- The chicken sandwich has made a resurgence in the fast-food industry in the past few years, and now it's time for the spicy version.
- We tried spicy chicken sandwiches from three major chains: Burger King, Chick-fil-A, and Wendy's.
- While each had decent chicken, the quality of the sandwiches varied greatly.
The fast-food chicken sandwich is enjoying a golden age — and now the heat is rising.
Burger King recently launched a spicy version of its revamped chicken sandwich, hoping to compete with Chick-fil-A and Wendy's.
Spicy chicken sandwiches are unique beasts, as they need enough heat to make things interesting without burning your taste buds. And the chicken still has to be held to the same standard as its non-spicy brethren — it doesn't matter how spicy it tastes if it's bone-dry and stringy.
With this in mind, we compared the spicy sandwiches of the three major chains to see who makes the best one.
Let's start with Burger King's new sandwich. It certainly looks good, and it smells peppery and golden fried.
The chicken looks heavily breaded, and it's a rather discomforting orange hue. The sandwich necessities are lackluster at best — the tomato slice is mealy and pale, and the iceberg lettuce is wilted and sparse.
It's definitely not crispy, but there is a solid spiciness to it. The heat is surprisingly strong and sharp, with a lingering needling similar to the vinegary heat of buffalo sauce. The tomato and lettuce add a cooling balance but let the sandwich down in terms of quality.
Heat level: 6/10
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