The 10 unhealthiest fast-food chicken sandwiches in America
The 10 unhealthiest fast-food chicken sandwiches in America
Though the chicken sandwich wars might have finally cooled down, our love for fast-food fried chicken sandwiches has not. With Americans eating about , there are more than a few fast-food chains that specialize in it.
Nobody expects fried chicken to be healthy, but just how bad for you is a typical fast-food fried chicken sandwich? Using the official nutrition facts from 10 popular chicken chains from all over the country, we tracked down the heaviest sandwiches and ranked them by calorie count.
Nervous to see where your favorite sandwich lands on the list? Take a look at the 10 unhealthiest fast-food chicken sandwiches in the U.S.A.
#10. Original Chicken Sandwich (Church's Texas Chicken)
- Calories: 395
- Total Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Sugar: 4g
It's a close spread between everything in the top nine slots, but Church's sandwich at 395 calories is a far cry from Chick-fil-A's situation. Like many of the sandwiches here, this comes with mayo and pickles, so it's extremely comparable. With a simpler menu, ingredients tend to be of a higher quality. Church's patty is a bit smaller than the one from places like KFC and Popeye's, too.
#9. Honey Pepper Pimento Sandwich with Spicy Filet (Chick-fil-A)
- Calories: 620
- Total Fat: 31g
- Saturated Fat: 9g
- Sugar: 16g
Chick-fil-A's Honey Pepper Pimento Sandwich (which comes with pimento cheese, pickled jalape帽os, honey, and a spicy chicken patty) is a limited-time offer, so when it's gone, no sandwich on the menu will be this bad. When it goes, the most unhealthy sandwich will be the Grilled Chicken Club, at 520 calories. Until then, this one is dropping 620 calories on us.
#8. Chicken Sandwich (KFC)
- Calories: 650
- Total Fat: 35g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5g
- Sugar: 6g
KFC's chicken sandwich has been reworked many times, but in its current form. It's a big, thick piece of chicken dressed with goopy mayo, so 650 calories seems right. And it's still nothing compared to the top three.
#7. Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich (Bojangles)
- Calories: 690
- Total Fat: 39g
- Saturated Fat: 9g
- Sugar: 8g
You probably wouldn't expect to see a grilled chicken sandwich in line with all these fried chicken sandwiches, but that's the kind of game Bojangles is playing. The American cheese and bacon are no doubt the issues here, seeing as the standard Grilled Chicken Sandwich only has 570 calories. This is a good reminder that the grilled option is not necessarily always the healthiest option.
#6. Spicy Chicken Sandwich (Popeyes)
- Calories: 700
- Total Fat: 42g
- Saturated Fat: 13g
- Sugar: 8g
Popeyes only offers a classic and a spicy sandwich, but for some reason they have virtually the exact same nutrition facts. From calories to carbs to cholesterol, the numbers are identical. The head-scratching sole difference nutrition-wise is that the spicy sandwich has 30g more sodium. Set with mayo and pickles on a brioche bun, this is basically the same set you'll see at most places.
#5. Magoo's Sandwich (Huey Magoo's)
- Calories: 780
- Total Fat: 49g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Sugar: 1g
If you haven't heard of Huey Magoo's, you will soon. The chain has 75 stores operating across 12 states, and there are . This is a sandwich made up of chicken tenders, rather than the patty most places are serving. It's served with pickles and Magoo's Dip (a creamy, peppery mayo), which is probably why this sandwich is approaching 800 calories.
#4. Chicken Sandwich (Raising Cane's)
- Calories: 830
- Total Fat: 41g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Sugar: 14g
Much like the sandwich from Huey Magoo's, Cane's sandwich is made up of three tenders and a special sauce. There are no pickles on this one鈥攍ettuce instead鈥攂ut it clocks in at 830 calories. Cane's Sauce is similar to Magoo's as well: a creamy ketchup-mayo sauce that alone contains almost 200 calories.
#3. Hot Honey Rub Chicken Sandwich (Wingstop)
- Calories: 930
- Total Fat: 51g
- Saturated Fat: 10g
- Sugar: 23g
Wingstop will make a sandwich-sized piece of chicken in any of its wing flavors, so there are a slew of different options. The Honey Honey Rub unsurprisingly tops the calorie list, at a chilling 930. Depending on the flavor, you can shed quite a few calories, with flavors like Cajun only costing you 640.
#2. Kickin' Chicken Sandwich (Buffalo Wild Wings)
- Calories: 970
- Total Fat: 64g
- Saturated Fat: 18g
- Sugar: 7g
Buffalo Wild Wings is a full-service restaurant and isn't really fast-food in the same way as many of these chains, but its dominance in the fried chicken world is undeniable. There are plenty of sandwiches to choose from here, but the Kickin' Chicken Sandwich (with pepper jack cheese, chipotle BBQ dry rub, chile-lime slaw, pickled hot peppers, and bacon aioli on a challah bun) nearly hits 1,000 calories. You would think that would be the worst of the list, but we're only in second place.
#1. Nibblerz (Zaxby's)
- Calories: 1,030
- Total Fat: 56g
- Saturated Fat: 11g
- Sugar: 16g
In fairness, there are three Nibblerz to an order, but that's what Zaxby's has deemed the serving size to be. And, since there is only one tender per Nibblerz, that's still just three tenders, much like Huey Magoo's and Cane's. Yet, three of these things will run you 1,030 calories. Think back to Church's single sandwich for less than 400. The Nibblerz at Zaxby's simply aren't worth the cost.