I love spicy chicken sandwiches and am on the quest to try them all and will be posting my rankings here.
With commentary from the roommates Shelby and Brooke and boyfriend Daniel
Popeyes Spicy Chicken Sandwich
This is the top tier spicy chicken sandwich, as good as it gets! The first time I had this sandwich I was actually in awe. The sandwich as a whole is pretty basic: bun, chicken, sauce, and pickles. But all together its magic. The coating on the chicken is so so crunchy and just the right amount of greasy. The chicken itself is extremely juicy, the pickles are the thickest pickle slices, and the sauce is so creamy and just the right amount of spicy *perfection*. If I was to really start getting picky I would like some cheese, like pepper jack or swiss, or more sauce because I like things saucy. But when it comes down to it this sandwich wins outs.
Not as good as chick fil a.
Chick-fil-a Deluxe Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Okay so this is where things start getting a little tricky. First because I try to avoid eating Chick-fil-a for ethical reasons, and second because the standard sandwich sits in 3rd place but the upgrade to a deluxe puts this baby in 2nd place. The coating on the chicken is reminiscent to school lunch chicken but it is spiced so that makes up for it. Plus they only give you two pickles which is a travesty and there’s not any additional sauce and as I stated above I like ’em saucy. So I add Chick-fil-a sauce to mine. However, the deluxe version includes lettuce, tomatoes, and pepper jack cheese which make it a very well rounded sandwich. All in all a good sandwich but not my first pick.
Top tier. The chicken is always juicy and tender and the tomatoes are always ripe. Hands down the best spicy chicken sandwich.
I like it best because you get pepper jack cheese and the chick fil a sauce is good on it.
Wendy’s Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich
Alright so this sandwich is hard to compare to the others because while it is a “spicy chicken sandwich” Wendy’s is on a whole different spectrum. They allow you the most amount of customization with the choice of spicy chicken, regular chicken, and grilled chicken. Along with the chicken you get applewood bacon, melted pepper jack cheese, and crispy pickle chips topped with hot honey. I was a little skeptical about the crispy pickle chips but they actually work. My main complaint was that it was a little dry overall, the hot honey soaks into the breading of the chicken and it just needs a little sauce. I dipped mine into honey mustard and it was pretty darn tasty. Final ranking- equivalent to Chick-fil-a, needs sauce.
Amazing! The honey brings in the perfect amount of sweet with the spice. The only thing that could make it better is if it was saucier.
KFC Spicy Chicken Sandwich
This was another controversial one for me. I so wanted to love this sandwich but have been left earning for more. It’s not bad by any means and I would eat it any day of the week, especially Sundays 🙂 The chicken was so so crispy but the meat itself is a little dry and leaves a greasy taste. The rest of the sandwich is darn near equivalent to Popeyes, not as thick of pickles but they load her up. It has a spicy mayo sauce that is so creamy and a nicely buttered bun. Depending on my mood this could slide into 2nd place.
McDonald’s Spicy Deluxe Crispy Chicken Sandwich
This is another deluxe and tbh they should all have a deluxe option. Again this isn’t a bad sandwich, you can’t really go wrong with a spicy chicken sandwich, but I think it deserves its last place finish. The breading again has that school lunch vibe and there’s nothing special about the chicken itself. I will say I think this is the spiciest of the sandwiches which has its merits. I again love that it has the addition of the lettuce and tomatoes, but where’s the cheese? Plus it has shredded lettuce, which I know is McDonald’s thing but it doesn’t make it easy to eat. If I go to McDonald’s this is what I order, but I haven’t found myself going out of my way specifically for this like I have the other sandwiches.
Sad and disappointing. The bun is soggy and the chicken is dry : (
Not as good as Popeyes.