I tried Chipotle’s new TikTok menu hacks and the experience reminded me why I have a love-hate relationship with the chain, Business Insider
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- I’m pretty sure Chipotle has become too cool for me.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
- Chipotle released three new official menu hacks on TikTok this week.
- So even though I pledged not to order from chain restaurants during the pandemic, I couldn’t say no to the task of taste testing these menu hacks – mostly because that’s my job.
- Using TikTok instructionals, I ordered and assembled the ingredients for DIY nachos, extra dip, and a taco salad. The results? Glorious, and also horrifying.
- TL;DR: maybe TikTok isn’t the best way to communicate cooking instructions. And all Chipotle food basically tastes the same.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Once upon a time, there was a young lady who lived to eat food. When she grew up, she got a job eating food. Then, things got weird.
The pandemic booted me out of my cushy job as a fast-food taste tester and forced me to address the difficult reality that restaurants everywhere are facing. I pledged that I wouldn’t order from a chain restaurant during the pandemic because independents just need the support more (although many franchisees are small business owners).
However, work is work. And when Chipotle released official TikTok menu hacks, I was confronted with two familiar nemeses: cheese, and Gen Z – both of which Chipotle has mastered. The chain’s “Culture Hunters” use influencers and guacamole to generate massive buzz on TikTok for its brand. Yes, the Culture Hunters are watching you.
I fired up the rusty ol’ Chipotle app on my phone and followed the ordering instructions on the TikTok videos. The three dishes on the menu are DIY nachos, extra dip (with the slang usage of the word “extra”), and a taco salad.
The first thing I noticed when I was trying to figure out how to order is that TikTok videos move way too quickly for my millennial old fart brain. I had to pause every second to make out the instructions, and the ASMR-style taco salad video was especially hard to follow because not only did it move too quickly, it also had no words.
Is Chipotle becoming too cool for me? Am I becoming too uncool for Chipotle? Do people even use the word “cool” anymore?
After much pain, glory arrived in the form of three bowls, three bags of chips, and more sauce than I knew what to do with.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Bowl one: nacho toppings. It’s a chicken burrito bowl with no rice, half black beans, half pinto beans, guac, pico, corn salsa, sour cream, and cheese.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Bowl two: extra dip. It’s a veggie burrito bowl with no rice, light black beans, guac, pico, corn salsa, tomatillo salsa, sour cream, and queso blanco.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Bowl three: chicken salad. It’s a chicken salad bowl with no rice (sensing a pattern here?), black beans, chipotle-honey vinaigrette, guac, pico, corn salsa, and extra cheese.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Each of these must be ordered with their own bag of chips, and one with chips and queso.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
For the nachos, you’re supposed to broil the chips in your oven for a minute.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
I tried spreading the queso evenly but it came out in gooey lumps.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
In the end, I resorted to using my fingers to spread the cheese. Do not try this at home.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
For the extra dip chips, you need fresh lime and Tajin seasoning. I only had a lime.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Turns out a lime half is still quite the match for my puny hand. Suddenly, I smelled burning and rushed to my oven.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Alas! Having literally never broiled anything before in my life, this was not a good start.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
But my charred chips looked a lot better covered up.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
As someone who generally considers herself to be a decent cook, this was a little embarrassing for me.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
But I was shocked by how delicious these still were.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
I wasn’t expecting to love it, but the simple genius of putting crispy chips and superheated queso with classic Chipotle burrito ingredients just worked.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
It had all the right flavors in all the right places. I’d add double the queso next time, though.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Next, it was time to dig into the extra dip.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Why yes, this dip was indeed extra. I’d ordered way too much food for any sedentary, pint-sized human female.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
The dip was a lot more salsa-forward than the nachos, but I kinda liked that. It tasted fresher, lighter, and creamier.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Maybe Chipotle fillings are just really good with chips.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Finally, I moved onto the salad. I dumped my bowl in a bigger bowl, as per the TikTok instructional.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
I crushed the chips in their bag, reveling in the crunch like a hungry Godzilla.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
The vinaigrette is, according to Chipotle, essential. So I dumped it all in — big mistake.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Next, I dumped in about half of the crushed chips from the bag.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
In the TikTok video, the ASMR lady stylishly drizzles her salad with Tabasco. I only had RedHot.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
The result was a salad that was as salty as it was bland. Too few leaves, way too many non-leafy objects.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
I regretted the vinaigrette, “essential” though it may be. Next time, I may put in half the cup instead of the whole thing.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
If the salad was leafier, the crunch of lettuce and chip together would have been refreshing. But its other elements were just too overpowering.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Oh yeah, and can we talk about how you sometimes just find a rock-hard bit of avocado in your Chipotle guac? This one was almost as crunchy as an apple.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
The nachos, though delicious, also started weighing down my gut after a few bites.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
I had resented myself for burning the chips, but I was starting to blame Chipotle. After all, who wants to turn on an oven after spending the money to buy lunch?
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
What made the whole meal worth it, though, was the extra dip. Again, not “extra” like extraneous, but “extra” like all the ingredients of a burrito bowl in a dip.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
Now, back to our usual programming. So long, and thanks for all the chips.
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- Irene Jiang/Business Insider
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