Jack in the Box tacos aren't exactly gourmet fare, but lots of people love 'em — or love
to hate 'em. No matter how you feel, they're here to stay. But before you go pick up your
next pair of fried grease pockets, here's what you need to know.
There's really no reason to beat yourself up over a single meal. If you want to revisit
your college diet by swinging through a Jack in the Box drive-thru, we say go for it. But,
if you want to keep an eye on your health, there's something you should know: Jack in
the Box tacos are always sold as a pair or a trio, but the nutritional information on
the official website only counts for one taco. When you eat two tacos in a single sitting,
you're consuming 344 calories, 18 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 724 milligrams
of sodium, 32 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 12 grams of
protein.
Just something to keep in mind, particularly if two tacos are never quite enough for you.
Oh, and if you order four tacos, you're eating almost 700 calories, more than half the daily
recommended amount of sodium, and 12 grams of saturated fat. If you're generally a healthy
eater, treating yourself to the occasional taco binge is nothing to worry about. However,
if this is your regular mid-week lunch, it might be time to reassess. But at least you're
not alone. "The Wall Street Journal says Americans eat
554 million tacos a year from Jack in the Box but nobody really knows why."
Celebrities — they're just like us, right? Except they happen to have giant houses, private
jets, and fancy cars. But if you're starting to fear that you have absolutely nothing in
common with celebs, keep this in mind: many of them love to eat fast food, including Jack
in the Box tacos. Yes, apparently even celebrities crave these flimsy little grease bombs, just
like the rest of us. Take Cher, for example.
"When I was pregnant with Chaz, I used to Jack in the Box and have two tacos and a chocolate
shake and onion rings."
Pop star Selena Gomez apparently loves these tacos, too. According to The Daily Meal, she's
been spotted hitting the Jack in the Box drive-thru for her taco fix every now and again. And
for her 21st birthday, she skipped a traditional birthday cake, opting instead for a "taco
cake." That's a plate piled high with Jack in the Box tacos and topped with a "21" candle.
In case you're having a hard time digesting this morsel, she even posted photographic
evidence to Instagram, alongside the caption:
"My cake was... Jack n the box tacos... Yes."
Yes. Now if that doesn't scream "Jack in the Box taco super-fan," we don't know what does.
Two Jack in the Box tacos will only cost you 99 cents at most locations, and the price
hasn't changed for a very long time. That's definitely worth thinking about, considering
the brand needs to make a profit on the food it sells, and the cost of food has continued
to rise over the last 30 years. So how does Jack in the Box continue to make a profit
without increasing the cost of its tacos? Well, the answer is simple, really: These
tacos are very cheap to make.
According to a former Jack in the Box employee who detailed the costs of production on Clutch
Fans in 2007, each taco breaks down roughly as follows:
Shell: five cents Lettuce: two cents
Cheese: two cents Hot sauce: about a penny
"Meat-like substance": five cents Single bag: two cents
Seasonings: 10 cents.
In all, a single taco costs roughly 27 cents cents to make, so two tacos cost 54 cents
to make. That's not a lot of scratch. Then, add that measly minute that it reportedly
takes to fry up these two tacos, which costs an extra 11 cents, according to this employee.
That puts the grand total cost of two tacos at roughly 65 cents. So basically, every time
the company sells two tacos for 99 cents, it makes about 34 cents in profit. Of course,
these numbers may or not be completely accurate, but there's no doubt Jack in the Box is cranking
out these grease-smeared suckers at very little cost.
"Frankly the only thing that bothers me is gum costs more than these tacos, so I don't
know what's in them."
It's truly astonishing just how popular Jack in the Box tacos happen to be. According to
a 2017 article in The Wall Street Journal, the fast food chain sells roughly 554 million
of them every year. That's more than half a billion tacos. In fact, that's about 1,000
tacos eaten every minute. And when you consider the profit on two tacos is about 34 cents,
that means Jack in the Box ends up making about $94 million each year just from tacos
alone. But there's really no solid explanation for
the popularity of these tacos. Aside from being cheap, they're a far cry from what most
people would consider a good meal. The meat is questionable, to say the least. The shells
are deep-fried, and they're damn soggy from all that grease. Nevertheless, Jack in the
Box sells more tacos every year than McDonald's sells Big Macs. But how is that possible?
Drunk and stoned college kids are certainly one source of continued revenue, but they
can't be the only ones digging in. Perhaps it will always be a mystery, but there's no
denying that there's a very large cult following for these shameful delights.
It's true: Jack in the Box sells more than half a billion tacos each year,and that's
obviously a lot of tacos. But when you stop to think about what it takes to make those
tacos, it's even more astonishing. According to Delish, those taco shells constitute roughly
20 million pounds of corn. According to MSN News, that's basically the equivalent weight
of three Saturn V rockets — the rocket that took people to the moon in 1969. The company
also hands out more than 600 million packets of taco sauce each year. Presumably, they
aren't all used on the tacos, but damn, that's an awful lot of sauce! The mind reels.
Those "grill marks" on your taco shells? They're not a figment of your imagination — but
don't think for a minute that your taco is being lovingly grilled somewhere in the kitchen
before being served to you. According to the Wall Street Journal, Jack in the Box tacos
are created in various plants located in Texas and Kansas. That's where the tortillas are
made from stone-ground white corn. According to Delish, those grill marks are left behind
after the tacos travel down a conveyor belt, then, the shells are led through a 700-degree
oven, so they can get all nice and crispy. Much later, they're deep-fried at your local
Jack in the Box location somewhere.
And once the tortillas are cooked, they're filled with whatever Jack in the Box passes
off as beef. More on that whole drama in one greasy minute.
Jack in the Box seems to know that you shouldn't mess with a good thing. After all, when a
product is this popular, it's not a good idea to make changes that might screw everything
up.
Jack in the Box tacos are a perfect case in point. According to Mental Floss, the recipe
hasn't really changed in about 50 years. As they put it,
"[The recipe consists of a] seasoned meat lump, two triangles of American cheese, some
shredded iceberg lettuce, and a little sauce."
Sounds about right! One Jack in the Box customer took to Reddit to ask whether the taco frying
process has ever changed. That's when a former Jack in the Box employee explained how the
tacos are made. It's a process they claim hasn't been switched up in many, many years.
In fact, before frying their very first batch of tacos, this supposed employee was trained
by way of a video from the 80s.
"Hey Tina, did I ever tell you about the time I jumped my motorcycle over the Caspian Sea?"
"You better watch yourself, Ted!"
According to this Redditor, the frozen tacos are kept in a fridge next to the fryer. When
someone orders them — which is often! — they're pulled from the fridge and placed in a taco
holder, which is subsequently dunked in the fryer for a predetermined time.
When the shells are done frying, they're placed on a prep tray to be diligently opened and
filled with American cheese, a handful of lettuce, and a squirt of sauce. That's it!
That's the process that has never changed.
When it comes to Jack in the Box tacos, some people just can't get enough.
"This is a dream come true. I'm never leaving."
Nevertheless, basically every article that talks about Jack in the Box's tacos starts
off by describing just how bad they are, immediately followed by commentary about just how addictive
they are. One OC Weekly article even includes this line:
"I write not to derogate [DAIR-uh-gate] Jack in the Box tacos but to praise them — wrenching
digestive pains notwithstanding, dem snacks were more addictive than hillbilly heroin."
Meanwhile, Cactus Hugs writes that,
"Jack in the Box tacos are not, what's the word I am looking for, real food [...but they
are] amazing after a few beers."
In 2020, Jack in the Box released a new menu item called Tiny Tacos. According to CultureMap
Houston, they're exactly what they sound like — a box full of 15 tiny, deep-fried tacos,
each of which you can consume in about two bites. You can order them "loaded" with lettuce,
cheese, and taco sauce dumped on top... or you can order them plain, with a side of avocado-lime
dipping sauce.
Something worth noting: These aren't shrunken-down versions of the original tacos. The main difference
is that the larger tacos come with a meat-like filling, whereas the tiny tacos are filled
with chicken. Basically, don't order the Tiny Tacos and expect tiny versions of the original,
or else you'll be a tiny bit disappointed. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try them
— they're different but they're tasty.
"Try the new Tiny Tacos… delivered exclusively with Uber Eats."
The description for the "Two Tacos" on the Jack in the Box website never mentions meat.
like, at all. And it certainly never mentions beef. Instead, the write-up simply reads,
"Two crunchy tacos with American cheese, shredded lettuce, and taco sauce."
That's it. And if you click on the "Ingredients" link? You'll be taken to a page with the company's
allergen information, not a page with information about the tacos' ingredients.
If you're the kind of person who wants to know exactly what you're putting in your body,
the way the company side-steps describing the product's ingredients should be somewhat
concerning. But the information is out there if you're willing to look for it. According
to an article on Is It Bad For You,
"[The taco filling is] an unattractive looking paste containing texturized protein — which
is essentially soy flour with caramel coloring, as well as defatted soy grits."
The article goes on to say that the tacos do contain some beef and chicken in addition
to the more prominent textured vegetable proteins. Reportedly, the company can get away with
this because it doesn't actually promote the tacos as beef tacos. That's definitely food
for thought, no?
Earlier, we mentioned Selena Gomez's soon-to-be-legendary "taco cake," made of nothing more than Jack
in the Box tacos. Well, why not take a grease-stained, stomach-churning, health-incinerating page
from this very famous person?
The next time you need to feed a crowd, why not hit the Jack in the Box drive-thru to
stock up on tacos? For instance, if you're planning a Super Bowl party, throw a few bags
of chips on the table with an assortment of dipping sauces, then load a platter full of
Jack in the Box tacos. Just like that, your prep work is done! At about 50 cents per taco,
you can easily feed a crowd without breaking the bank.
Just think about it: Even if everyone at the party wants to eat four tacos,, that's only
$2 per person. As an article on Fansided points out, each taco comes in its own individual
wrapper, so it's more sanitary: You don't have to worry about lots of hands touching
all the food... which cuts down on the need for serving dishes. People can just grab a
taco when they want, using the sleeve in place of a disposable plate. Fast, easy, affordable,
and sanitary — what more could you want from party food?
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