- We tried fried rooster from Popeyes, Church’s, Chick-fil-A, and KFC to see who makes it the very best.
- KFC was the clear loser — their rooster was dry and their batter was bland.
- Chick-fil-A got here in third place as a result of whereas we liked the batter’s taste and seasoning, however the rooster did not style as genuine as a result of the chain would not supply meat on the bone.
- Church’s got here in second place. The meat was juicy and tender, however its batter wasn’t as flavorful as Popeyes, which got here in first place.
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A great piece of fried rooster has to realize the troublesome stability of being crispy on the surface, and juicy on the within.
Not all eating places get it proper — which is why we got down to discover which of them do.
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We sampled fried rooster from 4 widespread quick meals chains:
- Popeyes
- Church’s Rooster
- Chick-fil-A
- KFC
Hold scrolling to see who received.
Table of Contents
Church’s Rooster
Our first cease was the favored rooster chain Church’s Rooster. We ordered the unique rooster 3-piece meal, which comes with a honey-butter drizzled biscuit for $5.43.
At first chew, we had been struck by the general juiciness of the rooster and the right crunch of the breading. Nevertheless, whereas the rooster itself was stuffed with taste, the batter was fairly bland.
Chick-fil-A
Our subsequent cease was Chick-fil-A, which claims to be “Home of the original chicken sandwich.”
We had excessive expectations for this rooster, as Chick-fil-A boasts that its rooster dishes are comprised of probably the most tender a part of the breast, then “marinated in special seasonings, hand-breaded, and pressure cooked to perfection.”
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We determined to order the 3-count Chick-n-Strips, which price $5.11.
Our first response upon seeing the strips was disappointment. They appeared small in comparison with Church’s. That mentioned, a part of the dimensions discrepancy stemmed from the truth that this rooster doesn’t come on-the-bone, and seems to be floor up meat — basically a glorified rooster nugget.
However as soon as we took a chew, it was onerous to not love this rooster. The breading was bursting with taste (in contrast to Church’s), and the rooster had simply the correct amount of tenderness.
Whereas Chick-fil-A was scrumptious, it tasted extra like a rooster nugget than true, on-the-bone fried rooster.
Popeyes
It is no secret that Popeyes has fairly the fan base, so we had been excited to place this chain to the take a look at.
Popeyes boasts bonafide actual rooster that’s “marinated for at least 12 hours, then hand-battered, hand-breaded, and bursting with bold Louisiana flavor.”
As soon as once more, we ordered a 3-piece meal which got here in at $5.65.
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We had been instantly impressed with the primary chew. This rooster had all the things. The within was simply as juicy as Church’s, but the breading was stuffed with scrumptious taste and seasoning.
Learn extra: We taste-tested Chick-fil-A, KFC, and Popeyes and located the very best fast-food rooster chain
KFC
If any chain might beat out Popeyes, we thought it needed to be KFC. A worldwide chicken-chain, KFC additionally has fairly a big fan base to its title.
With excessive hopes, we ordered the 2-piece meal, this time coming in at $5.99 — which is sort of a bit costlier than the opposite chains, contemplating you are getting much less meat.
At first chew, we had been tremendous dissatisfied. The rooster was very mediocre. The meat was extremely dry in comparison with the others, and the breading was skinny and tasteless. Though the batter did have some taste, the rooster was onerous and lacked the flaky crunch the others had.
Ultimately, we puzzled why KFC is so widespread.
The ultimate rating
After ending our style take a look at, there was little question in our thoughts that Popeyes was the champion. Their rooster had the very best crunch, taste, and tenderness. We additionally had a transparent loser — KFC. Their rooster was dry, and their batter bland.
The actual debate got here when selecting between Chick-fil-A and Church’s for second place. Each had been strong contenders, so we known as in a backup style tester to settle the matter. Total, we selected Church’s over Chick-fil-A as a result of it was extra genuine than Chick-fil-A’s floor up meat.
All in all, if you need glorious fried rooster, your greatest guess is Popeyes or Church’s. In case you’re keen to sacrifice a real, on-the-bone expertise, Chick-fil-A’s strips are your greatest guess. However do not hassle with KFC.
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- Learn extra:
- I attempted rooster wings from 4 restaurant chains and the winner had the very best worth
- The actual variations between rooster nuggets, tenders, wings, and fingers
- 11 errors you make when cooking rooster
- We in contrast the preferred menu gadgets at KFC and Popeyes — and the winner is crystal clear