Taco Bell Nacho Fries, Burger King Whopper Melts, and More New Fast-Food Items to Try This Month

Fast-food restaurants are always innovating (and competing), and that means there's always some new menu item to try. McDonald's, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Subway, and other big chains introduce limited-time offerings regularly to entice customers to keep coming back. Here's what's new this month in the fast-food world. 

Prices and availability are subject to change and may vary by location.

Curious to see some of the wildest fast-food creations?  We rounded up the most over-the-top fast food of the past 10 years.

There's a lot going on at McDonald's right now. For the first time in the U.S., you can get the Big Mac sauce in cups to dip your McNuggets or fries into. If you really want, you can even dip the strawberry and creme pie, which is back for the summer, into it. And finally, the chain also announced that it's making changes to improve its burgers, including melting the cheese on top, adding onions to the patties on the grill, and cooking the beef at a higher temperature. It all sounds a little like PR spin to us, but you'll have to try it for yourself. 

Related: 35 Secrets for Better, Cheaper Meals at Your Favorite Chains

Arby's has a new lineup of sandwiches just in time for summer vibes. The bourbon BBQ country style rib sandwich is made with a Texas-style boneless pork rib with bourbon barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese, crispy onions, and sweet garlic and dill pickles. You can also get the same barbecue sauce, pickles, and onions on sliders with roast beef, chicken tender, or ribs. Plus, you can still get the King's Hawaiian sweet heat chicken or beef sandwiches and loaded fries. 

Related: Fast-Food Dishes With Downright Obsessive Followings

Starbuck's spring menu has arrived, and that includes the new cinnamon caramel cream nitro cold brew. It's got cinnamon and caramel flavors with a topping of cinnamon sweet cold foam and a sprinkle of cinnamon dolce topping.

Related: The Best Starbucks Secret Menu Drinks To Try Right Now

White Castle has brought back something hot for summer. The 1921 slider is modeled after the chain's original burgers, and this time it comes with spicy ghost pepper cheese along with grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, and pickles.

Related: 33 Things You Didn’t Know About White Castle

After a successful test in Denver and Indianapolis last year, Chipotle rolled out a new protein nationwide. Chicken al pastor is made with grilled chicken tossed in a marinade of adobo, morita peppers, pineapple, and achiote for a bright red color. Lime juice and fresh cilantro are tossed with it after it's grilled for a pop of freshness.

Related: Chipotle Employees Hated This Viral Hack So Now You Can't Order a Taco

Wendy's is taking direct aim at McDonald's with its new wrap that's practically a clone of the much beloved and long-gone Snack Wrap. It's made with a big flour tortilla around grilled chicken, shredded cheddar, lettuce, and buttermilk ranch dressing. (We weren't fans, to say the least, but maybe it was an off day.) Just in time for summer, there's also a new blueberry pomegranate lemonade, too.

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BK brought back its Whopper melts for a limited time. They come in three varieties: classic with all the Whopper toppings; spicy with jalapenos and a spicy sauce; and bacon with, you guessed it, bacon. They're all made on two slices of toasted bread, like a grilled cheese. For something hot, try the brand new spicy chicken fries with their orange, pepper-flecked coating.

Fan favorite nacho fries are back — again — at Taco Bell right now. They're coated with taco seasoning and come with a side of nacho cheese for dipping. But actually new is the California Breakfast Crunchwrap, which includes eggs, bacon, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, guacamole, and a crispy hash brown patty grilled inside a flour tortilla.

Cheesesteak is coming in pizza form at the Hut this month. The brand new cheesesteak pizza is topped with creamy alfredo sauce, strips of sirloin steak, green bell peppers, onions, parmesan, and oregano. You can also get it sandwich style in a melt that comes with a side of ranch for dipping.

Move over, Taco Bell: Papa Johns is coming for your Doritos seasoning. You can now get any of the Papadia flatbread sandwiches Cool Ranch Doritos style. They'll cover the outside in that unmistakable seasoning and drizzle a Cool Ranch flavored sauce inside. And since there's no such thing as too much ranch, you get a cup of sauce on the side for dipping as well.

Dairy Queen is gearing up for summer with two new items. The backyard bacon ranch Stackburger has two beef patties, white cheddar cheese, onion rings, bacon, honey barbecue sauce, and Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. If that doesn't put you in the mood for cookout weather, the churro dipped cone, coated in cinnamon sugar, ought to do it. Plus, there's two new summer Blizzard flavors this year: Oreo brookie and peanut butter puppy chow.

Sonic is trying to emulate backyard barbecues with its new Sonic Griller cheeseburger. It's got a single beef patty, two slices of American cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a new tangy comeback sauce. To drink, the Red Bull summer edition slush is back this year in Juneberry flavor, made with berry and grape flavors.

Rejoice, because it's fried pie season again! Hardee's is getting into the swing of it with a new blueberry and lemon cream cheese version. The refreshing combo includes a lemony cream cheese layer and a blueberry layer in a crispy pastry crust. For something more like lunch, try the new BLT hand-breaded chicken sandwich that includes lettuce, tomato, mayo, and bacon on top of a fried chicken breast.

Warmer weather means seafood at Del Taco. The crispy jumbo shrimp taco is made with fried jumbo shrimp, secret creamy sauce, cabbage, and pico de gallo in a flour tortilla. You can also get it with the chain's new buttery garlic parmesan sauce, with a quesadilla taco shell, or in a burrito.

Popeyes is heating things up by bringing back the fan favorite ghost pepper wings. They're marinated in a ghost pepper spice blend for at least 12 hours before being breaded and fried and served with ranch dressing for dipping. On the side, try the fruity new mango lemonade that's also available frozen.

Chick-fil-A is one of the best places to score a flavored lemonade, and it's just gotten even better. The new watermelon mint lemonade lineup includes four new drinks:

• Watermelon Mint Lemonade: lemonade mixed with watermelon and mint flavors
• Watermelon Mint Sunjoy: half and half watermelon mint lemonade and iced tea
  
• Frosted Watermelon Mint Lemonade: a frozen version blended with vanilla soft serve
  
• Watermelon Mint Iced Tea: watermelon and mint flavors mixed into iced tea

A new salad debuted at Panera this spring and it's perfect for summer. The Southwest Caesar salad has a bed of romaine topped with avocado, cilantro, grilled chicken breast, parmesan, Caesar dressing, chipotle aioli, and crunchy tortilla strips. Plus, fan favorite strawberry poppyseed salad is back as well.

Zaxby's brought back its Asian Zensation salad at a time when more fast-food chains are getting rid of salads altogether. A bed of mixed greens, red cabbage, and carrots is topped with Asian slaw, wonton strips, honey sesame teriyaki glaze, and fried, grilled, or plant-based chicken. You also get a veggie egg roll on the side, which is available as a standalone side dish as well.

Buffalo and ranch are a classic combo, and Whataburger is capitalizing on it. The buffalo ranch chicken strip sandwich comes with three crispy chicken strips, two slices of monterrey jack cheese, buttermilk ranch, and buffalo sauce. If you'd rather not have the bun, try the buffalo ranch chicken salad, with bacon, carrots, grape tomatoes, buffalo sauce, and blue cheese on a bed of lettuce with your choice of chicken and ranch dressing.

Smashburger combined two of Americans' favorite foods into one sandwich, the S'mac and cheese burger. The mac and cheese is smashed on the griddle along with the burger to create a crispy caramelized cheese layer. It then gets a topping of even more cheese, along with the burger patty.  

Dunkin' has a brand new item for all your morning meal needs. The new breakfast tacos feature scrambled eggs, fire-roasted corn, melted sharp white cheddar, tangy lime crema, and optional crumbled bacon. You can also get caramel chocolate cold brew, carrot cake muffins, and chocolate croissants right now.

Southern biscuit haven Bojangles brought back a fan-favorite dessert for a limited time. The sweet potato pie is filled with creamy, smooth sweet potato filling wrapped in crunchy crust and topped with cinnamon butter spread.

Chicken tacos are getting a cheesy boost at Taco John's. The new queso fried chicken tacos feature a crispy chicken tender topped with pepper-studded white queso, lettuce, and shredded cheese in a flour tortilla. Also available right now are the Alaskan flounder fish tacos drizzled with chipotle lime sauce.

Find more Cheapism stories about fast food right here. 

Jack in the Box is breaking out the fancy beef for its latest burger offering. The American ribeye steakhouse burger is made with a 100% ribeye beef patty that's topped with cheddar cheese, aioli, lettuce, tomato, and red onions. You can also get it with bacon, naturally. And not to be left out on the summer drink front, you can grab a pineapple express shake complete with maraschino cherry on top.

You won't have to go to Cheesecake Factory and spend $10 just to get a slice of cheesecake anymore. Long John Silver's has added two cheesecake options from Cheesecake Factory to its menu: classic cheesecake with graham cracker crust, and triple chocolate cheesecake with chocolate cookie crust, chocolate ganache, and chocolate chips.

Pretzel lovers will enjoy Little Caesars' latest limited-time offer. The pretzel crust pizza is made on a large, buttery soft pretzel crust complete with coarse salt around the rim. Instead of pizza sauce, it's got cheddar cheese sauce, plus mozzarella, muenster, and pepperoni.

Jimmy John's has announced that it's added the fudge chocolate brownie to its menu permanently. It's made with semisweet chocolate, cocoa, and melted chocolate for a triple whammy of chocolate flavor.

Summer is on the horizon at Noodles & Company with the return of its backyard BBQ chicken salad. Mixed greens, grilled chicken, tomato, red onion, roasted corn, cheddar jack cheese, and tangy barbecue coleslaw dressing are all tossed together for a main course salad.

A big burger has returned at A&W. The double BBQ bacon crunch burger has two beef patties, two slices of American cheese, bacon, crispy fried onions, lettuce, and tangy barbecue sauce on a toasted bun. 

Subway has added two new sandwiches to the Subway Series menu:

• #19 Pickleball Club: ham, bacon, American cheese, and new honey mustard sauce on toasted Italian bread
• #33 Teriyaki Blitz: steak marinated in sweet onion teriyaki sauce, melted American cheese, green peppers, and red onions on multigrain bread