this one to my order, but after the fact I learned that the beverage is a “sweet vanilla frozen slushy blended with rainbow sprinkles, a pink sugar cookie flavored syrup and finished with a swirl of creamy vanilla creme.”

I don’t know where this one came from or who over at Taco Bell snuck in onto the menu (did they have sprinkles left over from the Birthday Cake Churros?), but I love the Confetti Cookie Freeze. I ordered a regular-sized one in an attempt to show some restraint, and I absolutely regretted not getting the large version. What a delightful treat to go with my Taco Bell meal.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪 (5 out of 5 cookies)

Cheesy Dipping Burritos, Steak Garlic Nacho Fries, the Quesarito and Confetti Cookie Freeze were provided to Snackology for this independent review.