8 Fast Food Chicken Nuggets, Ranked Worst To Best

Despite being a huge foodie now, I was the pickiest eater growing up. It caused my parents a good amount of distress — when we went out to eat, if chicken nuggets and fries weren't on the menu, I wasn't eating (though chicken tenders were an acceptable substitute). I even remember throwing a tantrum when my dad ordered me a burger instead of nuggets at McDonald's one day. I won't defend my younger self's stubbornness, but she did give grown-up me something to treasure: A particularly discerning palate, especially when it comes to the ubiquitous chicken nuggets. 

Alas, not all chicken nuggets are equal. You may have your favorite go-to frozen chicken nugget brand, but there's also a good chance you've tried some that you'd never buy again. The same principle applies to the world of fast food chicken nuggets, and when tasting them side-by-side for this particular ranking, I was actually fairly surprised at how widely the quality varied from chain to chain. I took a couple factors into consideration when ranking the following eight fast food chicken nuggets, namely: flavor, the texture of the breading, and the texture of the chicken inside. 

This actually isn't the first time I've had Jack in the Box's chicken nuggets. I previously tried them as a vehicle to help me rank the brand's sauces, and though I don't remember noticing anything in particular about them at the time (probably because I was too busy dipping them in various sauces), I didn't expect them to be downright dismal when I tried them this time. But dismal they were, and even though they look appealing enough from the outside, these chicken nuggets ultimately have absolutely nothing going for them. 

For starters, there was zero flavor to speak of in any part of these nuggets. Actually, I take that back — there was a distinctly old, somewhat funky flavor to the chicken that left me loath to take more than one bite. The breading tasted odd as well (it was quite a feat making them both weird and bland, to be fair) and unless you're a three-year-old, you probably won't find much enjoyment from these. That said, I'd hardly recommend feeding them to your toddler anyway. The nuggets were also tiny in comparison to most others on this list. Unfortunately, Jack in the Box's chicken nuggets were a miss on all counts — though the following selection wasn't much better, at least the chain had the decency to give it a fun shape. 

Don't ask for chicken nuggets the next time you go to Carl's Jr. — instead, ask for chicken stars. Well, don't ask for them at all if you want a decent-tasting meal. It's pretty clear the above star-shaped offering is designed to appeal to kids, and I suppose the nuggets on the whole would accomplish that well. But I have nothing good to say about them that isn't related to their amusing shape. 

Again, these nuggets are bland and flavorless. You can almost tell you're in for a pretty boring ride just from looking at the photo — is there any seasoning to speak of in that breading? Moreover, the inside is unpalatably squishy. I don't know about you, but squishiness is probably the last thing I look for in a chicken nugget. Add to that the fact that the breading was rather soft, and you have a wholly unpalatable chicken nugget that only made it out of last place after I tried Jack in the Box's horrific offering. At least the following, even if not great, are relatively palatable. 

Ah, the classic McDonald's McNugget. You can probably taste them just by looking at the above picture — after all, who hasn't had a small box unceremoniously thrust into their hands as a kid on road trips? The McNuggets are a symbol of my (and many others') childhoods. They represent simpler, albeit less flavorful times, but there's something about biting into that McDonald's-flavored exterior that's a surefire recipe for a punch of nostalgia.

That said, McNuggets are exactly as you'd expect. I don't know what gives them that signature McDonald's flavor — probably the plethora of ingredients incorporated into the seemingly simple selection — but they taste exactly the same as they did when I was five, and I wasn't mad about it. The relatively crispy breading gives way to a not-super-pleasant, mealy, pasty interior, so I can't say they lend themselves to the greatest eating experience. The following selections all had more going for them in both flavor and texture, but these earned the number six spot because they're reliably palatable and not as bland as the previous offerings. 

Another massive fast food chain that had to make the lineup is Burger King. We've previously claimed that Burger King's Whopper is better than McDonald's Big Mac, and I'd have to make the same claim about the chain's chicken nuggets — they're decidedly superior to BK's competitor, and if you're driving past both the chains, I'd stop at Burger King over McDonald's any day. But maybe I'm biased; after all, some of my favorite childhood memories involve munching on the chain's chicken fries after a long day at summer camp.

Burger King's chicken nuggets snagged fifth place, just ahead of McDonald's, for a couple simple reasons. I'll get my biggest complaint out of the way first — the nuggets were oddly thin, especially when placed next to my following choice (and even when sitting next to McDonald's). That was the biggest detractor from this selection, which otherwise had a more flavorful breading. I'd call them decent fast food nuggets, and they'll scratch any nugget itch adequately enough. That said, the quality gap between this and my next selection was striking. Any of the following chicken nuggets are ones I'd happily enjoy again. 

I'm not sure the smiling, freckle-faced redhead has ever let me down, and she's certainly not going to start today. I tried Wendy's chicken nuggets right after both McDonald's and Burger King's, and I'll admit to expecting a very similar quality, but I'd now say the quality of these is much better than that of its predecessors. After trying them, I was kicking myself for not getting a helping of Wendy's saucy chicken nuggets, a menu addition which seems to be pretty stunning.

Wendy's chicken nuggets were thick and moist on the inside with that juicy quality you look for in well-cooked chicken — they weren't dry in the slightest. The breading was nice and crispy (not the crispiest on this list, but better than the prior selections), and it had a welcome peppery flavor to it. Moreover, the chicken itself had a better flavor than any of the previous options I mentioned. Wendy's is an easy top choice among what is, in my mind, the fast food trifecta (McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's), but at the end of the day, it can't compete with my top three picks.

This and the following selections go above and beyond any of the prior choices. The previous ones are all similarly shaped (excluding the stars, obviously) and clearly pretty processed. My top three choices, however, seem to be far fresher — they're rounder than the flat patties above and the chicken shreds when you bite into them. Kentucky Fried Chicken's chicken nuggets are up first, and I was pretty wowed by them on the whole.

For starters, KFC's chicken nuggets had a flavor-loaded breading. I was actually surprised at the punch it packed when I first bit into one. It's nicely spiced with black pepper standing out as the main tasting note, and even though black pepper may not be the most exciting spice in the world, I'll certainly take a hit of pepper over the blandness that characterized some of my previous options. Again, the chicken here isn't paste-like and mealy, but shreds as you bite into the nugget. Some nuggets also had extra crispy batter bits that hung off the nuggets almost like tails — personally, I'll take a bite of crispy fried batter any day. These nuggets are a very solid choice, but they couldn't compete with my top two favorites.

Are you surprised to see Sonic's chicken nuggets ranked so high on my list? So was I — though I love the novelty of the car-side chain, I don't tend to expect much in terms of the quality of its offerings. But I'll unashamedly admit to eating all of these. They're almost my ideal nugget, and it was easy to place them above all the prior selection, which might be a bit of a hot take; after all, I'm a huge sucker for fried foods, so the texture of these bad boys did a lot to win me over.

The first obvious pro about Sonic's chicken nuggets is that they were still insanely crispy even after sitting in my car for over an hour. However, they were also fairly dry. If I could combine the interior of KFC's chicken nuggets with the exterior of Sonic's, I think you'd have a winning combination — as it is, Sonic's nuggets are for a certain type of consumer, and that consumer is me. If you need something flavorful and crispy enough to give a satisfying crunch, and neutral enough to be amenable to any sauce (but still not at all bland), opt for Sonic's. I doubt you'll be disappointed. The breading is what gave it a slight edge above KFC's, but the following nuggets hit every mark I was looking for and were an easy first place pick.

Is it any surprise that a chicken-centric fast food chain would have the best chicken nuggets on offer? Actually, yeah — I was quite surprised when I put these in top place. I love Chick-fil-A's sandwiches, but I've never been a huge fan of its nuggets (or at least, I wasn't the one time I tried them over a decade ago). Maybe my then-underdeveloped palate didn't appreciate the nuances of these nuggs, or maybe I've simply changed my tune. But when I took into account all my ranking criteria together — flavor, texture, and quality — I had to give Chick-fil-A the top spot.

We'll start with the moist, flavorful interior that shreds apart when you bite into it, a telltale sign (to me, anyway) of a minimally processed chicken nugget. The actual chicken here was by far the best of any other options I tried. The breading is crispy and well-seasoned without being too punchy, but it has that signature Chick-fil-A flavor that we all know and love from the chain's sandwiches. The bite-sized pieces are also easy to snack on without feeling too small, and they're neutral enough in flavor to go with any dipping sauce. But let's be honest: If you're not dipping them in Chick-fil-A sauce, you're doing it wrong.

To compile a ranking of chicken nuggets, I visited every fast food chain that had nuggets on the menu within a 15-mile radius. Fortunately, this covered most of the major fast food chains out there. Other chains occasionally have nuggets rotating on and off the menu (like Taco Bell) but unfortunately, most of those chains didn't have nuggets at the time I visited, so I ended up with eight options total.

I had a few key criteria in mind when doing this ranking. First, I looked for a decent flavor and texture in the breading. Then, I judged the interior of the nugget — did the chicken shred when I bit into it (indicating a probably less processed product) or did it seem to be more of a paste? I ranked the more natural-seeming chicken nuggets that had good flavor and crispy breading higher than those that seemed more processed and less flavorful. One important factor I couldn't reasonably take into account, though, was freshness. Because making all the fast food runs took about two hours of driving time, it wouldn't have been fair to compare the ones I grabbed first with those I picked up last in terms of how fresh they were.