Fast Food Chains That Serve The Highest And Lowest Quality Chicken
It's official: America loves chicken. Since becoming the most consumed meat in the U.S. in the 1990s, our chicken intake has continued its uphill climb, with Americans now thought to consume twice as much chicken as beef or pork. But not all of this chicken is built equal. Whether you're picking up a rotisserie chicken from your local grocery store or ordering nuggets at the drive-thru, the quality of poultry can vary massively.
While fast food restaurants get a bad rap for their meat quality, the surprising reality is that some are serving up higher standard chicken than you may think. At the same time, some are potentially serving up worse. To help you separate the wheat from the chaff (or rather, the chicken from the bone), we've done a deep dive into what's going into some of our favorite chicken items at fast food restaurants. We looked at where chains source their meat, as well as the percentage of chicken versus fillers, the general prep and cooking process, and customer reviews to separate those serving the highest and lowest quality chicken.
Read more: The Many, Many Ingredients That Are Packed Into McDonald's Fries
Highest: Culver's
Culver's started in a small town in Wisconsin, but has since expanded to over 900 locations dotted across the U.S. No matter where you place your order, you can order its most iconic menu items -- frozen custard and ButterBurgers -- as well as choose from chicken options, such as tenders and both grilled and crispy chicken. While the ingredients list for its tenders may cite a handful of ingredients other than chicken, these are primarily there to add texture and flavor, with the basis of each dish using the same high-quality meat.
All of this chicken is sourced from the same Georgia-based business, specializing in chicken with zero preservatives or hormones. The business in question is Springer Mountain Farms, which became Culver's official supplier in 2011. Located in Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains, this only provides American Humane Certified whole white meat chicken fed on a strictly vegetarian diet. As per Culver's, this means "you can feel confident that the chicken you're enjoying is coming from farms that are uncompromising in their pursuit of quality."
Realistically, most customers aren't thinking about that when they do tuck into a Culver's Chicken Sandwich. What they are thinking about is the taste and texture -- which, by all accounts, is up there with the best. Many consider its Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich to be a particular standout, even surpassing the likes of Popeyes.
Lowest: McDonald's
We've all seen the videos of the pink goo purported to be McDonald's McNuggets. The good news is that that's a myth, with McDonald's itself going out of its way to emphasize that, "we don't know where it came from, but it's not our food. The photo is not a representation of how we create our Chicken McNuggets®, or for that matter, any item on our menu."
The reality may not be quite as bad as pink goo, but that doesn't make McDonald's chicken high quality. While the McNuggets were reformulated in 2003 to ditch mechanically separated poultry and instead use all-white-meat chicken from the tenderloin, breast, and rib, this meat is still heavily processed to give each bite its uniform shape and flavor. As per a video shared by McDonald's Canada, the meat is blended and combined with seasonings, shaped, battered, partially fried, then frozen. They're then fried for a second time in the restaurant. Its other chicken offerings are equally processed, with the McChicken using a blend of boneless chicken and a whopping four different kinds of oil, plus a handful of preservatives.
While McDonald's McNuggets may be legendary for making nuggets a global phenomenon, the reality is that you rarely see Golden Arches pop up in rankings of the best fast food chicken. In fact, some have claimed that McDonald's boasts some of the worst fast food chicken, with critics claiming its nuggets in particular are "the worst possible quality," (via Reddit).
Highest: Shake Shack
Shake Shack's burgers tend to hog the spotlight, but its chicken is equally deserving of praise. Even more notable is the fact that they use real, all-white meat chicken, all of which is free of antibiotics and hormones (which is prohibited by federal regulations anyway), fed with zero animal by-products, and raised in a cage-free environment "that allows the chickens to turn around and flap their wings," (via Shake Shack). Wholesome, right?
Unlike a lot of its competitors, this chicken is never frozen. Instead, the chain meticulously prepares each menu item containing chicken (by which we mean its Chicken Shack and Chicken Bites) by hand. The chicken is cooked sous vide, a fine-dining technique that prevents overcooking, in a buttermilk marinade, then dredged, hand-bread, and fried to order. It's a lot of work but worth the effort. Shake Shack's chicken is famously juicy, and the Chicken Shack arguably even stands as a serious competitor in the chicken sandwich sphere. As one bold Reddit user put it, "I wouldn't say it's better than Chick-fil-A, but it might be. Definitely gives them a run for their money."
Lowest: Popeyes
Popeyes changed the fast food game forever when it launched a fried chicken sandwich in 2019 and kickstarted what's now known as the Chicken Sandwich Wars. But that doesn't mean the quality of its chicken is necessarily up to scratch with its competitors. Although we give the chain points for using fresh chicken, which employees claim is hand-breaded in-store, that's not enough to overcome a lingering reputation for inconsistent quality. As one Reddit user summarized, "It's either the most scrumptious meal I've ever eaten or so disgusting that I end up throwing it out after a couple bites."
The American Customer Satisfaction Index put Popeyes near the very bottom of its customer satisfaction rankings in both 2023 and 2024 (while its main competitor in the Chicken Sandwich Wars, Chick-fil-A, placed first). While Popeyes has made lots of moves to boost the quality of its offerings over the years -- such as removing artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives and eliminating certain antibiotics -- and it is definitely up there with the higher quality "low quality" entries on this list, its poor rep persists too much to edge it into that category just yet.
Highest: Chick-Fil-A
Chick-fil-A doesn't serve health foods by any means, but it does pride itself on serving "real food" with "rigorous standards," (via Chick-fil-A). When it comes to chicken, these standards involve serving menu items made with breast meat, all of which are hand-breaded in its restaurants.
All of this meat is free of fillers, artificial preservatives, or steroids. Chick-fil-A also vows never to use ground or separated meat (as is the case with overly processed chicken), as well to use zero No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine (NAIHM). The latter is a contentious point. There was a time when Chick-fil-A was free of all antibiotics, period, but it backtracked on this 10-year-old promise in 2024 amid concerns about chicken shortages.
Antibiotics controversy aside, Chick-fil-A's efforts to secure high-quality chicken translate into overwhelmingly positive reviews. The chain ranked first on the American Customer Satisfaction Index in both 2023 and 2024. It's the attention to detail that takes its chicken from good to great, with the chain's use of pressure-cooking and a salt-sugar brine (which, contrary to popular belief, does not use pickles) giving it its trademark juicy finish.
Lowest: KFC
For decades, KFC has been celebrated for its finger-licking good chicken. While we can confirm that, no, KFC does not use mutant chickens (as was once rumored), there have been very real debates about where it sources its meat. In 2022, it was accused of misleading customers with a video called "Behind the Bucket," which saw popular British YouTubers check out the conditions of a chicken farm operated by one of KFC's suppliers, Moy Park. Vegan food brand VFC later shared additional footage from inside the same farm, showing extreme overcrowding and dead birds.
Customers themselves have frequently also complained about the quality of KFC's chicken. In a 2022 Mashed poll, customers named KFC the "worst fried chicken," taking in a whopping 23.55% of the votes. On paper, KFC does everything right, using fresh, not frozen, chicken, and hand-breading it with its 11 herbs and spices in-store. But those who frequently order chicken from the restaurant have claimed that its quality has dropped significantly, with major inconsistencies between stores. "Yum Brands are selling lower quality chicken [than] they [used] to," complained one customer on Reddit, referencing KFC's parent company. Another noted that "food quality has gone down with mass production. The chicken itself isn't as good anymore."
Highest: BurgerFi
BurgerFi hasn't had the smoothest history, with the chain filing for bankruptcy in 2024 and cycling through two owners in the aftermath. Whatever challenges BurgerFi may have faced, the quality of its meat has never been one of them. Not only does it use 100% American Angus beef, but its chicken is also of an equally high standard. This is all sourced from the same supplier as Culver's, Spring Mountain Farms, which holds the honor of being the first poultry company in America to be recognized by the American Humane Association for its treatment of chickens.
Spring Mountain Farms powers the entire chicken portion of its menu (or, as BurgerFi likes to call it, ChickenFi). This consists of both fried and grilled chicken sandwiches, plus chicken wings, tenders, and salad bowls. None of the chicken used in these dishes is frozen and it's all prepared sous-vide, translating to juicy, flavorful meat that has received high praise from customers.
Lowest: Subway
The beauty of Subway is that you get free rein over your sandwich, stacking up meat, veggies, cheese, and sauces to create the meal of your choosing. If you choose to add chicken to your sub, bear in mind that you may be adding more than straight-up poultry.
Back in 2017, an investigation by CBC's "Marketplace" concluded that the chicken strips served up by Subway weren't entirely chicken. The study found that its chicken strips were just 43% chicken, while the oven-roasted chicken was 54% chicken, with the rest bulked out with fillers and soy. While other chains also scored below 100% on their chicken items, including McDonald's and Wendy's -- and it was noted that no fast-food chicken would score 100% due to the presence of seasonings and other ingredients -- Subway still scored considerably less than its rivals.
The chain was quick to push back against the investigation, telling Time that "test results from laboratories in Canada and the U.S. clearly show that the Canadian chicken products tested had only trace amounts of soy" and that its chicken was "100% white meat with seasonings." It later released lab reports that confirmed a significantly lower soy percentage than claimed by CBC. However, its chicken is still not the highest quality out there. Its ingredient guide will show you that its chicken is bolstered with soy protein. Regardless of the exact percentages, Reddit users have claimed that the chicken is "impressively mediocre" and "doesn't even taste like chicken."
Highest: Raising Cane's
Based in Louisiana, Raising Cane's has really worked its way up the ranks of fast-food chicken lately. Same-store sales skyrocketed in 2024, jumping by a whopping 17.5% during the first half of the year, while dozens of new stores also opened up nationwide. While every element of its menu is stellar (we could wax poetic about Raising Cane's sauces all day), the chicken fingers are the real shining star -- thanks in no small part to the quality of the meat itself.
This chicken arrives at the stores fresh, never frozen. It's then marinated for 24 hours before its in-house "Bird Specialists" (new dream job title unlocked) hand-batter the meat in-store and cook it to order. This has proven a hit with customers, with some deeming it the best fast-food chicken. From the size to the flavor, the praise is consistent across restaurants — more so than many of its competitors. "They were some big boys too," one Reddit user said of the Raising Cane's chicken fingers, "not some rinky dink s**t you'd get at KFC or McDonald's." Meanwhile, another noted that while its menu is small, "what they do have they have mastered. Most people would probably say Chick-fil-A, but I disagree. Raising Cane's is on another level."
Lowest: Domino's
Pizza may be Domino's specialty, but is it too much to ask for high-quality chicken on the side too? While employees claim that a small portion of Domino's chicken wings come in fresh, the vast majority are allegedly pre-cooked and arrive at the stores frozen, ready for reheating. That's why so many employees also recommend requesting that they're double-cooked, to avoid the mushy texture that can sometimes come with cooking wings from frozen.
The chicken that comes on your pizza also isn't the freshest chicken in the world. As per the Domino's website, there's a lot going on in the tiny meat strips used in the likes of Cali Chicken Bacon Ranch and Memphis BBQ Chicken pizzas. The first ingredient is boneless, skinless chicken breast with rib meat, while the rest is bulked out with water, chicken fat, modified food starch, and a handful of scientific-sounding preservatives.
Highest: Starbird
Starbird is considerably smaller than the other chains on this list, which inevitably makes it easier to standardize food quality across the entire business. Operating solely in California, it boasts just 16 locations as of 2024, all of which operate under the Starbird mission of making the highest quality chicken possible. The chain experimented with 100 recipes until it nailed the perfect combo for its chicken, which today can be ordered in the form of both fried and grilled sandwiches, wings, salads, nuggets, and tenders.
No matter how you order your chicken, you're guaranteed a dish that's fresh and never frozen. The chicken is raised without antibiotics and is hand-breaded in Starbird's trademark gluten-free blend. If you needed proof of the fruit of its labors, Starbird won Nation's Restaurant News' Chicken Showdown in 2023, beating out nationwide chains such as Slim Chickens and Dave's Hot Chicken to come out on top.
Lowest: Del Taco
With chicken often buried beneath a bunch of other ingredients, its quality often isn't front of the mind when you order tacos. However, that doesn't mean you should settle for anything less than the best — which, according to customers, is no longer the case at Del Taco. Reddit has been flooded with complaints about an apparent change in its chicken, which one user noted "used to be large chunks of meat" but is now "just a step above ground meat consistency." They're not alone in that observation. Another user claimed that "the chicken in the soft tacos seems different, like smaller pieces and bits like it's almost ground chicken."
While Del Taco hasn't announced a change to its chicken, the ingredients listed on its website are enough to earmark it for the "low quality" section of this list. The grilled chicken used in its tacos contains diced boneless chicken breasts with rib meat and chicken legs combined with a hefty 30% solution of water, seasonings, and sodium phosphates, the latter of which is added to the meat to stop it from drying out.
Methodology
"Quality" is often subjective. When it came to separating the fast food chains serving the highest and lowest quality chicken, we looked at customer sentiments towards each restaurant's menu on social media but backed this up with the more clearcut indicators of quality.
These indicators included how and where restaurants sourced their chicken, with bonus points given to those who are entirely transparent about this process online. We also looked at the ingredients in each chain's chicken dishes. While it's unrealistic (if not impossible) to expect a chicken sandwich, for example, to use 100% chicken sans any kind of seasoning, we kept an eye out for those using a high number of fillers or preservatives. Other facts used to establish the quality of chicken included whether or not it was frozen or pre-cooked, whether it was prepared in-house, and the extent to which the meat was processed.
For more food and drink goodness, join The Takeout's newsletter. Get taste tests, food & drink news, deals from your favorite chains, recipes, cooking tips, and more!
Read the original article on The Takeout.
