When it comes to fast food, I think chicken might be second after burgers in popularity. Now, most places have chicken nuggets, so that’s what I got from most places. However, some places have chicken tenders instead of nuggets, so I gave those a shot, too. I just really wanted to know where I should go if I want the best boneless breaded chicken. The contestants are McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, KFC, Chick-Fil-A, Raising Canes, Zaxbys, Popeyes, and Bojangles. In order to make it as unbiased as possible, I chopped the chicken from each restaurant into similarly sized pieces and put them in bowls with the name of the restaurant on the bottom. This way, we weren’t able to tell where each one was from just by looking at them (well one was still obvious). There were 4 taste testers, including me, rating each on a scale from 1-10. Here were the Results:

10: McDonalds 10 pts.

Everyone was able to tell that this was McDonalds. Both the taste and appearance made it obvious. One person said that it tasted like chicken flavored ramen seasoning instead of actual chicken. My analysis was that the breading became soft pretty quickly and the flavor was a little sweet. I think the seasoning was ok, but nothing special. There isn’t much else to say about them. If you’ve had McNuggets before, you know what to expect.

9: Wendys 18 pts.

The gap between McDonalds and Wendy’s is pretty large. Despite most tasters saying that these lack flavor, everyone gave them a higher score than McDonalds. I noticed that the interior of the nuggets are very soft with a little juiciness and sweetness. I do think the flavor is better than McDonalds.

8: Raising Canes 21 pts.

I know a lot of people really enjoy Raising Canes and probably expected them to rank higher. My sister says they need sauce, and all of these were tasted without sauce. All of us agreed that these tenders were light on flavor. I did like the breading and chicken texture, as it wasn’t ground as some of the chicken nuggets are. The breading also held up pretty well after waiting a while.

7: KFC: 23 pts.

The seasoning and flavor on these were a high point, as everyone gave kudos for the flavor on these nuggets. However, the texture wasn’t very appetizing, as there were on the hard/dense and dry side. This could be because they weren’t fresh, but the other nuggets and tenders didn’t have this problem. If the chicken was softer and more juicy, I think they would’ve fared better.

6: Bojangles 25pts.

This is where the test starts to turn around for most of the tasters. While I and another taster thought they were on the dry side, all but one of us really enjoyed the flavor and slight spice. I really appreciated the texture of the chicken and breading flavor.

5: Popeyes: 27pts.

The spice of these tenders was very obvious. Granted, they were the spicy tenders. I think the texture and flavor of the chicken itself must have carried these to its score, as most testers didn’t find them to be all that flavorful. I noticed they were on the dry side but I actually though they were seasoned decently well.

4: Burger King: 28 pts.

I am not a big fan of Burger King, but I must say that I was impressed by the chicken nuggets. They just barely beat out chicken from three of the most popular chicken restaurants, which is definitely surprising. While they weren’t very crispy, the flavor was arguably one of the boldest. The interior was soft and tender, which other testers appreciated as well.

2: Zaxbys & Chick-Fil-A nuggets Tie 32pts.

The Zaxbys tenders held their crispiness very well. The flavor was universally reviewed as decent, but I do think they were a little dry. One person gave these tenders a perfect store. There wasn’t much else written about these, yet they scored very well, which was interesting.

The Chick-Fil-A nuggets had one of the best flavor and texture combinations. They retained some of their crunch, as well. Everyone rated these very well and could tell that the chicken was very high quality.

1: Chick-Fil-A Tenders 35pts.

No, the Chick-Fil- A nuggets and tenders are not the same. The flavor of these was sweeter than the nuggets and I think the more substantial size of the tenders is what really gave it the edge over the nuggets. The flavor also had some extra depth to it. All but one tester gave these tenders a 9/10. If you’re looking for the best nuggets or tenders from a fast food restaurant, just go to Chick-Fil-A.

Conclusions:

Chick-Fil-A takes the 1-2 finish. I suppose that somewhat explains why they’re so popular. I found it interesting how some of the testers would say two samples lacked flavor, but rated one significantly higher than the other. I think there are some aspects of the eating experience that are just difficult to describe, thus get left out of most conversations. I always try to explain the flavors as best I can to give you an idea of what you’ll get. Even then, I think the rankings are pretty indicative of what most people would think.