The Best Fast Food Chicken Nuggets, Ranked & Reviewed

Yahoo

4 days ago

It's widely known that people have feelings about the best fast food chicken sandwich and fries. But I'm betting folks feel just as strongly about chicken nuggets, too. These bite-size, crispy, dunkable bites of deliciousness have comforted most of us since childhood. While I'd never turn down a fresh nug, I'd be lying if I said they're all created equal.
To find the best fast food chicken nuggets of all time, I visited seven popular chains to taste them myself. Below, you'll find my honest reviews, original photos and overall ranking. Of course, this list is totally subjective, so grain of salt…but I do consider myself a fast food connoisseur of sorts. Read on to find out my favorites. Spoiler: All of them are pretty valid for the cost.
(Note: Prices are rounded to the nearest half-dollar. Pricing and availability may vary by location.)
The Best Fast Food Desserts You Can Order Right Now, Ranked by a Food Editor
Taryn Pire
What It Is: white meat chicken in crispy, homestyle seasoned breading
Price (8-piece): $3
At a price point this cheap, odds are you're not getting a quality bird. But hey, it's fast food—you already knew that. That said, this is probably one of the more solid options on the Burger King menu (unless you're all about breading over meat; then it's Chicken Fries for you). My nuggets were black pepper-y and freshly cooked. The breading was crisp but less so than McDonald's (more on that later). That said, there was nothing wrong with these, but nothing outstanding either.
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Taryn Pire
What It Is: white meat chicken nuggets in Original Recipe breading
Price (five-piece): $4
The smell of these reminded me of rotisserie chicken, and the seasonings give rustic, like chicken soup. The nuggets were sort of a middle ground between two chicken nugget camps: traditional nuggets, made from mechanically separated chicken, and boneless wings or chicken pieces. They were considerably smaller than other boneless options on this list and more uniform in size, both nugget qualities in my book. But even though the chicken pieces were straight poultry instead of a ground mixture, they were still a bit dry and old-looking rather than juicy. This batch, in particular, was also too salty for my taste.
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Taryn Pire
What It Is: breaded, fried white meat chicken
Price (four-piece): $2
I'd only ever had the spicy nuggets at Wendy's, but there's a first time for everything. The chicken was juicy and freshly fried, and the breading was tasty and evenly salted, albeit a bit thinner and less crunchy than that of McDonald's nuggets. These were coated in more of a breading than a batter. While I still prefer the hot version, these nuggets were solid (and they tasted even better with honey mustard).
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Taryn Pire
What It Is: white meatboneless wings marinated in Louisiana spices and fired
Price (six-piece): $7
Popeye's is sort of in its own league, not just in terms of quality but also flavor profile (all those Louisiana spices and whatnot). I tried the chain's boneless wings, as they don't explicitly use the word 'nugget' on their menu. The chicken was very tender and succulent, and the pieces were comparatively large. The breading was very crispy and well-seasoned, although subtle in flavor compared to the hot iteration.
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Taryn Pire
What It Is: tender, juicy nuggets of fried, white meat chicken
Price (six-piece): $5
If it's a proper chicken nugget you seek, McDonald's is the best option. With a thick, batter-like breading that always reminds me of savory funnel cake (if that's a thing), the nuggets are dependably crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside and evenly seasoned with notes of black pepper and McD's signature onions. As long as they're fresh, they're going to slap. Have 'em with the chain's creamy Buffalo sauce, OK?
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Taryn Pire
What It Is: white meat chicken marinated in jalapeño buttermilk and coated in tortilla chip breading
Price (five-piece): $6
Yup, Taco Bell has chicken nuggets now—and they give the heavyweights a run for their money. The chicken is marinated in jalapeño buttermilk, which not only infuses the meat with plenty of flavor, but also tenderizes it. Meanwhile, the tortilla chip-based breading was crisp and tasty without being excessively spicy or overwhelming; in fact, it looked thinner than some others on the list, but packed a mighty crunch. The chicken looked natural, more like a boneless wing than a nugget, but the portion and individual, uniform size of each piece was also larger than most competitors. Try them with the new, delightfully swicy Mike's Hot Honey Diablo Dip Sauce.
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Taryn Pire
What It Is: seasoned pieces ofboneless chicken breast, freshly breaded and pressure cooked in peanut oil
Price (five-piece): $3
Chick-fil-A's offering was easily the juiciest, most succulent fast food chicken nugget of all. I got them in literally ten seconds after ordering, but they still tasted and looked very fresh. The nuggets are real chicken pieces instead of mechanically separated poultry. They're poppably small (meaning they offer nugget feel with a step up in quality, in terms of meat) and inconsistently sized, but that's the game you play with chicken pieces instead of molded nuggets. The breading was mildly seasoned but not bland in the slightest, making the nuggets an easy win and a crowd-pleaser, even for first timers.
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