I thought Burger King’s new Crispy Onion Whopper would have an intense onion flavor that would make anyone within my personal space and downwind from me know I’m eating one when I say, “Oooooonioooooon.” However, despite having onion rings AND crispy onions, it does noooooot.
Along with those two toppings, the burger features a 1/4-pound flame-grilled beef patty, bacon, American cheese, barbecue sauce, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo on a toasted sesame seed bun. Raw onions, one ingredient I know Burger King has stocked in its kitchens, would’ve helped push the onion pungency to a potent plane, but BK excluded them in this burger.
If it had gone extra heavy with the onions, this might’ve been a unique-tasting offering, but this latest Whopper By You creation, inspired by Whopper fans, has a lot of familiar flavors. It seems like Burger King took a page from Taco Bell’s playbook and created something new by flinging ingredients it already uses at a wall and seeing what sticks.
When the drive-thru window person handed me the bag with my à la carte order, I was surprised by its weight. Upon taking it out of the bag, it looked noticeably more substantial than previous limited-time-only Whoppers in recent memory. I suppose the onion rings made a significant difference.
While light in flavor, both fried onions let my mouth know of their existence with two distinct levels of crispiness, with the crispy onion having a lighter crunch than the rings. However, raw onions here might’ve added another level of crispiness.
The previous Whopper By You, the BBQ Brisket one, released in July, featured a new golden BBQ sauce, which I really enjoyed. This comes topped with the usual sweet and smoky barbecue sauce Burger King has used over the years. While I’ve enjoyed the older BBQ sauce, I wish BK had used the newer one here, as it might’ve prevented the burger from tasting so familiar. I’m not saying it tastes like a BK’s signature burger, but it’s almost like the chain did a mashup of a regular Whopper with a Rodeo Cheeseburger.
With every bite, it seemed like a different ingredient got highlighted. Sometimes it was the onions. Other times it was the cheese. Sometimes it was the bacon. Other times it was the pickles. Sometimes it was the barbecue sauce. Other times it was the beef. And even the mayo popped in every so often.
Other things to note: With all the toppings, it’s unsurprising that this is one messy burger. Also, much like the previous limited-time-only Whopper, it’s available as a Whopper Jr. if you want to save money because it’s slightly pricier than other variations.
Burger King’s Crispy Onion Whopper is a serviceable offering that’s as enjoyable as its standard Whopper. However, nothing is outstanding or distinctive about it that would make me like it a looooot or spend my looooot on it again.
Purchased Price: $11.79*
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 1150 calories, 72 grams of fat, 21 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 135 milligrams of cholesterol, 2140 milligrams of sodium, 88 grams of carbohydrates, 9 grams of fiber, 19 grams of sugar, and 47 grams of protein.
*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.
Raw onions and my digestion don’t get along, so I could survive without them in this burger. (Or just get a Rodeo Cheeseburger, if BK still had them!) It would be interesting to compare this sandwich with the Backyard Bacon Ranch Signature Stackburger (which also includes onion rings in its toppings) from Dairy Queen. (It can be ordered with 2 or 3 hamburger patties in-store, or with 1, 2 or 3 patties via the DQ app; I usually order it as a single through the app.)
How can something w 72 g of fat lack flavor? It should be a crime.
I don’t care for onions usually because I don’t like the texture (slimy + crunchy = ew), but I really like BK’s onion rings because of the taste. I’m guessing instead of using real onions they just use onion powder mixed into the batter they fry. That might explain the lack of normal onion flavor in this Whopper since they don’t use actual onions on the burger or in the onion rings.