We Blind Taste Tested Taco Bell’s New Chicken Nuggets Against Three Of Our Favs — The Results Were A Bit Of A Shock

For one week last year, Taco Bell introduced chicken nuggets to its menu, and quite frankly, it was a weird move. People don’t associate chicken with Taco Bell, and for good reason, so when I’d mention the nuggets to friends or family, they’d all instantly recoil at the thought. These couldn’t possibly be good, right? Initially, we wrote them off as little more than an interesting — and surprisingly tasty — novelty. So we were pretty shocked when Taco Bell announced last week that the nuggets would be joining the menu permanently.

Volcano taco and Mexi-Melt fans can f*ck off I guess, because those classics aren’t permanent, but chicken nuggets are. What a world we live in! Anyway, since Taco Bell has decided to make the nugget a permanent fixture of their menu, we’re going to have to put these nuggets through some taste tests.

So we picked up Taco Bell’s chicken nuggets, along with three of our other favorites from McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Chick-fil-A, and put all four to a blind taste test. All four restaurants are relatively close to me, so I was able to pick up each nugget with ease, have my girlfriend shuffle them around, and try all four at random under the cover of a blindfold while they were still warm and fresh.

The results were so surprising that we’re going to have to revamp our 25-nugget ranking that we published last year. We’ll get to that (eventually), for now let’s see how these new nuggets compare to the classics.

Part 1: The Blind Nugget Taste Test

Taste 1:

This is a big nugget! I’m not sure the photo accurately represents the size of this thing, but I’d say you need at minimum three bites to finish it. The breading is crunchy, and well seasoned, I’m tasting garlic, pepper, paprika, onion powder, cumin, and the slightest hint of chili powder. The meat itself is tender, and surprisingly, not very processed. It comes across like a whole piece of white meat. A great nugget for sure.

Taste 2:

Incredibly crunchy and airy, the breading is light and flaky, and likely corn or potato starch-based rather than flour. I can see how this nugget is perfectly designed to soak up sauce. But without sauce? I’m just not tasting a lot here. The breading is minimally seasoned, all I’m tasting is white pepper and salt, and the chicken itself is virtually flavorless and highly processed.

Taste 3:

I feel like it should be noted that the breading on this fried chicken nugget is sharp enough to cut the rough of your mouth. So be warned. I’m a bit torn on this one — the meat here is, well, I’m not sure we can call it meat. It’s spongy, highly processed, and strangely wet. Of the three so far, it’s by far the lowest, quality-wise. But that flavor!

Heavy seasoned in cayenne and black pepper, salt, and I want to say MSG, as there is an umami quality here that makes the thing come across as incredibly savory. I like the flavor here a lot, but I can’t get past that awful texture.

Taste 4:

I’m starting to feel like it’s not even fair to include this one. Look, straight up, blind taste test be-damned, I can tell this is Chick-fil-A. It has that faint peanut oil aroma, and what it lacks in crunch, it makes up for in tenderness and flavor. The chicken is so juicy and perfectly cooked here that it melts in your mouth. And that’s just the meat! The breading is packed with black pepper, salt, a hint of paprika, and MSG with a slightly sweet aftertaste that makes each nugget addicting as hell.

Not only is this easily the best nugget in this lineup, it might just be the best chicken nugget in all of fast food.

Part 2: The Chicken Nugget Ranking

4. McDonald’s — Chicken McNuggets (Taste 2)

Our Verdict:

You have to give credit where it’s due — chicken nuggets probably wouldn’t be as big a thing if it weren’t for McDonald’s. We have this brand to thank for inspiring just about every other fast food brand to take a stab at this dish. Unfortunately, while McDonald’s has improved the nugget considerably over the years, these still can come across as a bit hit or miss.

But a lot of people out there are going to have a nostalgic soft spot for these nuggets, even when they’re bad. And we can respect that!

The Bottom Line:

If you love them, you love them, but you’re kidding yourself if you consider these the best fast food has to offer.

3. Wendy’s — Spicy Chicken Nuggets (Taste 3)

Our Verdict:

Now I fully recognize that Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Nuggets are, well, weird. The chicken here is spongy, wet, and flavorless, three words that shouldn’t be used to describe meat. And yet, here we are.

Now, let me be clear here, I don’t have any nostalgia for Wendy’s whatsoever. I grew up a McDonald’s and BK kid, so it’s not fond memories of my childhood that are informing my love for these nuggets; it’s the spice. Wendy’s spicy nuggets are legitimately hot, there is a pronounced kick from a heavy dosage of cayenne pepper. That flavor is delicious — and distracting — enough, the MSG so heavy, that I can forgive the weird texture of this chicken.

The Bottom Line:

Hot, tasty, but weird. The less you think about how weird the texture of the meat is, the more you’ll enjoy these.

2. Taco Bell — Crispy Chicken Nuggets (Taste 1)

Our Verdict:

Let’s be real, nobody associates Taco Bell with quality. We know the ground beef is cheap. We know the beans are questionable. You don’t come to Taco Bell for well-sourced, high-quality ingredients. That’s not the brand. Which is what makes the Crispy Chicken Nuggets so surprising.

Rather than going the highly processed route, the Crispy Chicken Nuggets are made with chunks of whole chicken breast meat. It’s tender rather than mushy, and is heavily breaded and well-seasoned. They’re way better than they have any right to be. Taco Bell has a tendency to make the food you wouldn’t think they’d make well (fries, wings, and now, nuggets) incredibly tasty.

Rather than going the highly processed route, the Crispy Chicken Nuggets are made with chunks of whole chicken breast meat. It’s tender rather than mushy, and is heavily breaded and well-seasoned. It seems Taco Bell has this strange tendency to make dishes you wouldn’t think they’d be good at, like fries, wings, and now, chicken nuggets, taste delicious.

The Bottom Line:

Taco Bell is way better at making chicken nuggets than you could ever imagine. Try these, they’re certainly not the best chicken nuggets in fast food, but they’re undeniably pretty damn delicious.

1. Chick-fil-A — Nuggets (Taste 4)

Our Verdict:

Like Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A’s nuggets are made from whole breast meat, but that’s pretty much where any similarity ends. They’re juicier, more tender, more sumptuous, more savory — the only thing Taco Bell’s nuggets have over these is the crunch. Chick-fil-A’s nuggets are virtually crunchless, but what you lose in crunch, you gain in flavor.

As I said in the tasting portion of this piece, aside from the perfect blend of paprika, black pepper, and salt, you can taste the MSG here, and it adds a layer of savory umami goodness that makes each nugget more addictive than the last.

The Bottom Line:

If you want the best nugget in all of fast food, Chick-fil-A is the move, and it’s not even close.

The Big Takeaway

We’re a bit surprised just how well Taco Bell’s chicken nuggets performed against two of the most popular chicken nuggets of all time. As good as these things are, they aren’t quite top tier. If you’re in search of the best chicken nuggets, you need to hit up Chick-fil-A, but we wonder how Taco Bell’s new nuggets would stack up against other premium offerings like Shake Shack and Dave’s Hot Chicken. For that verdict, you’ll have to wait for our next big ranking.