In the current political climate, it’s become clear that people have many different opinions about the world. Every argument has two sides, including the argument about which fast food chicken nuggets are the best.
To begin, I feel it’s important to explain how the chicken nugget argument has personally hurt me.
Two years ago, one of my best friends and I were casually talking about chicken nuggets when I nonchalantly said that McDonald’s chicken nuggets were far superior to any other chicken nugget out there, assuming my friend felt the same way. To my horror, my friend stopped dead in her tracks.
She thought Wendy’s chicken nuggets were the best around, which shocked and surprised me. To this day, we still can’t talk about it.
Beyond McDonald’s and Wendy’s, there are dozens of fast food restaurants that sell chicken nuggets. This means there are dozens of opinions on which establishment has the best.
I’m here to try to sort out this heated debate. I’ve given each fast food restaurant a definitive ranking, measured by chicken emojis, with one emoji being the worst and five emojis being the best. This ranking is based on the quality of each restaurant’s chicken nuggets and does not reflect the opinions of the entire Talisman editorial board and staff.
Note: In the spirit of fast food, I am going to ignore health and focus only on taste. Health-nuts, this article is not for you.
Cookout Chicken Nuggets 🍗
Sometimes, you are just so overwhelmed by all the good fast food restaurants that you just shut down and choose the worst. Usually, this is what happens when I end up at Cookout.
Sometimes, the worst can often be the best when it comes to fast food, but that’s not the case here.
Don’t try to make an argument that Cookout nuggets are the best because you will lose. Not only are their nuggets suspiciously similar to microwaveable nuggets, they don’t even taste like chicken. They’re more like deep fried bread, which can be good if you like that kind of thing.
You do you, but I give Cookout nuggets one chicken emoji.
Wendy’s Chicken Nuggets 🍗🍗
Wendy’s does a good job of making some yummy food. Their grilled chicken sandwich is the bomb, and don’t even get me started on their chocolate frosty.
However, my appreciation for Wendy’s does not extend to their chicken nuggets. I get that they go for a more traditional look and taste, but honestly, I think Wendy’s chicken nuggets taste like they came out of a microwave.
The inside of Wendy’s nuggets is surprisingly moist (that’s right I said it) and tastes like it’s been frozen and recently deep fried. Look, I know what you’re going to say, “Bruh, all fast food nuggets are frozen then fried,” and with the exception of grilled nuggets I agree with you, but what makes fast food so great is its ability to hide the frozen taste.
If we are considering the true honor of fast food, I give Wendy’s nuggets one chicken emoji. (I fully expect to ruin the friendship I mentioned earlier.)
Burger King Chicken Nuggets 🍗🍗🍗
Burger King nuggets don’t get enough credit. They have the look and size of McDonald’s nuggets but a different taste. Maybe it’s a better taste? It’s been a while since I had a Burger King nugget, but thinking about them makes me hungry, so surely that’s a good sign.
Overall, Burger King is a pretty middle-of-the-road fast food joint. They generally have pretty delicious food options across the board. Of course, Burger King is known for its Whopper, so their nuggets don’t really get talked about that often, but that doesn’t mean they’re not good.
I give Burger King nuggets three chicken emojis.
McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗
There are two types of people in this world, people who eat at McDonald’s and people who don’t eat McDonald’s (and are usually outspoken about it). That being said, we know the world is split in half between those who know what true love feels like and those who have denied themselves of true love.
Each McDonald’s McNugget is like a little cloud — a deep, fluffy cloud of love. McNuggets are chewy, but they don’t fall apart and aren’t completely soaked with grease, which makes them a great snack for a long road trip.
Haters often make the argument that McNuggets are fake and made of pink slime. The McNugget pink-slime myth was started in 2010, and since then, McDonald’s has released a detailed video of how their nuggets are made. In my opinion, it’s magical. McNuggets are made of ground chicken and then pressed into typical nugget shapes, which I very much enjoy.
I give McDonald’s nuggets five chicken emojis.
Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗+
Puppies are cute, the sky is blue and Chick-fil-a is delicious — these simple truths guide our lives.
I can hardly comprehend how good Chick-fil-A nuggets are. Each little golden nugget makes me feel like a prospector during the California gold rush.
My only actual complaint is that Chick-fil-a nuggets don’t taste trashy enough. Sure, Chick-fil-A nuggets are greasy, but they’re like “home-cooked greasy.” A big part of the joy that comes with eating fast food is knowing that you’re doing something terrible. Sometimes, you just have to go for the sinfully good nugget from McDonald’s over the heavenly good nugget from Chick-fil-A.
I cling to my McDonald’s nuggets with full knowledge that Chick-fil-A nuggets are off the charts.
I give Chick-fil-A nuggets well over five chicken emojis.