Fast-food showdown: The very best chicken sandwiches
Less than two years ago, Popeyes fired the first crispy-breaded shot in the great chicken sandwich wars, aiming squarely at powerhouse Chick-fil-A. Other fast-food chains have since jumped into the battle, and critics have weighed in. Below, the composite rankings, derived from multiple sources.
1. Popeyes Classic Chicken Sandwich The consensus top pick features “an absurdly crispy crust and tender chicken laced with a complex spice profile that slowly, yet relentlessly, reveals itself after each bite,” said Nick Kindelsperger in the Chicago Tribune. “It’s nearly irresistible.”
2. KFC Chicken Sandwich KFC’s new-in-2021 chicken sandwich is an impressive surprise. Our tasters “liked the flavorful breading, which had an almost homemade feel to it, and the quality of the bird,” said Emily Heil in The Washington Post.
3. Burger King Ch’King Sandwich Keep an eye on this entry, which went national only in June. To us, it “rises to Popeyes’ level,” said Megan Shaltegger in Thrillist.com. The chicken is “as juicy as a fast-food white-meat filet can be.”
4. Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich The sandwich that launched a thousand competitors still “offers a lot to like,” said Emily Heil in The Washington Post. Especially its “craggy crust and evidence of a bath in a flavorful, pickle-y brine.”
5. Jollibee Chicken Sandwich Classic “It’s time to fear the Jollibee,” said Dennis Lee in TheTakeout.com. The upstart Filipino fast-food chain’s chicken sandwich “is all about the chicken itself,” eschewing fancy sauces to “nail the basics.”
Compiled from rankings that appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, MLive.com, TheTakeout.com, Thrillist.com, Uproxx.com, and The Washington Post.