Taco Bell offers a variety of savory sides, such as cheesy fiesta potatoes, chips with nacho cheese, pinto beans topped with cheese, and black beans and rice. For those unsatisfied with those side options, popular Taco Bell worker Caleb Lennon (@caleb_lennon) offered an alternative—one he created.
In a video with over 853,000 views, Lennon shared what the “cheap side” is. “Instead of ordering a side of rice from Taco Bell, you should order two sides of rice with … cheese … on top,” the TikToker, who has 486,000 followers, suggested.
He demonstrated by dumping the two sides of rice into a larger container and sprinkling cheese on top. He then placed the container into the oven, and the cheese melted into the rice. “Ask for it steamed,” he encouraged.
Caleb took the concoction out of the oven and doused it in fire sauce.
“It’s a nice little cheap side, and it’s pretty good,” he concluded.
@caleb_lennon Would you get this? #tacobell ♬ original sound – Caleb
The Daily Dot reached out to Lennon via TikTok comment and direct message. In his comments section, viewers shared that they were afraid to place such an order.
“My local taco bell would tell me to kick rocks if I asked for this, brother,” one said.
“All I’d get if I asked for this is an attitude lmao,” another claimed.
And with good reason. One viewer said a worker told them to apply for a job at Taco Bell if they wanted to create their own menu items.
Lennon called it a “cheap side.” But some took aim at the cost of such an item. While Taco Bell doesn’t offer a side of rice as an official menu offering, it does offer a side of rice and beans for $2.79 and a side of just beans for $2.59. So a side of rice would cost around those prices. Times that by two, and add in the cheese, which costs 75 cents extra, and the dish would likely come out to over $5.
“Yeah a side of rice is like $2 so $4 for rice & another $1 or so for cheese plus tax is like $6 for rice…. how is this a cheap snack?” one user remarked.
“This is like $4-$5. not really a ‘cheap side’. for that price, I can get 2 cravings items or for a dollar more the BYOB deal,” a second noted.
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