Review - Taco Bell Home Originals Bold and Creamy Sauces - Chipotle, Spicy Ranchero and Jalapeno
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Kraft Foods has worked a licensing deal with Taco Bell to use the fast food company's name in a number of nationally-available grocery products. For better or worse, a goodly amount of these branded Mexican-style foods are very much like you'd find at your local Taco Bell, some are noticeably different, while other things only exist for purchase at your grocery stores.
One such thing you won't find at a Taco Bell location is the "Home Originals" threesome lineup of Bold and Creamy Sauces. Okay, according to the Taco Bell website there is a Creamy Jalapeno Sauce available in some regions, but the Chipotle and Spicy Ranchero versions are unique to supermarket buyers only.
Uniform in all three of these condiments are their packaging. They come in 8 oz. squeezable plastic bottles with large flow restrictors covering the end of the bottle (which is okay this time, as tilting the bottle and applying a gentle squeeze is adequate enough to extract hefty amounts of each sauce).
The labels look nice on each one, and the bright colors of each sauce is more than enough to differentiate them, even those with sleepy eyes looking in the fridge for a condiment to put on a late night snack.
The liquids themselves are thick and creamy with the consistency and viscosity of a thick salad dressing. Each sauce looks appealing, being bespeckled with ingredients that give them an interesting appearance. The two orange-colored ones, Chipotle and Spicy Ranchero, aren't easily mistaken for one another as the former has a much brighter, almost-nuclear hue compared to the Spicy Ranchero's paler tint.
All three retail for around $2.50 plus tax whether you pick this up in a grocery store or an online outlet.
Bold and Creamy Chipotle Sauce
Ingredients:
Soybean Oil, Water, Whey (from Milk), Vinegar, Buttermilk (Dried), Salt, Egg Yolks, Sugar, Contains Less than 2% of Maltodextrin, Modified Food Starch, Garlic (Dried), Chipotle Chile Pepper Puree, Spice, Garlic Juice, Onions (Dried), Citric Acid, Chipotle Chili Pepper, Xanthan Gum, Phosphoric Acid, Red Bell Pepper (Dried), Natural Flavor, Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate, Extractives of Paprika, Natural Smoke Flavor, with Sorbic Acid and Calcium Disodium EDTA as Preservatives.
Bold and Creamy Chipotle Sauce
Thoughts:
The Chipotle sauce packs rich, smoky tones with almost hints of bacon or even cheddar cheese but not quite. It brings an "A Game" to your food without totally dominating the taste, and I like that. It would be way too obvious to point out that Bold and Creamy Chipotle Sauce is suitable on Mexican food (I tested this out on both nachos and burritos). It would also be killer on a hot dog, a Southwest chicken wrap or even fixed in with some chicken salad. Heat-wise this is the perkiest of the trio of review subjects, reaching a 1.5 or 3 on a 1 to 5 scale, and no doubt the dairy elements do their part at subduing the burn. Bottom line is this is an unabashedly killer sauce.
Rating: 
Bold and Creamy Spicy Ranchero Sauce
Ingredients:
Soybean Oil, Water, Whey (from Milk), Vinegar, Buttermilk (Dried), Salt, Egg Yolks, Sugar, Contains Less than 2% of Spice, Tomato (Dried), Modified Food Starch, Garlic (Dried), Garlic Juice, Onions (Dried), Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Yeast Extract, Phosphoric Acid, Gum Arabic, Corn Syrup, Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate, Natural Flavor, Artificial Color, with Sorbic Acid and Calcium Disodium EDTA as Preservatives.
Thoughts:
My, my, my. The Spicy Ranchero was big disappointment to my taste buds. Upon tasting, this was reminiscent of Sweet Baby Ray's Creamy Buffalo Wing Dipping Sauce in that it's sissified as all get out. In analyzing the flavor, there were faint peppery elements detectable on my tongue yet hardly anything that I would classify as "bold". It's as if someone took a bottle of normal ranch dressing and added a teaspoon of the weakest hot sauce they could find, threw in a few pinches of garlic and black pepper and called it a day. I think that anyone at home could create their own concoction and come up with a better condiment.
Spicy Ranchero has got a tiny bit of kick to it yet overall falls flat. You should avoid this unless you're just wanting to add some creaminess or moisture to your sandwich or taco.
Rating: 
Bold and Creamy Spicy Jalapeno Sauce
Ingredients:
Soybean Oil, Water, Whey (from Milk), Vinegar, Buttermilk (Dried), Salt, Egg Yolks, Sugar, Jalapeno Peppers, Contains Less than 2% of Maltodextrin, Modified Food Starch, Garlic Juice, Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes), Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Garlic (Dried), Yeast Extract, Phosphoric Acid, Red and Green Bell Peppers (Dried), Parsley (Dried), Spinach (Dried), Spice, Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate, Sodium Phosphate, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Beta Carotene (Color), Blue 1, Red 40, Yellow 6, with Sorbic Acid and Calcium Disodium EDTA as Preservatives.
Thoughts:
I kind of like the Jalapeno sauce. It's not as blustery or plucky as I would have preferred yet it's got a nice, mild personality that's agreeable. I dig its smoothness that is characterized by a light jalapeno taste and warmth along with hints of garlic and bell peppers. A minor drawback I encountered with this one is that while Bold and Creamy Jalapeno is not "gritty" in texture, you can easily tell that this has been created dried and powered ingredients, a fact that's very evident upon taking a big bite of this.
This is non-offensive and should appeal to those with mild mouths (no doubt Kraft's target audience) or for chileheads looking for a more "dairy-like" additive to their dishes as opposed to a spicier one.
Rating: 
Bold and Creamy Spicy Ranchero Sauce (left) and Jalapeno Sauce
Chipotle Suace - great on a burrito
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Comments
2011-07-20 00:07:14
2011-07-20 14:44:42
2011-07-21 07:45:57
One could also add a drop of The Jester to their chosen Taco Bell sauce to achieve the same original flavor with a Chile Head's heat. Mmmmm.
2011-07-21 12:22:54
2011-07-21 12:59:08
2011-07-21 14:09:45
I will have to give the Chipotle one a try though it looked as if it might be good.
Thanks Scott for your informative reviews.
Tracy Carter
JAC's Tailgaters
2011-07-22 23:14:45
2011-07-29 11:03:41
2011-07-29 12:23:34
2011-08-05 06:03:34
2011-09-23 12:45:15
2011-10-24 20:23:02
2011-11-06 16:51:44
2012-01-18 14:33:23
2012-01-28 00:14:36
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