What is sodium phosphate?

Taco Bell Cheese Quesadilla Nutrition Review

The cheese quesadilla is made with a generous portion of three cheeses and a creamy jalapeno sauce that are combined in a warm flour tortilla. Customize the Taco Bell Cheese Quesadilla with seasoned rice, avocado ranch sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, or other menu sauces and add-ons.

Before add-ons, the standard cheese quesadilla contains 470 calories, 24 grams fat, 41 grams carbohydrates, and 18 grams protein.

Read this guide to learn more about the calories, nutrition facts, ingredients, and allergens in the cheese quesadilla from Taco Bell.

Cheese Quesadilla Nutritional Information

Nutrition values are based on a single serving measured as one cheese quesadilla.

The U.S. FDA recommends using the daily value (%DV) to compare and balance food choices. Daily value illustrates how much a nutrient contributes to a diet of 2,000 calories.

Review the chart below. One Taco Bell cheese quesadilla delivers over 60% of the recommend limit of saturated fat for an entire day. Sodium is also high.

Serving size: 1 Quesadilla

% DAILY VALUE

Use %DV to determine if the level of nutrients in a food is low (5% or less) or high (20% or more).

	%DV	Level
Saturated Fat	65%	HIGH
Sodium	43%	HIGH
Added Sugars	4%	LOW

%DV based on 2,000 calories

Calories

There are 470 calories in one quesadilla.

Here is a summary of calories by macronutrient, per serving:

220 calories from fat
170 calories from total carbs
80 calories from protein

Dietary fats make up the highest percentage (47%) of the total calories. Carbohydrates contribute 36% of the total calories and the remaining 17% is from protein.

Taco Bell Cheese Quesadilla

% calories from fat, carbs and protein

calories from fat

47%

calories from carbS

36%

calories from Protein

17%

Summary of calories by nutrient is a rounded estimate based on nutrition facts provided by Taco Bell.

FITNESS TIME TO BURN 470 CALORIES

Walk 2 hours 30 minutes
Cycle 40 minutes
Swim 1 hour 10 minutes

Estimate based on moderate level of activity by an adult with average BMI.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 Quesadilla

Amount per serving

Calories

470

% Daily Value

Total Fat	24g	31%
Saturated Fat	13g	65%
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	50mg	17%
Sodium	1000mg	43%
Carbohydrates	41g	15%
Dietary Fiber	3g	11%
Total Sugars	3g
Added Sugars	2g	4%
Protein	18g

%DV based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Calorie needs vary and your %DV may be higher or lower. Provided for informational purposes only. Consult with your physician for dietary or healthcare advice.

Total Fat

One serving has 24 grams total fat, including 13 grams saturated fat. That is high. The threshold to determine if a daily value is considered high is a 20% daily value.

Based on a 2,000 calorie diet, the amounts of total fat and saturated fat in this dish represent 31% DV and 65% DV, respectively.

SUMMARY OF FAT PER SERVING

220 calories from dietary fats
47% of total calories
120 calories from saturated fat
Zero trans fat

Compare nutritional value in Taco Bell’s quesadilla to the Cheese Quesadilla from TacoTime, or check the Super Soft Taco. Check amount of sodium and fat per serving to determine which menu item is the best choice for your diet plan.

Cholesterol and Sodium

The 50 milligrams of cholesterol in one quesadilla equates to a 15% daily value (based on a 2,000 calorie diet).

There are also 1,000 milligrams of sodium per serving, which is nearly half the total daily value recommended by the FDA.

Check Taco Bell menu with prices and nutrition

Cheese quesadilla from Taco Bell fast food restaurant. — Taco Bell’s Cheese Quesadilla has 470 calories per serving.

What’s in Taco Bell’s Cheese Quesadilla?

The cheese quesadilla at Taco Bell is made with three types of cheeses:

Mozzarella cheese
Cheddar cheese
Pepper Jack cheese

It includes a creamy jalapeno sauce and is wrapped in a flour tortilla.

Here is the complete list of ingredients in the quesadilla.

Ingredients

Flour Tortilla

Taco Bell’s flour tortilla contains wheat and is certified vegan. It also contains the preservative calcium propionate.

Bleached Enriched Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Water, Shortening, Salt, Leavening, Sugar, Dough Conditioners, Calcium Propionate, Molasses

Shortening includes interesterified soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, and hydrogenated cottonseed oil.
Baking soda and sodium acid pyrophosphate, and yeast (yeast, sorbitan monostearate, and ascorbic acid) are used for Leavening.
Dough Conditioners include mono- and diglycerides, fumaric acid, sorbic acid, enzymes, wheat starch, calcium carbonate, sodium metabisulfite, cellulose, corn starch, dicalcium phosphate, with tocopherols, ascorbic acid and citric acid.

Cheese

Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, Cheddar Cheese, Pasteurized Process Monterey Jack and American Cheese with Peppers, and Anti-caking Agents.

Jack and American Cheese is made with cultured milk, cultured part-skim milk, water, cream, salt, sodium citrate, jalapeno peppers, sodium phosphate, lactic acid, sorbic acid, color added, annatto and paprika extract blend, and enzymes.
Anticaking Agents include potato starch, cornstarch, and powdered cellulose.

Creamy Jalapeno Sauce

Soybean Oil, Water, Vinegar, Jalapeno Peppers, Buttermilk, Spices, Cage-Free Egg Yolk, Dextrose, Chili Powder, Salt, Natural Flavors, Sugar, Onion Powder, Paprika, Minced Onion, Garlic Powder, Cocoa Powder (processed with alkali), Dried Onion, Glucono Delta Lactone, Modified Food Starch, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Sorbic Acid, Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate, Lactic Acid, Propylene Glycol Alginate, Citric Acid, Acetic Acid, Calcium Disodium EDTA

Sodium Phosphate is a generic term that refers to any blend of sodium salts and phosphoric acid. It’s used as a buffering salt and to regulate acid.

The additive is commonly used in processed meats and canned fish to improve flavor, maintain freshness, and enhance the shelf life.

The Cheese Blend in Taco Bell’s cheese quesadilla contains sodium phosphate.

Allergens

The cheese quesadilla is made with egg, milk, and wheat. This meal also contains gluten.

Check list of allergens in Taco Bell menu items

Nutrition facts, prices, and ingredients are based on available information as of the date of publication. Restaurants and food manufacturers may change recipes or formulations without notice. Check package labels and ask the product manufacturer or restaurant for the most up-to-date information. Unless otherwise stated, %DV is based on a 2,000 calorie diet. All reports and reviews published on this site are for informational purposes only. NutritionandIngredients.com does not provide healthcare advice or dietary recommendations. Always consult your licensed physician for any healthcare or dietary advice.

Nutrition facts and ingredients source: Taco Bell. Quesadilla image courtesy of Taco Bell. Original designs created by Nutrition & Ingredients for the purposes of research and commentary related to fast food reviews.