Every McDonald's Chicken Item, Ranked Worst To Best

Step aside, Big Mac — it's time to give other McDonald's menu items a chance to steal the spotlight. Don't worry, Big Mac fans. Your beloved burger isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but consider this your sign to branch out of the beef-o-sphere and try something a little more poultry-centric. 

Today's taste test is a deep dive into the world of McDonald's chicken menu items, and I'll issue a fair warning before you head to your local Mickey D's: Do some research before you head in! Yes, a McChicken is quite different from a McCrispy, and not all sandwiches automatically come with sauce and lettuce. I ordered every item on McDonald's chicken menu to see how they performed against one another, taking into account factors like how flavorful they were, how well any other elements of the meal complemented the chicken, and whether I'd want to buy the item again. Here's how everything stacked up. 

Child Emily would be so disappointed to see her beloved McDonald's McNuggets landing squarely in last place on this list. Once upon a time, I was the pickiest eater known to man, and the above-pictured "meal" was one of the only things my parents could convince me to touch with a 10-foot pole. Fortunately, my tastes have expanded since I was five — unfortunately, McDonald's McNuggets have not evolved to keep up. 

I didn't try to enjoy these employee-style; instead, I needed to see whether they were up to snuff as just plain ol' nuggets. They weren't. I have the sneaking suspicion these had been cooked a while before I ordered them. The exterior texture was rubbery and chewy, and the McNuggets failed to display any semblance of flavor. I was actually excited for some McNuggets and was supposed to be my lunch on the day of this taste test, but they were a sore disappointment. My inner child may have to cope with a permanent McNugget deprivation. 

Tasting Table was pretty underwhelmed when we first tried McDonald's McCrispy Strips upon their release, and the experience I had with them during this tasting wasn't much better. I'll always be a fiend for chicken strips — the crispy, flavorful exterior and juicy interior have an irreversible chokehold on me. But this McDonald's option didn't have any of the qualities I look for in a good chicken strip. 

The only reason I ranked these higher than the McNuggets is because they were slightly more flavorful. However, that's not saying much, and these didn't have a ton of taste to speak of. I appreciated the amount of meat in each strip, but the chicken itself was pretty dry. As with the McNuggets, the exterior was chewy. I didn't have super high expectations here, but I know McDonald's can do better, and this offering wasn't deserving of much praise. 

Taking the third-to-last place spot is another chicken item that I expected way, way more from. I mean, it looks pretty good, right? Alas, the McCrispy — the "southern-style" fried alternative to the chain's McChicken — disappointed me hugely. The worst part (and one of the reasons I ranked this sandwich as low as I did) is that, with just a few tweaks, this sandwich could have been so much better. 

The McCrispy only comes with pickles, which I left off, as I'm not a pickle fan. Importantly, it does not come with mayonnaise and lettuce (the McChicken products do). This left me with a chicken cutlet on a bun, and even if I was a pickle fan, I don't think a few pickles would have been enough to satisfy that sauce craving. Moreover, what I did get wasn't great. The chicken was bland and boring. I liked the flavor of the bun, though, which is why I was able to rank this above the previous two items. 

One would expect a sandwich with "spicy" in its name to be at least a little hot, right? Unfortunately, I had to give McDonald's Spicy McChicken a relatively low spot in this ranking because it wasn't spicy at all. If you ordered this expecting any type of fire to hit your tongue, you'd be disappointed, as was I when I first bit in.

At least this sandwich included lettuce and mayo, which saved it from being completely boring. However, even with the mayo, it was still pretty dry, and the chicken was way overcooked (at least it wasn't raw?). The sandwich was doomed to a low spot on this list because it didn't deliver any of the qualities it promises, with its lack of spice being the biggest offender. This may be the sandwich for those with a very low spice tolerance, though. 

Only just beating McDonald's Spicy McChicken is its Hot & Spicy McChicken, which — spoiler alert — is barely any hotter than its predecessor. And I mean, barely. I know I did the Hot Ones challenge, but I promise, I don't have the highest tolerance for spice. If this was gentle to me, spice fans would not be very pleased. 

I can also give this sandwich minimal brownie points for not being as dry as the previous. The chicken patty was a little juicier, but still, it doesn't deserve any high praise. If this had been the Spicy McChicken, I may have been able to rank it a little higher, as it was about as spicy as I expected the McChicken to be. If you want something really spicy, though, keep reading — McDonald's didn't totally underwhelm in the spice department on some of the following menu items. 

McDonald's Deluxe McCrispy suffered from one fatal error that kept it squarely in the middle of this list, and this time, the chicken cutlet wasn't the culprit. The chicken patty itself was pretty good. I wouldn't say it could compete with other fast food fried chicken sandwiches (like that from Popeyes), but I was pleased with it when compared to what I'd had so far.

Rather, it was the tomato slices that spelled the demise of this sandwich, which I so badly wanted to like — and this is coming from a gal who loves tomato on her chicken sandwiches. They tasted old and flavorless, and didn't boast any form of the refreshing crunch I expect to get from the veggie. I appreciate that McDonald's wanted to load this one up with toppings, but unfortunately, the toppings aren't good enough to raise it above mediocre territory. 

Expectedly, McDonald's Deluxe Spicy McCrispy is coming in one spot higher than its predecessor because of an obvious advantage: its "spicy" moniker. And, I'm pleased to report that this sandwich actually delivered on its promises of being hot. I loved the sauce on this sandwich — I even needed to cool my mouth down with some water after biting into it — but, again, the toppings were a no-go. 

Mushy tomato? Check. Non-crunchy lettuce? Check. I can let the whole lettuce thing slide (I didn't even mention it in relation to the last sandwich), but the tomatoes automatically dock points from this offering. Plus, the three tomato slices on my sandwich were stacked at least as high as the chicken cutlet itself. It wasn't an awful sandwich, and perhaps I'm just picky about my tomatoes. Overall, though, I'd pass this one by in favor of one of the following options. 

I know what you're thinking: How did I rank McDonald's McChicken in fourth place when its "spicy" brother only earned eighth place? The key difference here had everything to do with expectations. When ordering a Spicy McChicken, one would expect way more flavor than the sandwich delivered. On the other hand, I got exactly what I expected with the McChicken. 

I also found this chicken cutlet more flavorful than the aforementioned McCrispy, and it got some bonus points for including lettuce and mayo on the sandwich. I still can't call this anything special, but it wouldn't disappoint whoever ordered it — it's a bare-bones chicken sandwich from McDonald's. As long as you're not expecting it to win a James Beard Award, you should be perfectly satisfied. If you want something that promises oodles of flavor, though, go with one of my following choices, all of which I'd get again at the chain. 

When McDonald's brought back Snack Wraps in 2025, the event got much of the same hype a national holiday does — customers simply couldn't wait to get their hands on the returning fan-favorite menu item. In case you've gone this long without trying it, I'd like to let you know that it is, indeed, worth the hype. 

McDonald's Ranch Snack Wrap packs a good amount of flavor in a tiny package, and due to the surplus of ranch dressing, dryness is no issue here. I could have used more cheese and lettuce, but those are minor issues, IMO — I was pretty satisfied with what I got, and I actually liked its pretty small size. This is definitely a "snack" wrap, and snagging one in the middle of the afternoon could absolutely tide me over until dinnertime. My top two options did boast more flavor, though. 

As much as I liked McDonald's Ranch Snack Wrap, it couldn't hold a candle to the chain's Spicy Snack Wrap. Indeed, this offering was pretty spicy, and though I felt like the sauce did much of the heavy lifting in that department, I hardly minded. And, yes, I finished the entire wrap. 

The flavor of this bad boy was pretty off-the-charts great, especially when compared to all of the other chicken items I've already talked about. Spice was readily apparent and abundant, and though I could have used more lettuce, I didn't wholly mind the lack of crunch here. I wouldn't recommend this to people who are sensitive to spice — it is pretty spicy! — but if you like the occasional spicy bite and want something that won't fill you up too much, this is the way to go. 

I didn't even need to use any employee hacks when ordering the Spicy McCrispy — it was obviously the best chicken offering on McDonald's menu, and it stood far above the other chicken sandwiches I tried from the chain in pretty much every respect.

This sandwich was fire (both literally and metaphorically). The chicken cutlet used on this sandwich was great, and it didn't suffer from dryness or chewiness, as some of the others did. Most importantly, the flavor on this sandwich was abundant and lived up to everything the sandwich promised. It'll satisfy that spicy chicken craving, and the sandwich's sauce only adds to it. I didn't even feel like this item needed any lettuce — it was truly very good, just as it was. 

To rank McDonald's chicken products, I took into account how flavorful they were, how any other elements on the sandwich complemented the chicken (which really came into play when ranking the Deluxe sandwiches), the texture of the chicken items, and how well they lived up to expectations. This last criterion is a big reason why some of the "spicy" options earned lower places on this list — they were hardly spicy at all.