Yahoo Autos I Tried All 3 of McDonald’s New Crispy Chicken Sandwiches, and I Have Questions
For all the pomp surrounding fast food "plant-based" burgers and breakfast sandwiches, you might not think that McDonald's next move would be to release not one, but three, new chicken sandwiches.
Yet they've done so today, and, to say the least, McDonald's is hyped. They've been working on their new creation for "years," according to a press release, and even created a capsule collection with record producer Tay Keith that includes the limited-edition McDonald's Crispy Chicken Sandwich hoodie and the exclusive audio track (on 7" vinyl!) that everyone has been so desperately asking for.
It's as if McD's, with its trio of new sandwiches, has chosen a weapon each in the fight against the big guns of the fried chicken sandwich game: Wendy's, Popeyes, Chick-fil-A.
KFC and Taco Bell are also players, and many of these companies are now feuding with each other on Twitter because this is 2021, nearly a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, and we all need something to distract us from this crazy world we live in.
I taste-tested each of McDonald's three new chicken sandwiches today — the Crispy Chicken Sandwich, the Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich and the regally named Deluxe Crispy Chicken Sandwich — and also pulled together what, exactly, is inside each one.
That includes the nutrition information and the ingredients, just in case these are things that matter to you.
Forever late to the exclusive fast-food capsule release party, I cannot, however, give you a review of that 7".
The McDonald's Crispy Chicken Sandwich
The chain describes the offering as such: "This southern style fried chicken sandwich is crispy, juicy and tender perfection. It’s topped with crinkle-cut pickles and served on a new toasted, buttered potato roll."
It's the base model, so to speak, of their new fleet.
Nutrition and Ingredients
This sandwich contains 470 calories, 27 grams (g) protein, 45g carbohydrates (1g of which is fiber, and 9g of which are sugar).
While 470 calories isn't anything shocking — and 27 grams of protein is pretty dang close to the 30 Men's Health recommends you consume at each meal to build muscle and stay full — it's evident that there's a hefty dose of empty carbohydrates in this sandwich.
And, hold up, nine grams of sugar in a chicken sandwich? Like, the same amount of sugar that's in two Oreo cookies?
If you unfurl the lengthy ingredients list for the sandwich on the company's website, you'll notice that McDonald's shoves sugar into not only the bun, but also the breaded chicken. "Sugar" is its fifth ingredient — even before salt.
Taste and Texture
The chicken itself actually tastes pretty great. It's well-seasoned, not overly breaded, and deeply savory (perhaps due to a secret ingredient: Monosodium Glutamate, aka MSG).
Except that the rest of the sandwich, adorned with only three warmed-over pickles, and stuffed between two sickly sweet buns, doesn't honor the chicken.
Despite McDonald's marketing assurances that the sandwich is "juicy" — surprise! — it's dry.
At $4, it leaves you feeling slightly shortchanged and scrambling for some mayonnaise.
The McDonald's Deluxe Crispy Chicken Sandwich
As any fast-food veteran knows, "deluxe" means, "Hey, look, we put some vegetables on this thing."
Nutrition and Ingredients
For a mere $1.20 upgrade from the base model you'll find some thin slices of kinda-red tomatoes and a scattering of shredded lettuce likely borrowed from the same bin that's used to dress the Big Macs. But ... mayo!
