Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco: 5 Sweet Facts
The Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco is officially here, giving fans another chance to enjoy a nostalgic ice cream taco with a fresh twist. Taco Bell has teamed up with Portland-based ice cream company Salt & Straw for a new limited-time dessert that combines creamy churro-flavored ice cream, a crispy waffle cone shell, dark chocolate-flavored coating and crunchy puffed rice.
The new dessert arrived at participating Taco Bell restaurants nationwide on September 1, 2026. It follows the huge response to last year’s Tacolate, another Salt & Straw collaboration inspired by the discontinued Choco Taco.
For fans who still remember the classic Choco Taco, the new creation offers a familiar format without simply copying the original. Instead, Taco Bell and Salt & Straw have built a dessert around churro flavors and crunchy textures.
Here are five important things to know about Taco Bell’s latest sweet release.
1. Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco Is Inspired by the Choco Taco
The biggest reason this dessert is attracting attention is its connection to the Choco Taco.
The original Choco Taco became a nostalgic favorite for generations of ice cream fans. The dessert combined a taco-shaped waffle cone with vanilla ice cream, chocolate and crunchy toppings. Klondike discontinued the product in 2022, leaving fans disappointed and creating years of online nostalgia around the treat.
Taco Bell is not bringing back the original Choco Taco. Instead, the company is giving the concept a new identity through its partnership with Salt & Straw.
The first collaboration arrived in 2025 as the Tacolate. That dessert featured cinnamon-ancho chili ice cream inside a waffle cone taco, along with chocolate and crunchy toppings. The limited release became a major talking point and reportedly sold out during its launch weekend.
The 2026 version takes a different direction.
Rather than using the cinnamon-ancho profile from the Tacolate, the new dessert focuses on churro flavor. That makes it sweeter and more directly connected to one of Taco Bell’s familiar flavor themes.
2. The New Dessert Has a Crunchy, Chocolate-Coated Shell
The Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco is built around texture as much as flavor.
The dessert features creamy Churro Ice Cream inside a crispy waffle cone shell. The outside receives a dark chocolate-flavored coating and a layer of puffed rice for additional crunch.
That combination gives the dessert several different textures in one bite.
There is the crispness of the waffle cone. Then comes the creamy ice cream, followed by the chocolate coating and crunchy puffed rice. The contrast is designed to make the dessert feel more substantial than a standard scoop of ice cream.
The waffle cone also gives the dessert its signature taco shape.
That shape is important because it separates the product from conventional ice cream cones or sandwiches. It also keeps the visual connection to the Choco Taco concept without recreating the discontinued product exactly.
3. Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco Costs About $3.99
The new dessert is priced at approximately $3.99, although prices can vary by location.
That puts the Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco in the range of an affordable limited-time fast-food dessert rather than a premium restaurant dessert. The nationwide rollout also gives customers significantly more opportunities to try it than the original Tacolate collaboration.
Taco Bell confirmed that the dessert is available for a limited time while supplies last.
That final detail could be important.
The 2025 Tacolate generated enough demand to sell out quickly, so fans interested in the new version may not want to wait until the final weeks of the promotion.
Limited-time products can also vary in availability between individual restaurants. Customers should therefore check their local Taco Bell before making a special trip.
4. There Is Also a New Choco-Waffle Chiller
The ice cream taco isn’t the only dessert coming from the Taco Bell and Salt & Straw partnership.
Taco Bell is also introducing the Salt & Straw Choco-Waffle Chiller, a frozen drink inspired by the same dessert concept.
The Choco-Waffle Chiller combines vanilla ice cream with churro crumbles and waffle cone pieces. It is served with a crackable chocolate shell and topped with whipped cream and additional waffle cone pieces.
However, there is an important difference in availability.
While the Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco is being offered at Taco Bell restaurants nationwide for a limited time, the Choco-Waffle Chiller is exclusive to select Live Más Café locations.
The drink is available in Southern California, Dallas, Houston and Las Vegas, according to Taco Bell’s announcement.
The Chiller essentially turns the ice cream taco concept into a drinkable dessert.
Instead of biting into a waffle cone shell, customers get a creamy frozen beverage filled with crunchy pieces and chocolate. That gives Taco Bell another way to capitalize on the same combination of chocolate, ice cream, churro flavor and waffle cone.
5. Taco Bell Is Leaning Into Dessert Nostalgia
The launch of the Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco is part of a broader strategy from the fast-food chain: take recognizable foods and turn them into unexpected new formats.
Taco Bell has increasingly experimented with desserts, frozen drinks and unusual combinations. Its 2026 menu lineup includes products such as Chocolate Fudge & Caramel Empanadas and other dessert-focused creations.
The company has also identified demand for smaller indulgent treats and creative beverages as an area of interest.
That makes the ice cream taco particularly well suited to the brand.
It is visually distinctive, easy to discuss on social media and connected to an established piece of food nostalgia. At the same time, Taco Bell can put its own spin on the idea instead of simply reproducing an old product.
Why the Choco Taco Connection Matters
The Choco Taco disappeared from the market several years ago, but its popularity has not completely disappeared.
For many consumers, the dessert represents a specific era of ice cream trucks, convenience stores and childhood snacks. Its taco-shaped waffle cone also made it instantly recognizable.
That nostalgia gives Taco Bell an opportunity.
Instead of asking consumers to forget the original, the company can remind them of it while presenting something new. The Salt & Straw collaboration effectively turns nostalgia into a starting point for experimentation.
The approach also explains why the 2025 Tacolate received so much attention.
The Tacolate was not a direct replacement for the Choco Taco. It was a premium reinterpretation that combined the recognizable shape with Salt & Straw’s more unusual flavor profile. Its rapid sellout showed that there was significant consumer interest in the format.
The 2026 Churro version takes that lesson and expands the audience.
Because it is available nationwide at Taco Bell restaurants, far more customers can potentially try the new dessert.
How the 2026 Version Differs From the Tacolate
The two collaborations share the same basic idea but are not identical.
The 2025 Tacolate featured cinnamon-ancho chili ice cream, a waffle cone taco shell, dark chocolate and crunchy toasted brown rice. It also came with Mango Jalapeño Sauce and Wildberry Cinnamon Sauce.
The new Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco changes the flavor direction.
It uses Churro Ice Cream and combines it with a crispy waffle cone shell, dark chocolate-flavored coating and puffed rice.
That creates a dessert that should feel more immediately familiar to customers who enjoy cinnamon and churro-inspired sweets.
It is also a simpler proposition.
Instead of relying on multiple dipping sauces, the new version builds its main flavors directly into the ice cream, shell and toppings.
When and Where Can You Get the Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco?
The Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco officially launched on September 1, 2026.
Taco Bell says it is available at participating restaurants nationwide for a limited time and while supplies last.
Because availability can differ between restaurants, customers should check the Taco Bell app or website for participating locations before ordering.
The company is also giving Taco Bell Rewards members another opportunity to get the dessert through a special Tuesday Drop on September 8.
According to Taco Bell, the promotion will feature a limited-edition Salt & Straw x Taco Bell cooler containing three Churro Ice Cream Tacos. Only 100 coolers are available as part of the promotion.
That giveaway adds another layer of scarcity to an already limited-time product.
Is Taco Bell Bringing Back the Original Choco Taco?
No.
The original Choco Taco remains discontinued. The new Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco is a separate dessert created with Salt & Straw.
That distinction is important for longtime fans.
Although the new dessert shares the taco-shaped waffle cone concept and chocolate elements associated with the Choco Taco, it has its own ice cream flavor and construction.
In other words, customers should think of it as a Choco Taco-inspired successor, rather than an official return of the original.
Why This Dessert Could Become Another Viral Taco Bell Item
Taco Bell has built a reputation for turning unusual food ideas into social-media-friendly menu launches.
The Churro Ice Cream Taco has several ingredients that make it naturally suited to online attention: a nostalgic concept, an unusual shape, a recognizable brand partnership and a limited-time release.
The previous Tacolate collaboration demonstrated how quickly interest could build around an ice cream taco.
The 2026 version also has an advantage that the original collaboration did not have.
It is being sold through Taco Bell restaurants nationwide.
That means customers who saw videos and posts about the dessert in 2025 but could not find it locally have a much better chance of trying the new version.
The Bottom Line
The Taco Bell Churro Ice Cream Taco is Taco Bell’s latest attempt to transform nostalgia into something new.
The limited-time dessert combines Churro Ice Cream, a crispy waffle cone shell, dark chocolate-flavored coating and puffed rice. It arrives nationwide after the strong response to the 2025 Tacolate collaboration with Salt & Straw.
The dessert costs around $3.99, although prices can vary by location.
For fans of the discontinued Choco Taco, it offers a familiar shape and flavor combination without pretending to be the original. For Taco Bell, meanwhile, it represents another opportunity to turn an unconventional dessert into a highly shareable limited-time experience.
There is also the Choco-Waffle Chiller for customers near participating Live Más Café locations, giving the collaboration a second format built around chocolate, ice cream, churro crumbles and waffle cone pieces.
Ultimately, the biggest question is whether the new dessert can repeat the excitement of last year’s Tacolate.
With nationwide availability and a strong nostalgia factor, Taco Bell is clearly giving it a better chance.
External sources: Taco Bell Newsroom, PR Newswire, Food & Wine, Allrecipes.
Internal link opportunities: Add links to your site’s existing articles about Taco Bell menu updates, Taco Bell desserts, limited-time fast-food items, Choco Taco history, and Salt & Straw collaborations.
