Popeyes Vs Wingstop: Who Has The Better Smoky Wings?

At the end of August, two major fried chicken chains — Popeyes and Wingstop — announced two new, sweet and smoky flavors. Over at Popeyes the Sweet 'N Smokey Chipotle wings just dropped, while Wingstop rolled out its Sweet BBQ Blaze, where barbecue sauce brings the smokiness of the grill to the end of summer. In Popeyes' case, the sweetness springs from honey rather than BBQ sauce, letting the smoked chipotle peppers hog (hen?) the spotlight.

Popeyes is a beloved brand whose many recent openings often cause traffic jams, but Wingstop scored our pick for best chicken wing chain in the United States. Strong bona fides in both cases! But let's say you've only got enough money in your wallet for one batch of ever more-expensive chicken. Which wing will you want to fill your stomach with? That's the question I sat down to answer with a hungry belly and an affection for both spicy foods and barbecue. This was gonna be fun.

In NYC, we paid $16.65 with tax to pick up Wingstop's Sweet BBQ Blaze six-piece wing/drumstick combo. You can order only wings, but it's a ten-piece minimum that will cost you more without drink or fries. Popeyes sent over a batch of their new flavor for review purposes, but my editor's buying the Wingstop sample, so from your and my perspective, our stomachs are gambling with house money (or at least house buffet coupons) to ensure an even-handed review. If you're not the beneficiary of an article budget, you can expect to pay $6 for a six-piece. Dang: advantage, Popeyes.

Prices may vary around the country, and you can find both flavors nationally, though we've seen Wingstop do local-only branded flavors before, such as Knicks-branded Lemon Garlic. That's not the case here. The Popeyes chipotle sauce is now a permanent addition to the menu, whereas Wingstop Sweet BBQ Blaze is only available for a brief period. It's pretty common for the latter to roll a new flavor through its doors as a limited-time offering, leading your intrepid pals at Tasting Table to perpetually update our ranking of every Wingstop flavor.

As per its website, Popeyes lists a serving of the Sweet N' Smokey Chipotle Wings at 1078.8 calories from 59.8 grams of protein, 111.5 grams of carbohydrates including 35.2 grams of sugar, and 49.7 grams of fat including 25 grams of saturated fat and 2.4 grams of trans fat. While Wingstop doesn't list nutritional info for its newest flavor on its website, we can extrapolate from the list of ongoing wing flavors, which tend to be about 90 to 110 calories per bone-in piece. The closest flavor is likely the Hickory Smoked BBQ at 100 calories, with 10 grams of protein, 5 grams of fat including 1.5 grams of saturated fat, and 0 grams of trans fat.

Those numbers shift for Wingstop's boneless servings at 90 calories with 4.5 grams of fat, including 1 gram of saturated fat, and 9 grams of carbohydrates, including 3 grams of sugars. Protein-wise, that wing, like almost all the wings served at Wingstop, has 4 grams of protein.

Believe it or not, Popeyes wasn't even a full-time wing-slinger until the end of 2023. But the company knows chicken inside and out...or maybe inside from the out, thanks to its 12-plus-hours marinade that makes its spicy signature chicken one of the must-try items at the chain. While ghost pepper's one of the hotter ones out there, it's not overwhelming in the base chicken (unless you order the amped-up ghost pepper flavor). If you're worried about chipotle and guajillo atop ghost pepper, relax. The spice comes through only after a sweet wave of smoky honey. This isn't a Nashville hot chicken ordeal. A pleasant tingle follows that will delight more than ache, but if you're feeling it, get the combo and bury that burn in Popeyes ' pleasantly chewy fries. (Though they don't come with the $6 for six-piece, so you'll have to combo up.) The expected thick crust that makes Popeyes as beloved as it is among devotees stands up well to this fairly thick sauce,

The meat is tender, though not falling off bone. It's also kind of impressive how the sauce gets under the wings here. It's hard shell doesn't prevent it from getting inside to sauce the meat itself. Good job there. The marinade and sauce combination flavors it right to the bone.

Wingstop goes much bigger on the barbecue sauce, slathering rather than stripping its wings. Those wings, though fried, aren't breaded, so they offer a comparatively lighter eating experience that lets the meat and sprinkled seasoning dance on a more even footing with the crispy yet chewy skin. If you like baked wings, this is more your speed.

Sauce wise, the focus falls even more on sweet and smokey by proportion than Popeyes, with almost no spice to speak of. However, side by side, Popeyes' sauce is sweeter, just as part of a much more forceful wave of intense flavors. Wingstop is more savory, with more chicken flavor. Perhaps some food scientist can explain that the chicken juice isn't absorbed by the breading or something, but I'm just a hungry wing fan speculating.

If you have a sensitive stomach that doesn't do well with fried foods, spice, or gluten, Wingstop may be your pick for a more, let us say, thoughtful fast food eating experience.

If you're a completist for Wingstop or want to try both and only have lunch budget for one, definitely go with that first since it will vanish soon enough. If you just have a one-time craving for this combination of sweet, spicy, and smoky, Popeyes is going to be a big, delicious punch in the kisser compared to the more subtle Wingstop.

Now, into the nuance: If the flavor will satisfy you either way, you've got a textural choice to make. Popeyes touts its "hand-batter and breading" for a signature shattery crust, even if it's susceptible to time and steam. Wingstop isn't exactly aiming for that, so it's not a 1:1 comparison, and while its coating is thick enough and well-seasoned, its own success is measured more on a lightness closer to baked wings. So, both of these textures bear their flavorings well.

Still, Popeyes is confident enough in the comparison that it launched with a free six-piece wing deal alongside a $10 minimum purchase, so you could confidently try their new flavor with money in your pocket to spare. (Sadly, that deal ended this weekend, although the chipotle wings, as noted, are now permanently part of the menu.) But of course, if you're looking to save money, Popeyes is going to offer the lower-cost point of entry to try these without accoutrements. That gives it a solid leg — or wing — up, even if Wingstop satisfies on its own terms.