The most unhealthy item on the Taco Bell menu is loaded with enough fat and calories to choke a horse. Actually, more like two great big Clydesdales.

The beef XXL Grilled Stuft Burrito takes the cake on a menu that is chock-full of high-calorie Mexican inspired indulgences.

I used to eat at least two of these every day when I weighed close to 400 pounds. They were part of my massive seven-item, 4,400 calorie daily Taco Bell binge.

Wrapped inside a large grilled tortilla is an artery-clogging combination of ground beef, cheese, rice, refried beans, sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo. The staggering nutrition values would be even higher if Taco Bell didn’t use reduced fat sour cream in the burrito.

As it stands now, you’ll need to run for the border a whole bunch of times to work off the beef XXL Grilled Stuft Burrito which has 860 calories and 41 grams of fat. Particularly alarming is the staggering 2,170 milligrams of sodium it contains!

It is widely known that people who go to Taco Bell and order just one thing are about as common as unicorns. The chain might as well change their slogan from “live más” to “eat más.”

Tacking on a couple of crunchy tacos and large Mountain Dew to round out the order adds an additional 750 calories and 19 grams of fat. That stomach is now packed with a total of 1,610 calories, 60 grams of fat, and more than a full day’s worth of salt!

On Taco Bell’s breakfast menu, the sausage Breakfast Crunchwrap is the calorie king with 700 to go with 46 grams of fat!

Here’s the full tale of the tape.

Most Unhealthy Item On The Taco Bell Menu

Beef XXL Grilled Stuft Burrito

Value: Total – % Daily Recommended Intake

Calories: 860 — 43%
Calories from fat: 370 — n/a
Total fat (g): 41 — 86%
Sat fat (g): 14 — 70%
Trans fat (g): 1 — n/a
Cholesterol (mg): 65 — 22%
Sodium (mg): 2170 — 90%
Total carbs (g): 91 — 30%
Fiber (g): 12 — 48%
Sugar (g): 6 — 24%
Protein (g): 32 — 64%

I Was Fat Shamed By A Taco Bell Employee

Healthier Option

Eating healthy at a fast food restaurant is no easy feat. However, depending on your nutritional goals, it may not be impossible.

You need to keep in mind that the quality of food is often much lower at these restaurants which can make eating clean perhaps the biggest challenge of all.

The good news is that it’s still possible to control fat and calories. A good start would be not to order the most unhealthy item on the Taco Bell menu. If possible, review the restaurant’s nutrition information before you go and figure out a meal that won’t derail your fitness progress. All of Taco Bell’s nutrition info is readily available on the chain’s website.

To keep from overdosing on fat and salt from the most unhealthy item on the Taco Bell menu, try the Shredded Chicken Fresco Soft Taco. The Fresco menu offering has just 140 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, and 470 milligrams of sodium. Even tripling up on these will limit your totals to a respectable 420 calories and 10.5 grams of fat. Sodium, however, is still concerning as each taco represents 20% of your daily requirement.

Daily Nutrition Guidelines

Calories: 2000
Total fat (g): 65
Sat fat (g): 20
Cholesterol (mg): 300
Sodium (mg): 2300
Total carbs (g): 300
Fiber (g): 25
Sugar (g)*: 25
Protein (g): 50

Most Unhealthy Items On The Menu

[catlist categorypage=yes orderby=name pagination=yes numberposts=10]

* Based on World Health Organization’s recommendation for added sugar. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends limiting sugar intake to 10% of daily calories.