Chicken nuggets are a beautiful thing . Small , compact , and break with blue flavor , these small crispy gems are the lynchpin of any adept fast - food restaurant , the key to Usain Bolt ’s entirely harebrained Olympic record . Burgerscome and go , but a nugget is a nugget is a nugget , through and through . Now , which chain of mountains find the roost ?
We Thrillist staff member take ourfast foodvery gravely . So , naturally , we decided to pock the three bigs –Burger King , McDonald ’s , and Wendy ’s – against each other in a cut - pharynx encounter . It left us yearning for backseatHappy Mealsand tardy - night munchie runs . Our famed National Food & Drink editor , Carrie ; Tyler , a project manager over on the tech squad ; and yours truly each judged the nugs in footing of flavor , compaction , succulence , and finish with 10 point each for a total potential score of 30/30 in each category ( 120 overall ) . We also kept it unsighted to make certain we were n’t bringing any mystifying - invest brand loyalties to the tabular array . And by the destruction of it , we came to a consensus . Three nuggets may have entered the room , but only one come out winning .
3. Burger King
To put it in the gentlest terms potential , BK ’s nugs were less than worthy . While they sense fine at first , they tasted like they came directly from the deep freezer aisle , sort of bland and weirdly acidic at the same time . The sorry part , though , was the grain – simultaneously hokey and dry , like soggy white bread at the bottom of a luncheon grip . Would not recommend .
Flavor : 6Tyler : I just dipped it in cattle ranch and it made me feel frightful . You ’ll in all likelihood want to eat this one with BBQ sauce , just so you could mask the savour entirely .
Crunch : 3Tyler : I do n’t even get the impression that this was ever crispy , like I do n’t cogitate it suffer from being in the purse or anything . Carrie : I am not enjoying this anymore .
Cole Saladino/Thrillis
succulency : 8Carrie : It feels like , strange to the back talk . Like it does n’t belong in there . This just does n’t feel like what I understand risque to intend .
Finish : 2Tyler : It ’s just grease on grease on water on wampum . Meredith : I feel like if I were a nugget , I ’d be embarrassed .
Overall Score : 19/120
2. McDonald’s
With its utterly distinctive taste , McDonald ’s rack up upon a sweet spot for all of us . From the french fry perfume to the sourdough - alike aftertaste to the diffuse , gamey , blanched meat and the theme song long lasting oily finish , every bite of those boot - shaped McNuggets were pure nostalgia . It ’s just too bad nostalgia was n’t a part of our paygrade system .
nip : 19Meredith : Oh humans , nothing try like that . Nothing else has ever tasted like that . Carrie : This was what I wanted . It ’s really gross , but it ’s like , the nugget I dream about . These are like scratching an scabies .
crush : 19Tyler : I guess this one did suffer from travel , because these are usually way crispier . Meredith : It ’s not a bad level of crush – it ’s not as much as I would want , but I do n’t call back it ’s doing a wretched job .
Cole Saladino/Thrillist
succulence : 24Carrie : Very juicy . Might be the juiciest . Meredith : It is surprisingly juicy . A nice surprise . The last one was oily – in reality it was dry , it was just covered in oil , like a trick .
Finish : 10Meredith : The matter about the polish – I knew it was going to happen , but these always cake my mouth in a greasy picture show , and I really do n’t care that . Tyler : I ate another of the first hatful while we were sitting here and I still taste the third one . Carrie : Yeah , it ’s oleaginous – there ’s no question about that . But still sleep together it .
Overall sexual conquest : 72
Cole Saladino/Thrillist
1. Wendy’s
Wendy ’s was the all - around favourite , draw high marks from even the most resolute McDonald ’s buff in the way ( coughing , Carrie , coughing ) . They were indulgently piquant , the definition of crispy , lovesome in the center , and provide us flavor , strangely , like humans and not neglected soil trap .
Flavor : 25Carrie : Wow , it ’s like it ’s made from an actual Gallus gallus knocker . It ’s not really the crybaby nugget of my youth . Like , you do n’t at once sense guilt . It taste like intellectual nourishment . President Tyler : It ’s maybe a little spicy ? And super salty . Carrie : Mmm . Mmm hmm .
Crunch : 24Tyler : I think it ’s the crumbs on the outside that does it – they add the crunch , instead of it being the whole tissue layer … is that the word?Meredith : Sure , yes . The membrane itself is nice and untoughened . A tender tissue layer .
Cole Saladino/Thrillist
succulency : 16.5Tyler : Hmm , I do n’t know if it was super racy . Meredith : There was more breading than actual chicken , which sort of enumeration against the juice factor .
Finish : 25Tyler : It was direct up salt , so I like that . Carrie : I ’m with you . And I want more .
Overall Score : 90.5/120
Cole Saladino/Thrillist
The takeaway
The jury has spoken and Wendy ’s is the clear achiever , beating old Micky D ’s by nearly 20 points . Dave , you vicious genius , you come , you crunched , and you jam the nugget game . Now , for our next taste psychometric test … where ’s the gripe ?
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