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The best part of this massive fast food chicken sandwich renaissance we’re living in is not that every fast food chain from Burger King to Shake Shack has revamped their chicken sandwiches to compete with Popeyes. It’s that aside from the generally better stock of chicken sandwiches we have to choose from, each chain has absolutely spoiled us with options. In 2022, just about every major burger chain has not one, but several solid-to-great chicken sandwiches. And just like the cheeseburger, we’re getting all sorts of inventive variations on the traditional recipe.
You can get bbq chicken sandwiches, fried chicken sandwiches, grilled chicken sandwiches with bacon and avocado, buffalo chicken sandwiches, hot honey chicken sandwiches, spicy chicken sandwiches… It’s (arguably) too much chicken! To help you navigate the plethora of sandwiches available and ensure that every time you buy one it’s the best your money can buy, we broke down each chain’s best chicken sandwich and why it’s worth your order. We didn’t stop at on-menu fried chicken sandwiches, either. We also hit the grilled stuff! And the hacks!
So here they are — the best chicken sandwiches from every chain in the fast food universe.
Arby’s — Buffalo Chicken Slider
The Build:
Chicken tender, buffalo sauce, parmesan peppercorn ranch on a slider bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
It might be the best choice, but that isn’t saying much. Arby’s isn’t a place you go to if you want chicken. Sure, they’ve had a great chicken sandwich in the past. But the bird is not the focus here, the beef is.
If you must order chicken, this is your best bet. It’s bite-sized, a bit spicy, and sweet with a cool creamy aftertaste that helps to reign in that heat.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Add a slice of Swiss cheese. Cheese is never a bad thing, unless of course you’re lactose intolerant. In which case, still add the cheese — this thing is going to mess your stomach up anyway!
The Other Options:
Chicken Cheddar Ranch: It’s a more substantial meal than the slider but, two tenders in a sandwich does not make for a great sandwich, it makes for a sandwich that falls apart after each bite.
Chicken Slider: It’s the same as the buffalo slider, but without the buffalo and ranch sauce, aka without the flavor. It’s topped with Swiss cheese. It’s too dry.
The Bottom Line:
There aren’t as many buffalo chicken sandwiches out there in the fast food universe, so we appreciate Arby’s for at least trying. Still, it’s probably a better move to stick with the beef.
Find your nearest Arby’s here.
Burger King — Spicy Ch’King
The Build:
Spicy-breaded chicken, thick-cut pickles, savory sauce on a potato bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
It’s not just BK’s best chicken sandwich, it holds the title for the best single menu item at Burger King, period. Each bite is a perfect marriage between the savory notes of the comeback-style sauce and the briny and earthy pickles backed with a burning cayenne-pepper kick.
My only major criticism is that this chicken sandwich is too big, you can easily cut this in half and share it with a friend and still feel satisfied. Being too filling is a minor complaint though — so good for BK for knocking it out of the park with this one.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Add bacon and you get more crunch and smokey notes that mingle nicely with the spice and pickles.
The Other Options:
Ch’King Sandwich: It’s good but when it comes to BK’s sandwich, we have to go spicy over regular. This has that classic buttermilk sandwich flavor, but it feels too tame in comparison to the spicy version.
Ch’King Deluxe: If you’re not about pickles, this is a nice substitute if you still want to bite into a thick filet of hand-breaded chicken. Add bacon and you’ve got a much better sandwich more deserving of the “Deluxe” moniker.
Spicy Ch’King Deluxe: It lacks flavor, the pickles are replaced with a flavorless and watery tomato and a truly sad leaf of lettuce. There is nothing Deluxe about this thing.
The Bottom Line:
You can’t go wrong with the Spicy Ch’King, it’s one of the few menu items that actually warrants a trip to BK.
Find your nearest Burger King here.
Carl’s Jr. BEST FRIED — Gold Digger Hand-Breaded Chicken Sandwich
The Build:
Hand-breaded chicken breast filet, bacon, tomato, green leaf lettuce, mayo, and Carolina Gold sauce on a toasted sesame bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
This is Carl’s Jr’s newest fried chicken sandwich and easily the best tasting. It’s very similar to the Bacon and Swiss hand-breaded sandwich, but the cheese is replaced with a Carolina Gold Sauce, which is a tangy and sweet spin on BBQ sauce that uses yellow mustard as a base.
That tangy-sweet sauce pairs nicely with the fried chicken filet, and the bacon helps to bring forth any smokiness offered by the Carolina Gold.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Add the Swiss cheese back in for a slightly nutty infusion of flavor.
The Other (Fried) Options:
Hand-Breaded Chicken Sandwich: Too basic. Mayo always feels like a compromise when you have sandwiches that offer savory, BBQ, or spicy sauces.
Bacon Swiss Hand-Breaded Sandwich: It’s the same thing but with mayo instead of Carolina BBQ — way less interesting.
Spicy Chicken Sandwich: This is dollar menu filler and Carl’s Jr’s OG chicken sandwich before the Popeyes Revolution. Don’t ever order it unless you want to feel sick.
The Bottom Line:
Carl’s Jr has great grilled sandwiches (see below), if you’re open to that definitely try one of those (they’re generally better). But if you like it fried, this is your best choice.
Find your nearest Carl’s Jr. here.
Carl’s Jr. BEST GRILLED — Charbroiled Santa Fe Chicken Sandwich
The Build:
Charbroiled chicken breast filet, American cheese, milk green chili, lettuce, and Santa Fe Sauce.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
The flavor here is very unique, you’ve got some fiery charred notes from the breast which pair nicely with the sweet and fruity green chili, with a sauce that combines mayo, paprika, and cayenne, with the slightest hint of cumin lurking deep within this bouquet of flavors.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
It’s not so much a hack as a necessity. You have to ditch that American Cheese. American Cheese and chicken is an awful combination of flavors, the chicken here has the slightest hint of citrus and it pairs awfully with the salty flavors of the cheese.
Substitute the American cheese for Swiss or skip the cheese entirely.
The Other (Grilled) Options:
Charbroiled Chicken Sandwich Club: A great option, you get bacon and Swiss, two beloved combinations with a charred pepper-forward breast filet.
Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich: Also great, Carl’s Jr’s sweet and slightly smokey BBQ tastes great against the chicken.
The Bottom Line:
You can’t go wrong with any of Carl’s Jr’s grilled chicken sandwiches, but the Santa Fe offers a vegetal spiciness that tastes completely unique and makes the grilled chicken sandwich something to look forward to, rather than a healthier compromise.
Find your nearest Carl’s Jr. here.
Chick-fil-A BEST FRIED — Spicy Deluxe
The Build:
Chicken breast filet hand-breaded in spicy breading, dill pickles, green leaf lettuce, tomato, and pepper jack cheese on a toasted butter bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
It’s the perfect spicy chicken sandwich, the chicken filet is well-seasoned with pepper, cayenne, paprika, onion, and garlic powder, and brined in pickle juice, helping to provide a juicy and tender bite.
The lack of sauce might sound like an oversight, but the chicken is so juicy and the flavors are so delectable, that you actually don’t need a sauce to tie this sandwich together, which results in a less overwhelming experience.
This comes across like a lighter chicken sandwich when compared to the food-coma-inducing sandwiches offered at Wendy’s and Popeyes. Sometimes, that’s just what you’re looking for.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
I called this the perfect spicy chicken sandwich, but I think it tastes even better when you sub the pepper jack cheese for Colby jack. Colby jack is creamier and sharper, and the sandwich is already spicy enough that you don’t really NEED the pepper jack cheese to make it good. Not a lot of the heat is coming from the cheese anyway.
Your Other Options:
Chicken Sandwich: It’s also a winner.
Deluxe Sandwich: It’s still a great sandwich even without the spicy filet, but I don’t love the use of American Cheese.
Spicy Chicken Sandwich: Even better than Chick-fil-a’s OG sandwich, this is one of the most flavorful chicken filets in all of fast food. Without the lettuce, cheese, and tomato, the flavors are very focused, but order a side of Chick-fil-A sauce and dip this sandwich for the best result.
The Bottom Line:
The perfect spicy chicken sandwich.
Find your nearest Chick-fil-A here.
Chick-fil-A BEST GRILLED — Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich
The Build:
Grilled chicken breast, Colby Jack cheese, bacon, lettuce, and tomato on a multigrain bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
Chick-fil-A’s grilled filet is surprisingly flavorful and juicy. This tender chicken is marinated in lemon juice and herbs and that extra level of craft really pays off. Together with bacon and Colby Jack cheese, you get more flavor here per bite than you’d expect from a grilled chicken sandwich. Some days it’s so good you won’t even miss the fried stuff.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Pepper Jack instead of Colby will add a subtle spice aftertaste. Definitely pair this with Chick-fil-A sauce or Honey Roasted BBQ.
Your Other Options:
Grilled Chicken Sandwich: No cheese, no bacon, no flavor.
The Bottom Line:
Chick-fil-A is famous for the fried chicken sandwich, so we get it, this doesn’t have the same appeal and allure. But it will surprise you just how juicy and flavorful this sandwich is, and you might even opt for this over the fried version… on occasion.
Find your nearest Chick-fil-A here.
Culver’s BEST FRIED — Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich
The Build:
Spicy breaded chicken breast filet in a butter-toasted bun with iceberg lettuce, tomato, and pickle chips.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
Of the three chicken sandwiches at Culver’s, this is by far the best one. First and foremost, the chicken breast filet is moist and well seasoned while the breading has an actual peppery and chili-spice kick to it. The crust is nice and crunchy and doesn’t get soggy from too much sauce (or frying oil). The simple salad aspect of just lettuce, tomato, and pickles is the right counterbalance to the spicy breaded filet. The bun is soft, buttery, toasted, and just the right thickness with a twinge of sweetness.
Overall, this is a simple but well-made spicy fried chicken sandwich with a dialed-in spiciness that works really well.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
For a little extra kick and sauciness, add Culver’s roasted garlic aioli to the mix. You don’t need a lot, so tell them to go easy. But it’ll add a nice extra layer of kick and moisture to the sandwich that helps it break out of the ordinary spicy chicken sandwich realm and into the great spicy chicken sandwich realm.
The Bottom Line:
This pretty much negates the regular fried chicken sandwich and the grilled one on Culver’s menu. After eating this, I can’t see ordering either ever again. I’m a stan for this spicy chicken sandwich. — Zach Johnston
Find your nearest Culver’s here.
Dairy Queen BEST FRIED — Crispy Chicken Sandwich
The Build:
Breaded chicken breast filet, tomato, lettuce, and mayo on a toasted bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
It’s not, it’s your only choice. Dairy Queen has one chicken sandwich, but as far as we’re concerned, they’d be better off having no chicken sandwich. There isn’t a single thing about this sandwich that is good. The lettuce is always dry, and lifeless, the tomato is watery, and the chicken itself is awful.
It’s dry and ultimately tastes cheap. Popeyes inspired a lot of fast food establishments to change their chicken sandwiches, I guess Dairy Queen didn’t get the memo.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Order something else. No really, there isn’t a single thing that can be done to redeem this sandwich.
The Bottom Line:
Under no circumstances should you order a chicken sandwich from Dairy Queen.
Find your nearest Dairy Queen here.
Dairy Queen BEST GRILLED — Grilled Chicken Sandwich
The Build:
Grilled chicken fillet, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on a toasted bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
If you were hoping things would get better with DQ’s Grilled sandwich, we’re sorry to say this is just as bad if not worse.
This chicken is truly awful, it’s chunky, and separates in this really strange and unnatural way — like it was assembled from random meats into the shape of a chicken breast.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Honestly, eating the wrapper it comes with might be the better move.
The Bottom Line:
Save your money; buy a soft serve.
Find your nearest Dairy Queen here.
The Habit BEST FRIED — Crispy Chicken Sandwich
The Build:
Breaded chicken breast, tomato, pickles, lettuce, and mayo on a brioche bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
Again, it’s your only choice but unlike Dairy Queen’s crispy chicken sandwich, this one is actually edible. The chicken is tender, and the breading features a nice combination of cracked black pepper, and garlic and onion powder flavors, with lettuce and tomato adding a sense of freshness with some depth from the pickles.
The breast filet here is double battered, giving it an extra crispy crunch. But The Habit does grilled better.
The Bottom Line:
It tastes good, but it’s not worth ever ordering.
Find your nearest Habit Burger here.
The Habit BEST GRILLED — Chicken Club
The Build:
Chicken breast filet, green leaf lettuce, tomatoes, hickory-smoked bacon, avocado, and mayo served on toasted sourdough.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
Similar to Carl’s Jr, the Habit is much better and making grilled chicken sandwiches than the fried stuff, and their chicken club is unlike any other grilled sandwich currently in the fast food space.
The chicken filet is thin and marinated in some sort of lemon-herb marinade that keeps each bite tasting juicy and not dry. The fresh avocado is a nice touch that adds a creamy texture and earthy buttery flavors that pair well with the smokey bacon.
That bacon does more than add simple smoked notes, it helps to add more texture to the sandwich so that the avocado doesn’t make it too mushy.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Ditch the mayo. You have marinated chicken and avocado, you don’t really need to worry about dryness. The mayo just gets in the way here.
Your Other Options:
Grilled Chicken Sandwich: This sandwich is much drier and less flavorful than the club. You get cheese, but no bacon, and no sourdough.
The Bottom Line:
Proof that way more fast food grilled chicken sandwiches need to utilize avocado.
KFC — Chicken Sandwich
The Build: Extra Crispy style chicken with thick crinkle cut pickles, and double mayo on a brioche bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
KFC has a chicken sandwich only because they have to. Considering how huge of a success Popeyes had, it would be stupid for a fried chicken chain NOT to have a sandwich. As far as chicken sandwiches go thought his one is mid-tier at best.
The first issue is the filet, it utilizes KFC’s Extra Crispy style breading, which provides a nice crunch but lacks any discernible flavor aside from salt. The pickles are just fine, the mayo is doing the bare minimum, and the brioche bun is way too thick and bready, where it should be light and buttery.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Skip the mayo, ask for a side of Mac and Cheese or gravy, and use that instead. It makes for a way more interesting sandwich, which is at least something.
The Other Options:
Chicken Little: It’s the same sandwich but worse. A lower quality smaller chicken filet and a smaller sesame bun only highlight the lack of effort KFC put into their sandwich lines.
The Bottom Line:
Stick to the Original Recipe. KFC isn’t a great place to go for a chicken sandwich — which is disappointing.
Find your nearest KFC here.
Jack in the Box — Cluck Sandwich
The Build:
Breaded chicken filet, crinkle-cut pickles, Good Good Sauce (comeback-style) on a brioche bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
I keep going back and forth over what I think the best Jack in the Box chicken sandwich is, which is stupid because Jack in the Box chicken sandwiches, in general, aren’t great.
This is above Dairy Queen, Arby’s, KFC, and McDonald’s in terms of flavor and quality for sure, but it’s not good enough to be crave-able and chances are Jack in the Box has some sort of burger that probably tastes twice as good as this thing.
But we’re going to give it to the Cluck Sandwich, Jack in the Box’s simplest chicken sandwich is also its best. The flavors are fairly straightforward, you have a garlic and onion powder — all pair with a chicken filet that is heavily battered, topped with a good number of thick slices of pickle, wrapped together with a savory sauce JiB calls “Good Good.”
The sauce is good, not good enough to warrant a repeat though.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better: Bacon.
Your Other Options:
Jack’s Spicy Chicken: It feels like a compromise. On one hand, you get a spicy cayenne pepper filet, on the other hand, you get no pickles and no Good Good sauce and get tomatoes and mayo instead.
Jack’s Spicy Chicken with Cheese: Better than the Spicy Chicken because you get two slices of something called “Swiss-style” cheese. Which tastes enough like Swiss cheese for us not to care to think too deeply about what it actually is.
Homestyle Ranch Chicken Club: Some people swear by ranch on chicken sandwiches, but I’ve always thought it gives this sour undertone that makes the sandwich less enjoyable. It’s hard not to think this wouldn’t be better with Good Good Sauce in its place.
The Bottom Line:
When it comes to Jack in the Box chicken sandwiches, simple is King.
Find your nearest Jack in the Box here.
Jollibee — Spicy Chicken Sandwich
The Build:
Hand-breaded breast filet, fresh jalapeños, sriracha mayo on a toasted brioche bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
It’s simple, it’s the fresh jalapeños. There are a lot of ways to make a chicken sandwich spicy, you can do a sauce (this is always the least effective way), opt for a spicy breading (the best choice), or just do what Jollibee did and throw some actual jalapeños in the thing.
Not just jalapeños, fresh jalapeños, this isn’t the pickled stuff — which means it really brings the heat and also adds a fresh vegetal component. Backing up the jalapeño is a sriracha mayo which adds a touch of sweet heat and brightness to the flavor, with a crispy crunch supplied by Jollibee’s light and airy breading.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Substitute the sriracha mayo for umami mayo, the depth of flavor pairs nicely with the jalapeños. You lose some of the heat, but it makes for a better sandwich.
Your Other Options:
The Original: It’s great, but jalapeños make it better.
Deluxe Chicken Sandwich: The fresh tomato and lettuce don’t add a lot to the flavors of this sandwich. It tastes watery in comparison.
The Bottom Line:
We wish more fast food chains would take influence from Jollibee. Jalapeños might not seem like a staple of the chicken sandwich, but we actually prefer them to pickles.
Find your nearest Jollibee here.
McDonald’s — Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich
The Build:
Breaded chicken breast filet, pickles, spicy pepper sauce, on a toasted potato bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
McDonald’s recently revamped their entire chicken sandwich line and while things have definitely improved, they still aren’t quite as good as a chain as giant as McDonald’s deserves. What we really want but don’t want to admit out of McDonald’s is a giant Chicken McNugget in sandwich form, but this tries too hard to be “natural” and comes across as bland and dry as a result.
The filet doesn’t have a lot of flavor — it’s almost neutral — but I love the super light and airy batter that is reminiscent of McDonald’s McNugget. The other strength of this sandwich is the spicy pepper sauce, which packs more heat than we’d expect a masses-pleasing establishment like McDonald’s to have.
But that dry filet and the wet and slimy pickles don’t do it any favors. And when the weak point of your sandwich is the chicken itself, you’ve got a problem.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Throw bacon and fries into this thing and it instantly becomes much more interesting.
Your Other Options:
Spicy Deluxe Crispy Chicken Sandwich: Dry lifeless lettuce and watery tomatoes do this sandwich no favors. You’ll end up missing the weird slimy pickles.
Crispy Chicken Sandwich: It’s like the spicy version, but without the flavor.
Deluxe Crispy Chicken Sandwich: McDonald’s chicken sandwiches are already bland, removing the spicy sauce for mayo and ditching the pickles, just makes this one taste even more basic.
McChicken: An affront to food itself. Avoid at all costs.
The Bottom Line:
McDonald’s hasn’t quite nailed the best chicken sandwich for them yet. This comes close, but if you want chicken from McDonald’s your best choice is still the McNugget.
Find your nearest McDonald’s here.
Popeyes — Spicy Chicken Sandwich
The Build:
Hand-breaded chicken filet, spicy sauce, and pickles, on a potato bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
Now we come to probably the most famous chicken sandwich of all time. This thing is great, it’s so good in fact that it actually lives up to the ridiculously high expectations you’ll have before you take your first bite. The breast filet is heavily battered, providing an audible crunch that actually adds to the experience.
The chicken itself is mouthwatering, tender juicy white meat housed by a breading that combines black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt in the perfect ratio. There is a fragrant and sweet butteriness to every bite, and the spicy sauce adds some complexity and some gentle lingering heat to the aftertaste.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
A packet of honey. Believe it or not, Popeyes has made a better sandwich than this. The limited-time-only Megan Thee Stallion Hottie Chicken Sandwich added a sweet and spicy sauce to this sandwich that actually improved the flavor, but sadly that isn’t on the menu anymore.
A bit of honey is the closest we’re going to get until they bring it back.
Your Other Options:
Classic Chicken Sandwich: Mayo instead of spicy sauce. It’s not that the spicy sandwich is even that spicy, it’s just that it has more flavor. This mayo-based sandwich tastes bland in comparison.
The Bottom Line:
The current GOAT in the chicken sandwich space. It doesn’t get better than this… for now.
Find your nearest Popeyes here.
Raising Canes
The Build:
Three chicken tenders, green leaf lettuce, and Cane’s Sauce on a toasted sesame bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
This sandwich is a straight-up joke. Raising Cane’s has probably the best fried chicken in all of fast food, and instead of giving us a proper sandwich they thought putting three chicken tenders into a single sandwich was a good idea.
They couldn’t be more wrong. First of all, three tenders is a lot of f*cking chicken. This thing is too substantial to be enjoyable, you’re better off ditching the bread and just dipping the individual tenders in the sauce, or you know, ordering tenders instead of this stupid sandwich.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Don’t order the sandwich, order a three-finger combo, add an extra order of toast, get the toast buttered on both sides (this will ensure both sides of the bread are grilled and garlicky), and wedge a single tender with Cane’s sauce between the two pieces of bread. You instantly have a better sandwich.
Your Other Options:
See above!
The Bottom Line:
A missed opportunity. Raising Cane’s could easily own the fast food fried chicken sandwich space if they just bothered to try.
Find your nearest Raising Cane’s here.
Rally’s— Bacon Brewhouse Mother Cruncher
The Build:
Breaded chicken breast filet, bacon and beer cheese sauce, bacon bits, bacon strips, spicy pickles, and fried onions on a toasted bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
Of all of Rally’s sandwiches, this one packs the most flavor. It’s heavy and decadent in a way that chicken sandwiches never are. The sauce is salty and savory with the title dose of bacon adding a lot of pronounced smokey notes to the sandwich, which has a great crunch courtesy of the fried onions, bacon, and crispy breading.
Spicy pickles help to give this sandwich a bit of a kick, but they mostly get lost in all of the other layers of flavors.
Your Other Options:
Classic Mother Cruncher: Good, but better options exist.
Bacon BBQ Mother Cruncher: The BBQ version of the Bacon Brewhouse. Smokier, but not as flavorful.
Spicy Chicken Sandwich: Avoid this one at all costs. Too basic for its own good.
The Bottom Line:
Find your nearest Rally’s here.
Sonic — Chicken Slinger
The Build:
Breaded chicken breast filet, mayo, and pickles, on a brioche bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
This is one of the few occasions where we’re choosing the cheaper-priced chicken item. The Chicken Slinger is essentially a side order at Sonic, it’s small enough that you can add it to your order without feeling like you’re eating too much.
This isn’t a great sandwich but it gets the job done, the chicken filet tastes fine, the pickles are briny, the mayo is mayo and the brioche bun isn’t too thick and bready.
Having said that, this is by no means essential.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Order pickle fries on the side, insert them into your sandwich, and thank us in the comments.
Your Other Options:
Crispy Chicken Sandwich: The same sandwich but bigger, and with lettuce and tomato instead of pickles.
The Bottom Line:
When at Sonic, stick to the snacks like jalapeño poppers, and mozzarella sticks.
Find your nearest Sonic here.
Shake Shack — Bourbon Bacon Cheddar Chicken
The Build:
Breaded chicken breast filet, white cheddar cheese, bourbon bacon jam, and pickles on a toasted potato bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
This is Shake Shack’s newest chicken sandwich on the menu and by far its best. Our biggest issue with Shake Shack’s sandwiches is that they feel unimaginative and inessential when compared to the mighty Shack Burger, this sandwich, on the other hand, holds its own.
The secret is in the sauce, this sandwich features a bourbon bacon jam made with Maker’s Mark that adds a deep, decadent, and smokey savoriness to every bite which tastes great alongside Shake Shack’s tender marinated chicken and light and crispy batter.
Each bite melts in your mouth, but it’s one ingredient short of being perfect.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
Add bacon. It’s clear that bacon should be part of this sandwich, the only reason Shake Shack didn’t put it in is because they’d have to charge more than $10 for it, and that feels like a price too big to stomach.
It’s worth it though for some extra crunchiness and smokey notes.
Your Other Options:
Avocado Bacon Chicken: Until the Bourbon Bacon Cheddar came around, this was our number one choice from the Shack.
Chicken Shack: It’s great, but avocado and bacon make it way better.
The Bottom Line:
Shake Shack’s newest sandwich is their best. The more this fast-casual chain takes a gourmet approach to their sandwiches, the better they taste. This is the only Shake Shack sandwich that we’d call essential.
Find your nearest Shake Shack here.
Wendy’s BEST FRIED — Spicy Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich
The Build:
Breaded spicy chicken breast filet, Pepper Jack cheese, bacon, dill pickle chips, and habanero hot honey sauce on a toasted bun.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
This was a tough one for me because I until recently Wendy’s Spicy Asiago Ranch Chicken Club was my go-to, and then this chicken sandwich hit the scene this year, and now my Wendy’s world is all upside down.
Hot Honey sandwiches are the most recent fast-food chicken sandwich chain, everyone is rolling them out, but Wendy’s is far and above the best. The honey sauce here isn’t overwhelmingly sweet because it’s infused with habanero, giving it a serious kick and a citrusy brightness that helps to balance it out.
This sandwich triples down on the heat by adding pepper jack cheese, and Wendy’s spicy chicken filet, but there is also a lot of earthy smokiness courtesy of the bacon and fried dill chips. It’s sweet, spicy, crunchy, and overwhelming in all of the best ways.
Your Other Options:
Asiago Ranch Chicken Club Classic/Spicy: This sandwich would’ve taken the top spot if not for this new bourbon-backed sando.
Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich Classic: Just as delicious, but significantly less spicy.
Big Bacon Cheddar Chicken Classic/Spicy: It’s fine, but tastes better in burger form.
Original Chicken Sandwich Classic/Spicy: Too basic.
Crispy Chicken Sandwich: The dollar menu version of Wendy’s chicken sandwich. This is highly processed patty territory, avoid at all costs.
The Bottom Line:
The best hot honey chicken sandwich in all of fast food.
Find your nearest Wendy’s here.
Wendy’s BEST GRILLED — Grilled Asiago Ranch Club
The Build:
Grilled chicken breast filet, bacon, asiago cheese, romaine lettuce, tomato, and ranch.
Why It’s The Best Choice:
I don’t feel too badly about ditching my old favorite Wendy’s chicken sandwich for the hot new thing because the Asiago Ranch Club still gets to shine in the best grilled category.
The Grilled Asiago Ranch Chicken club offers a bouquet of flavors with every bite. An herbed chicken filet backed by creamy and nutty cheese, smokey bacon, and tangy ranch, that when combined with the lettuce and tomato give this sandwich a fresh salad vibe.
A Simple Hack To Make It Better:
I think this sandwich works better without the ranch. Substitute it for bbq instead.
The Other Options:
Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich Grilled: Weird. The spicy-sweet heat doesn’t pair well with the grilled filet.
Grilled Chicken Sandwich: Good, but the Asiago Ranch is better thanks to the bacon and cheese.
The Bottom Line:
You should almost always order a fried chicken sandwich from Wendy’s, but if you’re keeping things grilled, this packs the flavor.
Find your nearest Wendy’s here.
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