Review: Subway - Doritos Footlong Nachos

Subway's Doritos Footlong Nachos feature a bed of Doritos Nacho Cheese-flavored tortilla chips topped with cheddar cheese sauce, shredded Monterey cheddar cheese, pickled jalapeno slices, tomatoes, red onion, Baja Chipotle sauce, and a choice of rotisserie-style chicken or steak.

I paid $5 for the nachos with chicken and noticed that my local Subway here in Los Angeles is now charging $5 for the Footlong Cookie (versus $6 before). The Footlong Pretzels and Churros are no longer on the menu.

To make these, the Subway employee emptied a small bag of Doritos Nacho Cheese tortilla chips onto a tray, topped it with cheddar cheese sauce, shredded cheese, and chicken, and then gave it a very short run in the convection microwave oven. It was then topped with the cold ingredients.

There wasn't much cheese on my nachos, so it was missing a lot of cheesy flavor as well as heat. Although the shredded cheese was nicely melted, there wasn't enough mass between the cheese sauce, cheese, and chicken to keep more than a smidgeon of heat for very long. And once the cold ingredients hit, it was "welcome to room temperature city."

The chicken pieces had a nice meaty bite to them and a lightly seasoned flavor. There wasn't a lot of it, but the pieces were evenly distributed to let me know it was there now and again.

Beyond the crunchy and cheese-powdery Doritos chips, the main flavor driver in the nachos was the Baja Chipotle Sauce, which offered a creamy mix of tang, smoke, and spicy heat. As far as taste goes, it's a nice sauce, but I'm not one to just sit and eat Doritos with a cup of spicy, smoky mayo sauce.

The onion and tomatoes added a fresh quality and mild flavors to the nachos. The pickled jalapenos added crunch and a hit of moderately spicy sourness.

Taken altogether, Doritos Footlong Nachos would have been a lot better with double the cheese or so. As it stood, my nachos just didn't have enough to feel like nachos. I enjoyed the toppings, though, and Doritos Nacho Cheese chips are a classic. However, it's not a great value with Taco Bell's $3-ish Loaded Beef Nachos flitting around in the wild.

Nutritional Info - Subway Chicken Doritos Footlong Nachos (209g)
Calories - 590
Fat - 41g (Saturated Fat - 11g)
Sodium - 1240mg
Carbs - 38g (Sugar - 5g)
Protein - 20g