To be fair, the traditional Thanksgiving meal includes a lot of dishes that you can live with sampling once a year, then never again. Green bean casserole. Canned cranberry sauce. Grandma Ruth's marshmallow sweet potato extravaganza.
So maybe it's not so crazy that the fine folks at Taco Bell decided to create a Thanksgiving-inspired menu so unconventional, your taste buds might run for the border. As People reports, the fast food chain hosts an annual Friendsgiving meal, now in its fifth year, at its California headquarters. This year, they've really outdone themselves. It's pretty much what we'd imagine the Pilgrims might have whipped up had the Mayflower landed at the Texas State Fair instead of Plymouth Rock.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Our friends have arrived and dinner has begun. Watch our #Snapchat Story to get a peek into our 5th Annual #TacoBellFriendsgiving dinner.
— Taco Bell (@tacobell) November 17, 2017
? https://t.co/0vdrUggwtA pic.twitter.com/HLn6PFQTxi
The menu includes a few concessions to traditionalists who like to feast upon the bounty of the season. Squash features in the autumn pueblo salad and the butternut squash chalupa bites, though neither dish screams "serve me up next to a wicker cornucopia."
The main event is no mere Butterball. Instead, they've taken a juicy ham and glazed it in the ultimate nectar of the gods: Mountain Dew Baja Blast. And who has time for Stovetop when there are Gordita bread stuffing and mashed potatoes laced with Doritos Locos tacos on the table?
#TacoBellFriendsgiving is happening right now. THE BEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR. @peterallenvogt @tacobell pic.twitter.com/SxrdE7x8wK
— Ashley Argota (@ashleyargota9) November 17, 2017
Full disclosure: Biscuits smeared with whipped jalapeño honey butter sound divine, and Mom never thought to throw pork belly into her Brussels sprouts, did she? Just forget that "Turkeritos" is made from seasoned beef, not turkey and that a single pie didn't make the cut.
If pumpkin spiced caramel apple empanadas are your bag, you will, unfortunately, have to DIY. The menu was only available to those with a coveted Friendsgiving invite, and can't be ordered over an intercom from the comfort of your car. Still, there's nothing stopping you from getting creative next Thursday with a super-sized Baja Blast and a few packets of hot sauce.
Related Video:
appearance by Ashley Trenkle; produced by Christina Dun; appearance by Dayana Gonzalez; appearance by Lisa Dionisio; appearance by Marshall Bright; appearance by Molly Holtzinger; appearance by Sabeen Kahn