Taco Bell Adding Plant-Based Meat To Menu As Soon As This Year

With several fast food heavyweights such as Burger King, Subway, and even Del Taco diving into the plant-based meat game, it was a little odd that the oft-innovative Taco Bell hadn’t joined in on the vegetarian trend.

Newly minted CEO Mark King seems to have had enough, and proclaimed that the chain would start incorporating plant-based meats “in the next year,” according to Bloomberg.

King even said he met with both Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, the two biggest names in plant-based meat, and the go-to producers for most of these big fast food chains who have adopted veggie meats.

While King hinted at using Beyond or Impossible, it is a bit of a surprise since Taco Bell has actually put together its own proprietary blend of plant-based meat, which has been used in locations throughout Europe.

The oat-based meat, known as the “Oatrageous” taco or burrito, consisted of pulled oats, legumes and standard Taco Bell seasonings.

The oat meat was scheduled to be available at all Europe Taco Bells by summer 2020, and a U.S. transition only felt natural.

Whichever way Taco Bell decides to go, it’s about time they made the move, as they have always had an inadvertently vegetarian-friendly menu, but had fallen behind in the plant-based meat wars.