Every Popeye's Side Dish, Ranked Worst To Best

I'll say this unashamedly: Popeyes is my favorite fast food chain. I'm a huge lover of crispy chicken sandwiches, and Popeyes has nailed the formula for my ideal chicken sandwich — its breading is indulgently crispy with moist, tender meat on the inside, and adding bacon and cheese at home makes it simply perfection, especially when topped with Chick-fil-A sauce. As much as I could rave about the chain's chicken sandwiches (and a new favorite of mine — its five flavors of wings), other menu items deserve equal recognition — namely, Popeyes' side dishes. 

The chain's assortment of Southern sides look as though they were pulled straight from the menu at a family barbecue. From coleslaw to macaroni and cheese and even red beans and rice, it's clear the company doesn't skimp on its Cajun inspirations — and even though its Cajun rice is no longer a permanent offering, other sides hope to fill that void. Given that I usually stick with Cajun fries and a biscuit as sides when I order from the chain, I figured it was high time to give the restaurant's other sides a try and rank them from worst to best. I judged each side based on other versions I've had before. My family's southern Virginia roots give me relatively high standards, which I tempered a bit given that this is a fast food chain, and while some sides did impress me, some fell quite short.

Taking the bottom spot on my list is Popeyes' red beans and rice. I've never been the biggest fan of red beans, but even still, I could tell that these were just not up to snuff. The company's description of the product — "Smooth red beans served with seasoned rice" — is accurate enough, but unfortunately, this side leaves much to be desired. For starters, you can see oil floating on top of the beans in the above photo, which didn't make me particularly hopeful that the quality of the side would be great. As it turns out, I was right.

A regular side of the red beans and rice dish will give you 250 calories worth of very mediocre red beans and rice. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a single thing I enjoyed about this dish. The textures were all wrong — the whole thing was incredibly mushy, and the rice retained very little bite, making it almost feel as if I was trying to chew an unpleasant puree. As far as flavor goes, the red beans and rice were far too salty and tasted incredibly processed, and the entire dish had a certain artificial chemical-esque flavor to it that wasn't appetizing, to say the least. I had to force myself to take a second bite of this to write an accurate review; overall, I really don't think it's worth getting, and you should choose any of Popeyes' other sides over this one.

This isn't the first time Popeyes' mashed potatoes have shown up in a ranking, and it likely won't be the last — however, I'd be surprised if this side ever receives anything above middling marks from our team. Similar to the red beans and rice, the mashed potatoes don't appeal to the eye and aren't likely to leave you eager to try a bite. The gravy looks incredibly thin and seems like it's trying to hold up against the mashed potatoes, making me highly doubtful that I'd find any balance in this combination. 

On the plus side, the mashed potatoes had a good texture. They were smooth and relatively firm, making it easy to pick up a bite-sized forkful. Everything else, however, was all wrong. The gravy tasted like it looked — very liquid-y, salty, and greasy. After saying a firm no to the gravy, I decided to try the mashed potatoes on their own to see if I enjoyed the dish better. Alas, it turns out the gravy was masking the disappointing and very obviously instant mashed potatoes. All in all, I'd say the mashed potatoes and gravy side dish has potential — were the gravy a bit thicker and less salty, it would have been more palatable and masked the instant quality of the mashed potatoes well.

I'm a big coleslaw fan. There's something about eating a crunchy, saucy, vegetable-based dish that feel comforting and healthy all at the same time. I usually avoid store-bought coleslaw, preferring to make my own as I tend to worry that pre-made varieties will get too soggy. That was a moderate concern when I popped the lid off of Popeyes' coleslaw. As you can tell from the above picture, it looks fairly dressing-heavy, and the fine dice of the vegetables didn't make me hopeful that they would retain much bite. Fortunately, I was wrong. 

On the whole, I enjoyed Popeyes' coleslaw, though it missed the mark in a couple of ways. The coleslaw was indeed loaded with dressing — slightly too much, in my opinion — and the dressing had a slightly sweet flavor that I don't usually taste in coleslaw but didn't find off-putting here. The best part about this coleslaw was its crispness. Despite being finely diced, the cabbage was firm enough to taste fresh, the thin carrot pieces had a subtle crunch, and the flavor of each vegetable came through. Though it wasn't the best coleslaw I've ever had, for a fast food chain dish, I'd call it pretty decent.

Up next is a dish I'm surprised I haven't gotten more at the chain, considering I'm generally a huge fan. I make a mean mac and cheese, though, so my standards are high, and my palate is picky when it comes to this classic Southern side. I'll say this about Popeyes' homestyle mac and cheese: Don't expect a restaurant-style mac and cheese experience, but if you keep your expectations tempered, you'll find a cheesy junk food-esque dish that's great when you need an indulgent late-night snack.

As far as flavor, the cheese tastes incredibly fake, and I wouldn't be surprised if the company primarily uses Velveeta cheese in this mac and cheese dish. If that doesn't turn you off (it didn't for me), you'll love this side. It's insanely cheesy in the best comfort-food kind of way. The top of the dish is just as crispy as it looks in the photo and reminiscent of a good home-baked mac and cheese top. The noodles also keep their texture, and I was pleased that they weren't mushy in the slightest. Again, I could see the flavor of the noodles being a turn-off to some consumers, so keep that in mind the next time you go to the chain.

I've always been a Popeyes biscuit lover. Though some prefer to elevate the biscuits with their own customizations — for example, David Chang pairs caviar with his Popeyes biscuits — I prefer to consume them straight out of the wrapper. To me, these biscuits are both incredibly plain and inexplicably delightful. You won't be wowed by it (especially if you're a biscuit baker yourself), but it'll be hard to keep from going for seconds after you've finished your first. I'm not sure what exactly Popeyes did to churn out such a consistently wonderful biscuit, but I hope the chain never changes its formula.

I'll get my singular complaint about Popeyes' biscuits out of the way first: They can, on occasion, be a bit dry on the inside. I could also see other consumers taking issue with the lack of flakiness in the biscuit, but that's hardly a dealbreaker for me — the crumb structure is still light and airy enough to make the biscuit not feel dense. The outside of the biscuit is thin and crispy, with an out-of-this-world buttery flavor. The whole biscuit is impeccably salted. Popeyes' biscuits are always a savored treat in my house, but there is one side that comes only slightly ahead of them.

Last but certainly not least, the cream of the crop of Popeyes' sides (in my humble opinion): cajun fries. I'd like to start by acknowledging my bias as an absolute fry fiend. However, this does give me a pretty high french fry standard, and I'm not ashamed to say I've ordered a large Cajun fry from Popeyes more than once to satisfy a craving. Popeyes has what I think is the perfect fast food fry, with all the key elements one can ask for in a french fry; not only is this my favorite side at the chain, but it's also my favorite french fry in general.

At their core, these fries are crispy and full of flavor — and honestly, how many fast food chains can boast that? We've all gone through the drive-thru only to be handed a soggy package of what could pass for french fries if you were feeling particularly generous. Popeyes' fries, on the other hand, never let me down. The Cajun seasoning imparts buckets of flavor without being spicy, which my sensitive taste buds appreciate, and these fries don't even need a dipping sauce to be enjoyed. They have the crispiness of a breaded french fry (which they may very well be), and the inside melts in your mouth. If you've never had Popeyes' Cajun fries before, do yourself a favor, hop in the car, and go grab some — you won't be disappointed.

Fortunately, as a long-time Popeyes fan, I'm familiar enough with the chain to know what to expect in terms of food quality. Though this was my first time trying some of the sides, I've had versions of them all before, which helped me rank them accordingly. To rank high on my list, a side had to have a full, balanced flavor and a texture that held up to other versions I've tried. Since this is fast food, I adjusted my expectations accordingly to give as fair a ranking as possible. Though I was willing to see my go-to sides usurped by a new favorite, this ended up not being the case.

I tried at least a couple bites of each side to make sure I judged them fairly, though, with a couple of sides (the mashed potatoes and the red beans and rice), I had to make myself go in for that second forkful. The dishes that scored low simply didn't meet the reasonable standard I had for the dish, and I wouldn't eat them again, even if they were given to me for free. The ones at the top of my list, I enjoy frequently. Unlike some other rankings I've done, there was a fairly large quality gap between the top and bottom choices on this list, making for an interesting tasting experience.