Melty & Fresca Pepper Jack Steak Burritos

What is in each burrito

The trade-off is stark: Melty is 60 calories lighter and carries nearly twice the protein (18g vs 10g), while Fresca costs 60 more calories for the fresh crunch — tomato, lettuce and red fiesta strips — and the reviewer preferred it anyway, scoring it 8/10 against Melty's 7/10. If protein per dollar is the measure, Melty wins at 6g of protein per dollar against Fresca's 3.3g; if flavour is the measure, the review says Fresca. Both panels are The Impulsive Buy's July 28, 2026 review panels; no official Taco Bell panel for either burrito was found in the sources checked.

Price, availability, and the sauce-swap trap

The launch price was $3 at both reviewers' stores, and October 2026 listings still show them near it — DoorDash Holmen, Wisconsin at $3.72 and allmenus at $3.66–$4.26 (delivery prices run higher than in-store). One listing trap to avoid: allmenus Virginia Beach also lists a "Melty Steak Burrito" and a "Fresca Steak Burrito" made with Creamy Jalapeño sauce instead of Pepper Jack. Those are the same burritos with a sauce swap, not separate items, and they are not given their own pages here. As limited-time items, either burrito can disappear by location without announcement — check your store's menu before a special trip.

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.