I Tried Spicy Chicken Sandwiches From 8 Fast Food Chains And Ranked Them

Spicy fried chicken is popping up everywhere, from fine dining to drive-thru menus alike. Influenced by American soul cooking and global cuisine, hot chicken typically features crunchy, pepper-infused breading and tender, juicy meat. In sandwich form, it often involves pickles, special sauce, and a bun thoughtfully selected to hold it all together.

Although I am a fried chicken enthusiast with a penchant for tongue-torturing peppers and hot sauces, I don't ordinarily order spicy chicken sandwiches from fast food chains. So, I relished this opportunity to sample a few in the name of investigative journalism. We at Chowhound have ranked fast food chicken sandwiches in the past, but this was the first time we focused exclusively on the spicy ones.

Since I did not have a go-to fast food restaurant for spicy chicken, my palate was completely unbiased during the selection and tasting process. To generate this list, I acquired spicy chicken sandwiches from eight popular fast food chains and tried them all. With consideration for spice mix and heat, batter flavor and crunchiness, chicken flavor and texture, signature toppings, bun, and enjoyability, I ranked them all in order from worst to best.

Confused about the difference between a McChicken and a McCrispy sandwich, which appear simultaneously on the menu, I learned that the McCrispy is this burger franchise's foray into southern-style fried chicken, complete with a potato bun, crinkle cut pickles, and a chicken "filet" rather than a traditional pressed patty like the McChicken. But the filet in the Spicy McCrispy Sandwich I tried didn't taste very real to me. Hard and dry with almost no legitimate chicken texture, it was odd and not easy to chew. The batter wasn't much better, with little crunch and even less heat.

The first pepper listed in the Spicy McCrispy Pepper Sauce ingredient list is habanero, but I couldn't taste it. The sauce was orange in color, but way more oily than spicy. The bun had a little more yellow coloring than McDonald's traditional buns, but there was no potato or butter flavor and the pickles were just soggy. The Spicy McCrispy was hands-down the biggest dud in my trial.

Coming in second to last only because it was more visually appetizing than the McCrispy, Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich left me similarly unimpressed once I took a bite. I'd had high hopes for this franchise's spicy offering, especially since Wendy's typically brings the heat pretty well. (Gone but not forgotten, its Spicy Baconator sandwich is so revered, Wendy's burger fans still think about it 15 years later.) But the Spicy Chicken Sandwich was a major flame out for me.

Like many of the spicy chicken sammies I tried, Wendy's was served on a potato bun, which was actually pretty good, but the joy ended there. Its standard toppings — lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mayo — are supposed to offset the heat, according to Wendy's, but it all just kind of made for a sloppy mess, in my opinion. The toppings were warm even on my first bite, which was within a few minutes of snagging this one at the drive-thru. The breading had no zip whatsoever and the breast meat was over-brined and dense. The flavor may have been improved by adding some of Wendy's hot chili seasoning – a spicy packet more people should know about – but the chicken patty would have still earned a 'meh' from me.

I have fond memories of Burger King's Original Chicken Sandwich, which earned top honors in a Chowhound ranking of every Burger King chicken product, but I had never had a BK Spicy Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich before this taste test. To my disappointment, it was a sub-par eating experience that left me wishing I'd ordered a Whopper. 

A decent, audible crunch set this one apart from the bottom of the pack, but the chicken inside was super thin and dry. The batter had some good buttermilk notes and a nice golden coloring, but the overall flavor barely registered as spicy to me. A peek at the ingredients list revealed that turmeric and paprika were the key heat components in the spicy glaze, but they just didn't do enough. The potato bun did the job here, but the mayo and tomato did nothing to enhance the sandwich. Perhaps "Patty," Burger King's latest fast food AI endeavor, can do something to make this sandwich better in the future, but for now, it's pretty uninspired.

The size of the chicken breast filet in Popeye's spicy chicken sandwich was more substantial than the bottom three sandwiches. Thick and white with a natural grain, the meat looked like what you'd hope for from a piece of fried chicken. Unfortunately, the texture was a little rubbery — like maybe it had been marinated too long — and chewing my breast gave me a bit of the ick.

Since Popeye's seasoning mix and buttermilk batter recipe is rooted in Louisiana tradition, its signature chicken is already a little hot, so I had high hopes for its Spicy Chicken Sandwich. And I knew it would be crunchy since Popeye's uses beef tallow for frying. Unfortunately, the breading itself was basically the same as the original recipe and the heat was mostly in the sauce. Billed as "spicy mayo," the sauce was creamy and orange and actually pretty good, but I would have appreciated a little more heat in the batter itself. The buttered bun was fine but the pickles were a little limp. This was not the worst spicy chicken sandwich I tried, but definitely not the best.

Though the batter color was a little anemic, lacking the golden brown/orange luster of several other sandwiches in my trial, the KFC Spicy Chicken Sandwich was decent enough. The chicken filet was large, moist, and flavorful, and the batter had all the spices and seasonings of a typical piece of KFC. It also had a respectable crunch, a buttery brioche bun, and some really good pickles.

My problem, here, as in many of the lower-ranking sandwiches on my list, is that the heat was an afterthought. While the batter did seem to have some extra black pepper in the mix, most of the spice in this sandwich came from the mayo spread. Tangy and a little sweet, the sauce had a bright orange color indicating some kind of chili pepper – an ingredient often mixed into mayo to create better, bolder sandwiches. And it was good, but the spice existed mostly on the bun. I'd probably eat this one again if someone was making a run to KFC, but I wouldn't seek it out.

As a Midwesterner who zips through a Culver's drive-thru fairly often, I almost always order a butter burger with the works — a masterpiece of a sandwich that earned high marks in Chowhound's ranking of every Culver's burger because it's just so good. But I usually avoid the chicken because it's always struck me as chewy, slippery, and a little off-putting. To my surprise, the Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich had more of a whole filet bite than some of the other Culver's menu items in the chicken category, and I actually enjoyed this one. If it hadn't been so thin, I might have ranked it higher.

The batter was crispy and golden-hued. Culver's says its breading is made from a three-pepper blend, which was evident in the aftertaste but not the first few bites. So the sandwich was hot, but it didn't have a ton of flavor. I really liked the bun on this one — a sturdy brioche that had been toasted and buttered. It held everything together well, including a layer of mayo and some high-quality dill pickle chips. All in all, this was a good sandwich, but not the very best.

I had a lot of trouble determining which of these last two sandwiches would take first prize in my ranking. Brined in a sugar and salt mix and pressure fried in peanut oil (the unique cooking method that makes Chik Fil-A sandwiches sooooo good), this Spicy Chicken Sandwich really hit the spot and satisfied my quest for some legitimate heat. The chicken filet was optimal in both texture and moisture, delivering the kind of chewing experience I hope for in a chicken sandwich. The filet was also the right size — substantial without hogging the spotlight or taking too much effort to eat.

CFA's original seasoning mix – a secret recipe – is embellished with a spicy pepper blend to create the breading for this sandwich, which means the heat is in the batter rather than the sauce. On the sandwich I ate, the bun was buttery and perfectly toasted, holding everything nicely in place, and the pickle chips were five-star. My order came with an automatic side of Buffalo sauce, which I slapped on there before putting this one back, and my mouth was pleasantly burning after eating the sample. If it hadn't been for a couple of factors giving the next spicy chicken sandwich on my list a clear edge, this would have been my favorite.

I'd never had Dave's Hot Chicken before, so I had no idea what to expect from its signature Hot Chicken Slider. When prompted to select my heat preference, I was given seven options ranging from "no spice" to "reaper" – the spiciest option at Dave's Hot Chicken. Though I was tempted to test my mettle with that modification, I opted for "hot" since I presumed it to be the default at a place called Dave's Hot Chicken.

Setting it apart from the other spicy chicken sandwiches in my trial, the batter on my Dave's Hot Chicken Slider was sticky, crunchy, and deep golden brown in color. Once I hit it with a healthy drizzle of Dave's sauce, which came with my order, the heat and flavor were in perfect harmony. Detecting notes of honey, chipotle, paprika, and cayenne when I sunk my teeth into this hottie, it was hard to tell which spice was coming from which part of the sandwich. The bun was squishy and small — just enough to provide a holding place for my fingers and not distract from the chicken-y goodness. When I discovered the bottom half was layered with a cold, crunchy, and absolutely delicious kale salad, I knew I'd found my winner.

I purchased eight spicy chicken sandwiches from fast food restaurants within 10 miles of my house without making modifications to the way they are traditionally prepared. When given a choice of heat, I selected hot rather than mild, medium, or extra hot. Immediately after receiving the sandwich, I tore an inconspicuous piece of batter and chicken off to sample the crunch and texture. 

As soon as I got home, I cut each sandwich in half and sampled them all with palate-cleansing water breaks in between. With flavor, heat, and enjoyability being my primary criteria, I also considered coloring, sauce, toppings, bun, packaging, etc. and ranked them in order from worst to best.