El Pollo Loco Launches Meatless Chicken Taco on Its Menu

Rejoice. Your road trippin’ just got a lot better with a new meatless chicken taco option at fast-food heavyweight El Pollo Loco. This is the first meatless protein on its menu; they’ve gone all in making it available at its 480 locations nationwide. The taco is best described as “vegetarian” or “meatless”; it’s not vegan or plant-based since the “chicken” protein does contain an egg enzyme.

As part of El Pollo Loco’s new “Mix & Match Street Tacos” lineup (which also includes a keto taco and a few other meat-forward options), the Chickenless Pollo Taco contain what they call a plant-based protein, slow-simmered in a sauce of fire roasted peppers, onions, and tomatoes, and topped with queso fresco, lettuce, and fresh avocado. It’s wrapped in a new corn and flour artisan tortilla.

“Coming off the heels of the successful launch of better-for-you limited-time offerings earlier this year, our customers wanted more,” says Mark Hardison, SVP of Marketing at El Pollo Loco. “We’re thrilled to expand on that with the new Mix & Match Street Tacos that were created to fit every taste preference and lifestyle, as well as debut our first plant-based protein and Keto taco.”

While we’ll take progress where we can get it—and this is certainly a step in the right direction, that should be celebrated—we do hope El Pollo Loco reformulates its chicken substitute option to make its offerings truly and intentionally animal-free so everyone can enjoy.