I Tried 7 Chick-Fil-A Ordering Hacks, And This Was My Favorite By Far

Chick-fil-A is well-known for its poultry; it's the main meat source the fast-food chain serves, after all. As expected, it has plenty of chicken items; some are tasty while others aren't as much of a hit. When you first look at the menu, it may seem like there are a lot of options, but many things are similar iterations of the same thing: chicken sandwich and spicy chicken sandwich; breaded chicken nuggets and grilled chicken nuggets; various milkshakes, and the like. Once you have a general understanding of the options, you can come up with some interesting combinations.

I wanted to dive further into the menu by testing a handful of ordering hacks from people who seem to have unlocked a range of unique and seemingly simple flavor combinations. I did a bit of research and selected the seven that sounded the most interesting to me, but there are plenty of others out there. You can expect to learn about the seven hacks, how to make them, what they taste like, and how I'd tweak things to taste. Let's dive in!

Prices are as of the date of publication and may vary based on region.

I go to Chick-fil-A somewhat regularly, so I was interested in how to make some of the basic options more complex. I found ordering hacks and followed the instructions to a T. I purchased everything in one afternoon and ordered everything needed for the hack all together to make it easier to remember which chicken, sides, or condiments went with a certain thing.

Everything was ordered separately, then compiled, and I created each dish in the restaurant to ensure freshness. I was looking for an interesting flavor combination that I would like to continue ordering. Flavor intrigue and value are big factors. I wanted the flavors to work well together without feeling like some element dominated the entire dish. 

I mention pricing only when relevant. Some things are more novel and fun for a taste test, but not something I would want to get again.

I mean, you can't go wrong with buffalo chicken mac and cheese, and this is a tasty hit. This hack is relatively simple and comes directly from Chick-fil-A itself. It calls for chicken nuggets and a side of mac and cheese with buffalo sauce mixed in. You can get the nuggets breaded or grilled, depending on your preference. I mixed up my nuggets and used grilled here instead of breaded, but I don't think it makes much of a difference — it's up to you. I ended up liking the grilled chicken here because I find it has a nice charred flavor that pairs well with the macaroni and cheese. 

There's creamy mac and cheese paired with the spicy Zesty Buffalo Sauce. This isn't a new concept, but I've never had it at Chick-fil-A, and the flavor combo works wonders. I'd actually kick up the heat further with a packet of Texas Pete's hot sauce. That way, there's more liquid to coat the cheesy pasta and chicken. If you like a touch of heat, this is a stellar hack. It isn't particularly inventive, but it's certainly worth a try.

You'll need to order the 3-count Chicken Strip Meal to make this viral TikTok hack created by @smallersam_pcos, which has hundreds of thousands of likes. But instead of the standard waffle fries, ask to substitute them for Kale Crunch Salad. I was charged a slight upgrade fee for the salad, so this ended up costing $13.75. For some flavor, get a couple of packs each of Texas Pete hot sauce and the honey packets. 

This hack is meant to be a higher-protein, lower-carb option, as the meal is effectively a chicken-based salad. The Kale Crunch is one of my favorite Chick-fil-A sides, thanks to the lightness of the kale and cabbage and the sweet, tangy hint from the Apple Cider and Dijon Mustard vinaigrette. I like the idea of adding flavor to the chicken, but I felt like there was a lot going on — sweet-tart dressing and sweet and spicy chicken, and they were all separate. 

There are big bites of chicken, then a bite of salad; perhaps cutting the chicken or using chicken nuggets might be better. Then there are crunchy roasted almond bits to top it all off. Ultimately, the flavor combo wasn't my favorite. Instead, I might ask for a packet of the Zesty Apple Cider Vinaigrette Dressing and dress the chicken with that next time, so it can better match the salad. I appreciate a lighter chicken salad combination, but this is pretty pricey (granted, a fountain drink is included).

The Cookie Icedream sandwich is yet another Chick-fil-A-backed menu combination that you can find on the website. It's pretty simple and plays on the classic cookie-based ice cream sandwich. You need the Chick-fil-A Icedream Cup and two Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Before I dive into the flavors, I have to point out that the cookies at my Chick-fil-A were rock hard — like knock-on-them-and-hurt-your-hand kind of hard. 

I had to go back because it seemed unusually tough (I've had them before and never had that problem). They gave me new ones, assuring me that they make them fresh daily. While they were much better, they were still overly crisp, but at least edible. That's to say, the cookie's firmness made it hard to eat this hack. It was still very crunchy and hard to bite into; the Icedream basically slid out as I took a bite. Even if you have amazingly fresh cookies, they are still pretty thick, so I think this might be fun to share with someone because there's a lot of cookie compared to Icedream. This hack didn't work for me, but it might work better for you, depending on the state of your Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

The honey barbecue chicken sandwich seems to have gone viral in 2021 via TikToker @eatdrinkbemandy, but even she credits it to someone else — although I can't locate the video she's talking about. The dish is as simple as it gets: a chicken sandwich with honey and BBQ sauce.

Order the sandwich along with a packet of barbecue sauce and a packet of honey. Remove the chicken from the bun, place it in the bag, and shake it up with the sauce to coat it fully. Then place the chicken back in the sandwich to create a fully flavored new chicken sandwich rendition. The honey barbecue chicken offers a complex yet sweet flavor that makes every bite interesting despite it being such a basic sandwich of breaded chicken, bun, and pickles. Even places like Dairy Queen offer honey BBQ chicken options, so it's interesting that this isn't already on the permanent Chick-fil-A menu (there have been Smokehouse BBQ Bacon options in the past, but not the same).

And you could theoretically use any Chick-fil-A sauce to level up your sandwich or create your own combinations — BBQ ranch or sriracha ranch come to mind. I would 100% go this route because I would definitely try this again, but just not with barbecue. I like the idea of adding sauce to your chicken sandwich, and I'm surprised I never thought of this before. Dressing it in the bag gives it an even coating, rather than simply squeezing it onto the chicken in the sandwich. 

I found the loaded nachos creation from @jaskamreviews on Instagram, and it has amassed more than 37,000 likes at the time of writing. Plenty of commenters don't seem exactly convinced to try it, but the complexity piqued my interest. It calls for Chick-fil-A's bag chips as the "nacho" chip base, then you top it with mac and cheese, grilled chicken nuggets, and pickles. It gets a flavor augmentation from ranch, honey mustard, and hot sauce, which you can ask for on the side. 

After trying it, it's fine, but it didn't wow me. First, I'm not a major fan of Chick-fil-A's chips (I'd tried them and every other side for a previous ranking) because they're kind of bland, so I wish I'd used fries as the base instead. They are easily the best side from the chain. The chips quickly get soggy under all the condiments and mac and cheese. The condiment trio wasn't exactly to my preference, with creamy and herbal notes from the ranch, sweet and vinegar from honey mustard, and then spicy and tangy hot sauce. 

I felt like there were a lot of flavors going on, and the dressings had varying consistencies, which made it hard to apply to the meal; the hot sauce was very runny, while the ranch was extremely thick. As I said earlier, I mixed up my grilled and breaded chicken nuggets, so this is supposed to have the former, but that's not where I had the most issues anyway. It's cool to try a new hack, but given that I would change so many things to suit my taste, it would be a totally different hack altogether. If you try this, get a condiment combo that makes sense for you.

Now, if you're looking for a bang for your buck, you might have considered making your own chicken sandwich by getting chicken strips and a bun. To order, you'll need chicken strips (you could do the chicken patty, though) and a bun. There's a standard bun (which I was told costs 30 cents) and then a multigrain brioche bun (60 cents). I went with the latter since it sounded more interesting. This is as basic as it gets — no pickles or toasted buttered bun, like the regular chicken sandwich. The only way to make this more interesting is to add a condiment. For a healthier Chick-fil-A sandwich, you could even do grilled chicken.

Since the bun is ordered on the side, it is not buttered or toasted; in fact, it is cold, which makes for a noticeably lower-quality experience than just getting the standard sandwich. Although I can still understand saving money, since a Chick-fil-A Sandwich costs $6.59 while a two-count chicken strip is $4.65. Plus the bun, your total comes to $5.25 for the latter. That said, I can see that it's worth a butterless, untoasted bun. It's a bit drab, but it could be a filling hack when you want a budget-friendly option — don't skimp on the sauce, though.

For something more decadent, you might want to try what is effectively a cookie-crumble chocolate shake that uses vanilla Icedream, chocolate syrup, and crushed chocolate cookie pieces. You have to order the shake and cookies separately and then mix them yourself. Chick-fil-A has an iteration of this on its secret menu list on the web; it uses a cookies-and-cream shake as the foundation. That's to say you can pick anything you'd like. 

You're supposed to mix it into the shake thoroughly, though it should not merely be a topping. The extra-hard cookies actually worked extremely well for this hack, as they remained pretty firm even after sitting in the shake for 15 or so minutes. It was nice to eat the crunchy bits out of the shake. If your cookie is softer, you may be able to create smaller, more even pieces; mine were larger chunks purely because I could not break the cookie. 

With two cookies added, this shake comes in at over $10, while one cookie puts it at $8 –  neither seems worth it to me. I like the general flavor of the hack, but it's nothing too interesting. The good news is that you can use any shake base as desired. The chocolate one was so light I double-checked it wasn't vanilla when they gave it to me; it didn't impart much chocolatey richness. I think the cookies and cream would've been the best option here.

For the purpose of this review, I followed the hack exactly, but ultimately, I'd encourage you to try a hack and tailor it to your taste. These are hacks after all, not laws, so you can create whatever you want. I'd go this route if I were to try any of these again. I like the frugality of the DIY chicken sandwich, and I'd perhaps do a Zesty Buffalo sandwich rather than a barbecue honey one. My favorite of the seven was the buffalo mac and cheese, which I have no notes for — creamy, spicy, smoky perfection.

The ones I liked were a little more common flavor profiles; they elevated the Chick-fil-A menu item but weren't too out of the box. I want to note that it is also easier to create the hack if you bring the food home. For example, the nachos didn't fit in the teensy mac and cheese bowl, and I had to ask for a larger container. One person wanted to charge me for said container, while another just handed me one. It was difficult to fully incorporate sauces without a larger vessel, resulting in a lot of messy spills and sticky fingers. Still, I got the gist of the hacks and offered my insights accordingly.