Popular Chili's Triple Dipper Appetizers, Ranked

If you frequently spend time online — especially on social media apps such as TikTok and Instagram — it's likely that you've heard about this viral restaurant item. The Triple Dipper, an appetizer offered at Chili's Grill & Bar, exploded on social media in 2024, quickly amassing millions of hits on TikTok videos alone.

The appetizer offers guests a unique chance to mix and match three appetizers of their choice, with options including chicken wings, chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, sliders, and egg rolls. With so many mouthwatering appetizers to choose from, though, how can you select just three? If you're struggling to decide, have no fear. I decided to put the Triple Dipper appetizer options to the test, ranking each dish based on flavor and texture. Whether you're a Chili's newbie or a seasoned diner at the establishment, I have the inside scoop on which appetizers are a must-have in your next Triple Dipper and which items should be avoided.

Whether tossed in spicy buffalo or drenched in sweet barbecue sauce, chicken wings are a staple appetizer for many restaurants. With Americans eating well 1.45 billion chicken wings on Super Bowl weekend alone in 2024, according to the National Chicken Council, it's clear they are a go-to order for many diners. After my taste test, however, wing lovers may want to be wary about letting this dish fill one of their three coveted Triple Dipper spots.

Chili's offers its bone-in wings with three sauce options: buffalo, honey-chipotle, or barbecue. As of this writing, they are available as part of the Triple Dipper for an additional $1.50 surcharge on the base price of $17.79. As the only Triple Dipper appetizer option with a surcharge, I had high expectations for the quality of the wings. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed.

From the moment I laid eyes on them, I could tell the wings were dry, as they visibly lacked sauce. After taking a bite, my suspicions were confirmed. The wings were not only dry but severely lacking in flavor. The chicken was bland, failing to bring the bold, saucy flavor my wing-loving heart desired. While I had initially intended to rank the bone-in wings along with their boneless counterparts, ranking each one based on sauce flavor, the bone-in variations of each wing were so disappointing that I had no choice but to group all the bone-in chicken wings together and rank them last. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Chili's also came in last in our ranking of popular chicken wing chains.

Unlike the bone-in chicken wings, the southwestern eggroll stands out as something fairly unique to Chili's. Filled with chicken, black beans, corn, jalapeño Jack cheese, red peppers, and spinach, this appetizer puts a Tex-Mex twist on the traditional egg roll. With its chimichanga-like appearance, I was initially intrigued by this appetizer option.

Despite my initial excitement, after trying this appetizer, I was left with several critiques. The biggest disappointment was the texture. The deep-fried tortilla lacked the crunch I was seeking, with its outer layer being doughier and softer despite its deep-fried appearance. While egg rolls are traditionally made with egg roll wrappers — a thinner dough that becomes quite crispy when deep-fried — it seems that the tortilla was unable to achieve the same satisfying crunch. Without a contrast in textures, the appetizer ultimately felt very one-note, as the tortilla blended together with its soft inner filling.

The one redeeming quality of this dish was its flavor profile. While it was not exactly my cup of tea, I appreciated the unique flavor this blend of ingredients was able to create. Considering this, it earned a spot above the rather bland bone-in wings in my ranking.

Chili's Nashville hot mozz are far from your traditional mozzarella sticks. The chain aims to elevate the classic appetizer by coating it in its Nashville hot sauce. Prior to trying this dish, I again had high expectations. As someone who spends a little too much time online, I had seen numerous TikTok videos with people raving about the immaculate cheese pull and bold flavor of the Nashville hot mozz. Upon trying it myself, however, the appetizer fell a bit flat for me.

My favorite aspect of the Nashville hot mozz was its presentation. The unique, flatter shape really makes it stand out in comparison to its competitors. Sadly, the refreshing new shape was where the positives ended for me. I was most disappointed by the flavor. As a self-proclaimed spicy-food connoisseur, I had expected the "hot" in Nashville hot mozz to come through immediately. But the heat was barely there. Instead, my first bite was void of spice and tasted more heavily of oil and salt.

While I didn't experience the immaculate cheese pull I had heard others discuss, I reasoned that this was due to the fact that I had placed a take-out order and allowed the appetizer to get a bit colder than it would in the restaurant. With that said, it still ranked higher than the southwestern eggrolls, as I rationalized that my Nashville hot mozz experience would have been much better if I had received it straight out of the kitchen. I couldn't say the same for those egg rolls.

After my disappointment with the bone-in chicken wings, I didn't know what to expect from Chili's boneless variations. While the wings appeared to have more sauce than their bone-in counterparts, they also seemed to be on the drier side. Still, I tried to hold onto hope that they would be more up to par with my high chicken wing standards.

Overall, Chili's boneless buffalo wings were quite average. While they were not as crispy as I would have liked them to be, it was a significant step up from the bone-in buffalo wings. My biggest issue was probably with the sauce. As a longtime chicken-wing lover, I have high expectations when it comes to buffalo wings. Although I was searching for a tangy, spicy buffalo sauce, I was instead met with something quite mild and basic. 

With that said, I do not fully blame the sauce recipe itself, as it's possible that the sauce's underwhelming nature was due to an insufficient coating on the wings. My lower-end ranking of this item was not due to the flavor being bad but simply that there wasn't enough of it. I would have loved to try these wings with a proper amount of sauce to examine the root of its shortcomings with flavor. 

After feeling disappointed by the Nashville hot mozz, I was unsure of how the Nashville Hot Chicken Crispers would perform in my ranking. With such a bold name, the appetizer had a lot to live up to. After spending much of my review thus far asking for more crunch in texture and spice in flavor, it seemed like the Nashville Hot Chicken Crispers would be fighting an uphill battle to fare well in my ranking.

While they certainly were not my favorite dish of the day, I was pleasantly surprised by them. Chili's Nashville hot sauce definitely works better on chicken than mozzarella sticks. While the heavy mozzarella and the salty Nashville hot sauce battled for dominance in the Nashville hot mozz, the Chicken Crispers served as a much better vehicle for the sauce.

With that said, I still struggled a bit with the overall flavor. While the chicken was tasty, the overwhelming presence of salt and oil distracted from the spices within the sauce. Reworking this Nashville hot sauce recipe could do wonders for the dish. Striking a better balance between spice, salt, and the inevitable oiliness that comes with a deep-fried appetizer would allow this dish to climb the ranks. While the Nashville Hot Chicken Crispers are a decent option for your Triple Dipper, there are certainly better ones to choose from.

Coming in next are Chili's Crispy Chicken Crispers. Here, Chili's proves that a classic appetizer is hard to beat. While some of its other menu options may be more inventive, the Crispy Chicken Crispers find their way to the middle of my ranking for being a well-executed version of this beloved appetizer staple. 

As someone who loves a good chicken tender, I can confidently say that the Crispy Chicken Crispers can hold their own. While Chili's seems to have a bit of a habit of adding too much salt to its appetizers, that was not the case here. The seasoning was perfectly balanced, with just the right amount of salt. They were also moderately crispy, as the name suggests, without being overly greasy. While this may not be my top pick out of all of the Triple Dipper options, it's a solid one to swap in if you're looking for a more classic piece of chicken.

Next up, we have Chili's boneless house BBQ wings. While these wings only rank two spots above the boneless buffalo wings, in my eyes, the gap between them is much more significant. This was around the time my reviews began taking a more positive turn, as I had much better things to say about this variation of the boneless wings, earning them a spot in the top five.

While the sweet, rich barbecue sauce perfectly balanced sweetness with smokiness, the A+ texture of these wings is what really made them shine. Unlike the softer, almost soggy coating on the boneless buffalo wings, the breading on these wings was quite thick and crunchy, making them much more enjoyable. While bone-in wings are more popular than boneless wings amongst United States restaurant-goers, this is certainly an instance where boneless wings came out on top. If you're a fan of a good crispy coating and a generous amount of sweet barbecue sauce, Chili's boneless house BBQ wings are definitely worth considering for one of your three Triple Dipper spots.

Keeping with the positive trend, Chili's fried mozzarella emerged as another one of the Triple Dipper standouts. Much like the Nashville hot mozz, the shape of the fried mozzarella immediately caught my eye. There's a reason why Chili's doesn't refer to this appetizer as mozzarella sticks. Instead of the typical cylindrical form, the fried mozzarella possesses a flatter, more horizontal shape, setting them apart from other chains' offerings.

While the newer Nashville hot mozz aimed to elevate the fried mozzarella, I found myself enjoying the dish much more in its original form without the addition of the Nashville hot sauce. Sometimes there's no need to reinvent the wheel. The fried mozzarella is proof that you can't beat a classic. Coupled with Chili's marinara sauce, which provided a good, refreshing balance to the saltier mozzarella, this appetizer is every cheese lover's dream.

If I had one critique, it would be that it could've used a crispier exterior. While the thick cut of cheese is clearly the star of this dish, a bit more crunch would've pushed this appetizer to the next level (and perhaps into my top three). Otherwise, it was certainly one of my favorites. (P.S. If you're looking for that otherworldly cheese pull, I'd recommend ordering this one in the restaurant instead of to-go.)

With the majority of Chili's Triple Dipper options consisting of different variations of chicken, the Big Mouth bites were a refreshing addition to the menu. Topped with bacon, American cheese, sauteed onions, and ranch (which was offered on the side), Chili's has whipped up the perfect recipe for a classic slider.

While I was especially excited for this item prior to receiving my order, I was admittedly a bit disappointed once it arrived. Their overall presentation was a bit sloppy, and it seemed as though the sliders were thrown together haphazardly, with cheese falling off one of the burgers and barely making its way onto the other one. Considering that the dish consists of just two sliders, I was not thrilled with the presentation. With that said, this was my only qualm with the dish. The Big Mouth bites still earned such a high spot in my ranking because they remained one of my favorite appetizers of the day. 

While it could have been chicken fatigue I was experiencing, I truly felt as though the beef stood out compared to the other dishes I tried. The combination of bacon, cheese, and sauteed onions added significant depth to the flavor of the beef, enhancing an already tasty burger. One of the standout elements of this take on a classic slider was the brioche bun. While hamburger buns can sometimes run dry, the Big Mouth bites' buns were soft with a subtle sweetness, elevating them to the next level. If you're a beef fan who loves a delicious slider, the Big Mouth bites are a solid Triple Dipper appetizer.

Stealing the second spot on my list are Chili's boneless honey-chipotle wings. Upon receiving my order, I was most excited to try the honey-chipotle chicken dishes because of the generous helping of sauce slathered onto both of them. After tasting several dry iterations of chicken wings, they were a much-needed and refreshing change.

These boneless wings excel in both flavor and texture. Chili's honey-chipotle sauce is by far its best. The chain somehow managed to find the perfect balance between sweet and spicy, with the slight kick coming in right at the end. For a restaurant that seemed to struggle with more basic sauces, such as buffalo, I was pleasantly surprised that Chili's was able to capture the nuance of the sweet-spicy combo in its honey-chipotle sauce.

The crispy exterior of the wing elevated an already solid piece of chicken to the next level, and the thick breading made for one of my crunchiest bites of the day. These wings are truly a showstopper and are definitely worth your consideration if you're looking for a flavor-packed chicken dish that perfectly combines sweet and spicy.

Taking the highly coveted first place spot on my Triple Dipper appetizer ranking are the Honey-Chipotle Chicken Crispers. Like the honey-chipotle boneless wings, this dish excels in its bold flavors and superior textures. The combination of sweet, tangy, and spicy found in Chili's honey-chipotle sauce is truly next-level, surpassing any honey-chipotle dish I've had previously.

These chicken tenders put the "crisp" in Crisper. Cooked to perfection, I could almost hear the immaculate crunch. What truly sets the Honey-Chipotle Chicken Crisper over the top — especially over its highly similar opponent, the honey-chipotle boneless wings — is its texture. The Crispers have a thinner breading than the boneless wings, allowing the natural chicken flavor to shine through just a bit more.

With that said, it's totally up to personal preference. I enjoyed the lighter bite of the Honey-Chipotle Chicken Crispers, but others may feel differently. Regardless, whether you go with the boneless wings or the Crispers, as long as you are getting that honey-chipotle sauce, you really can't go wrong. While either dish could have snagged the win here, for me, the Honey-Chipotle Chicken Crispers are the undisputed top choice for your next Chili's Triple Dipper.

The most important factors I considered while reviewing and ranking the appetizers that are currently available on Chili's Triple Dipper menu were flavor and texture. Considering most of the items were fried, crunch and crispiness were frequently used to measure each item. Crunchier items were typically considered more successful and, thus, rated higher. As for flavor, a higher ranking was given to items that did a better job of balancing flavors as well as staying true to the advertised flavor of their respective sauce. 

I had originally anticipated that the bone-in and boneless wings would be quite similar and could likely be grouped together by sauce flavor in my ranking — a huge misjudgment that I quickly discovered as I conducted my taste test. And while price was not really a factor in this review, I did consider it for one group of items (the bone-in wings) in my ranking, which came with an additional surcharge on top of the base fee.