Cantina Chicken Bowl vs Power Bowl: Compared

Two bowls, two eras, one idea: a rice-and-beans bowl with more protein than a burrito. The Cantina Chicken Bowl is the current slow-roasted-chicken bowl on the menu; the Power Menu Bowl is the 2014 high-protein platform it descends from, in chicken, steak and veggie versions. They are not the same bowl with two names — they are two different builds from two different launches — and the numbers for both are disputed enough that this page shows the dispute instead of hiding it.

The bowls, side by side

Two figures on this table are disputed, and they are flagged rather than settled. The Cantina Chicken Bowl's calories are listed at 580 in our dataset, but third-party listings give 470 and 530 — the spread is the widest conflict in this run's data pack, and the 580 should be treated as approximate until Taco Bell's current panel is re-checked. The Steak Power Bowl's price is $9.49 in our dataset against $7.79 on a third-party menu site. Neither figure is printed here as settled fact.

What is in each bowl

The Cantina Chicken Bowl is slow-roasted chicken, seasoned rice, black beans, lettuce, purple cabbage, pico de gallo, guacamole, Avocado Ranch sauce, reduced-fat sour cream and cheddar cheese, with Avocado Verde Salsa. The Power Menu Bowl dates to the July 2014 "Cantina Power" launch: a double portion of marinated fire-grilled chicken or USDA-select steak, black beans, premium Latin rice, romaine, pico de gallo, guacamole, cheddar and reduced-fat sour cream. The launch claim was 29g of protein in the Burrito and 28g in the Bowl, each for 500 calories or less — and the launch prices were $4.99 for the Chicken Bowl and $5.19 for the Steak Bowl, which are historical figures, not today's prices.

Which bowl is the better buy

On the dataset figures, the Chicken Power Menu Bowl is the lighter and cheaper of the two chicken bowls — 460 calories at $8.09 against the Cantina Chicken Bowl's disputed 580 at $8.39 — and the Veggie Power Menu Bowl is the lightest and cheapest of all at 430 calories and $6.49. But the comparison is really about the build: the Cantina bowl is the slow-roasted-chicken build with purple cabbage and Avocado Verde Salsa, and the Power Bowl is the fire-grilled build from the 2014 protein platform. If you want the most protein per calorie, the Power Bowls are the better line; if you want the current Cantina chicken build, that is the bowl to order. Either way, total the full order — drink included — in the nutrition calculator, and treat the Cantina Chicken Bowl's calorie figure as approximate until the conflict is resolved.

About this guide's data

Every figure in this guide comes from one dataset: sampled Taco Bell prices and published nutrition, compiled and verified in October 2026 (prices are re-checked monthly, and every data page carries its verification stamp). Rankings state their rule in the open and are computed from those rows — never voted on, never estimated. Where a value is missing it is shown as missing, and each named item links to its own page, where the full label, allergen record and sampled price range can be checked. Prices vary by location; nutrition values are the published figures for the standard build.