If these nuggets were Citrus College students and the Chicken Nugget Wars was finals week, they both would have finished at the top of their classes with 4.0 GPAs. But who will be the valedictorian?
That is what we will find out in the ultimate final battle of the Chicken Nugget Wars.
There’s no question as to if Popeyes and Chick-fil-A deserve to be in the finals. Popeyes is the reigning defending chicken champion after winning the Chicken Sandwich Wars and Chick-fil-A is the clear fan favorite after the Clarion Instagram story received a flood of votes for Chick-fil-A to win it all.
The stage is set. The fan favorite vs. the defending champion. Who will take it home? As always, fIve categories will determine their fate.
Popeyes is unmatched in the crispiness category. The thickness of the Popeyes breading carried it through the Chicken Sandwich Wars, and the nuggets don’t fall far from the chicken sandwich tree. It’s impossible for nuggets to be at a better crispiness level than these, so Popeyes earns a 10.
The Chick-fil-A nuggets are not nearly as crispy. However, the lack of a crispiness actually works in their favor in some ways as it leads to a more unique gourmet presentation and texture. Although they aren’t nearly as crispy as Popeyes nuggets, they are by no means soggy, so they earn an 8.
The lack of a thick crust benefits Chick-fil-A in the juiciness category as the crust is just thick enough to keep the juice inside but does not overpower the juice once a bite is taken. It’s frankly unbelievable how juicy these are without being gross. Chick-fil-A earns a perfect 10.
The thick breading has the reverse effect on the Popeyes nuggets. In a sandwich form, the exceptionally juicy chicken and the thick breading work together beautifully, but in nugget form, the ratio of crust to juice gets thrown off due to a larger nugget surface area with a smaller chicken content. That being said, these nuggets were by no means dry, earning an 8.5.
In the tenderness category, both nuggets were almost dead even. The thin breading was the deciding factor in Chick-fil-A earning a 10 and Popeyes earning a 9.5, but to be clear both nuggets’ chicken portions were equally tender. However, the breading on the Popeyes nuggets held the nugget together just a bit too ferociously, bringing its score down by a half of a point.
The Chick-fil-A nuggets are the most flavorful chicken nuggets available and the amazing thing is that they don’t taste like anything but chicken. I have never encountered a chicken nugget that can achieve the level of flair Chick-fil-A nuggets can without loads of different seasoning, but when you bite into a Chick-fil-A nugget, you will get a burst of simple chicken flavor with just the right amount of salt and pepper. It’s perfect, so of course it earns a 10.
The Popeyes nuggets have the trump card of the best seasoned breading in the game. On top of that they also have some of the most flavorful chicken inside that breading. The only downfall is slightly artificial taste, but if you’re eating fast food chicken nuggets, do you really care? Popeyes earns a 9.
Where do I even begin with Chick-fil-A sauce? It’s unique, it tastes amazing on everything, it’s the perfect consistency and it doesn’t taste artificial. You will never find a better nugget dipping sauce outside of a Michelin star experience. Chick-fil-A earns another 10.
The combination of Popeyes buttermilk ranch and Bayou buffalo is the best duo of dipping sauces anyone can possibly get. Both are opposites in flavor, but they work so well together. They are a perfect symbol of balance in the universe, and that’s why they earn a 9 without question.
Without our five categories out of the way, Popeyes earns 1 price point for being the cheaper nugget, which brings us to the final grand totals of the Chicken Nugget Wars.
The defending champion earns a near perfect score of 47.5, but in the Chicken Nugget Wars a new champion is crowned as Chick-fil-A earns an insane score of 48 total flavor points to become the undisputed chicken nugget champion!
They avenged their loss to the Habit. They destroyed the Dino Nuggies. They went from a first-round elimination in the Chicken Sandwich Wars to champions in the Chicken Nugget Wars. If this doesn’t inspire you to keep getting up when life knocks you down, I don’t know what will.
