‘Oil needs to be changed every 4,000 miles’: Jack in the Box worker shows how the tacos are made

Like Dorothy found out in The Wizard of Oz, sometimes peeking behind the curtain is a complicated matter. So it goes with Jack in the Box tacos.

The infamous and popular fast-food item is the subject of a TikTok video posted by creator @realjacknthecrack on May 4. The video currently has more than 10,000 comments and 560,000 views.

@realjacknthecrack How jack and the box tacos are made #jackinthebox #jackinthecrackhellyea #fyp #fypage ♬ GTA San Andreas Theme (Remake) – Ben Morfitt (SquidPhysics)

The video purports to show how tacos from Jack in the Box (referred to as “Jack and the Box” in the caption) are made.

In the wordless video, an unseen worker takes a pre-folded and apparently pre-filled tortilla out of the fridge. They place it on a frying rack and dip it into some very dark cooking oil—more on that later—and then they turn on the fryer.

The fried taco is emptied onto a messy prep station, then filled with a slice of processed cheese, shredded lettuce from a bag, and a squirt of hot sauce. The worker then displays the bagged taco.

The comments zeroed in on that cooking oil, which looks like it’s already seen a taco or two (or hundred). 

“Oil needs to be changed every 4,000 miles,” one commenter wrote. “That’s flavor my boi,” someone replied. 

Another person wrote, “why is the oil so dark? you guys change it?”

“Bro. The grease looks like root beer,” a viewer commented.

A few commenters fixated on the worker’s lack of food prep gloves in some moments of the video.

A viewer commented, “clean the mess,” and the creator replied, “No you.”

“Order them with no lettuce that way you always get them fresh and not the ones that have been sitting there for awhile,” someone commented. “We make everything fresh,” the creator replied.

“Thanks im never eating those again,” another person commented.

Still, you can’t keep a good-but-bad taco down.

Plenty of commenters chimed in to share their cravings. One wrote, “they still bustin tho,” and another wrote, “[‘They’re] so disgustingly good ugh love em.”

Another commented, “Them hit so different when you drunk,” and yet another wrote, “Best taco on the planet when it’s late and you just need a lil sum.”

Whatever your opinion on the preparation method displayed in the video, one must admit that the Jack in the Box taco is hardly a gourmet dish, nor can you deny its enduring appeal. A 2017 ode from GQ featured the headline, “The Jack in the Box Taco Is Disgusting and Perfect.” The same year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Americans eat 554 million Jack in the Box tacos a year. 

Two for 99 cents? Hard to beat that deal.

The ingredients of the taco aren’t a mystery; according to the restaurant chain’s website, they contain beef, water, ground dark chicken, textured vegetable protein, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, various seasonings, and a few industrial-sounding things like monosodium glutamate.

In recent months, TikTok creators have also claimed to show how the chain’s chicken teriyaki bowls and egg rolls are made.

The Daily Dot reached out for comment from the creator via TikTok and Jack in the Box via email and did not receive immediate responses Wednesday.