REVIEW: Arby’s Apple Pie Shake

Arby’s Apple Pie Shake Cup

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Arby’s has brought back its deep-fried turkey sandwiches. Those sandwiches evoke the savory side of the festive meal, but the restaurant has a brand-new item inspired by one of the all-American desserts of the all-American holiday meal, the Apple Pie Shake.

Arby’s has The Meats, so it’s not the first place I think of if I want a milkshake. I haven’t tried every shake that Arby’s has offered. But of the ones I’ve tried, the Apple Pie Shake is the best!

It truly tastes like apple pie! There’s a subtle apple flavor, like what happens when you bake actual apples. I worried it would have an artificial apple flavor, but it’s authentic and not overpowering. There is also a cinnamon flavor, as you would expect in apple pie. And it even tastes like some kind of baked element, like a piecrust.

Arby’s Apple Pie Shake no mix-ins

However, since this is an Arby’s shake, there are no mix-ins, like apples or crust pieces. Unlike some other Arby’s shakes, there isn’t even a syrup swirl on the side of the cup. But it works so well that I don’t miss those elements. Sometimes less is more. Like other Arby’s shakes, it is soft and liquid enough to consume through a straw.

A dusting of cinnamon sugar on top of the whipped cream.

The shake comes with whipped topping and a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar, which reminds me of the dusting on churros or Taco Bell cinnamon twists. The treat is good enough on its own that it doesn’t need the topping, but it’s a nice touch.

Previous fall treats at Arby’s have included a pumpkin cheesecake shake and last year’s pumpkin turnovers. I didn’t much care for those. But I hope the Apple Pie Shake becomes a tradition.

Purchased Price: $3.69
Size: Regular
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 560 calories, 140 calories from fat, 16 grams of total fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 290 milligrams of sodium, 94 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 82 grams of sugar, and 11 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Arby’s Steak Nuggets

Arby's Steak Nuggets with BBQ sauce container

I’m wholly disappointed that Arby’s Steak Nuggets aren’t beef chunks coated in some kind of breading to give them a crunchy exterior. You know, chicken nuggets, but with beef.

Unfortunately, Arby’s didn’t seize the opportunity to do this and instead plopped five or nine bite-sized morsels of smoked steak into a container, added a side of Hickory Smoked BBQ dipping sauce, and called it a day. However, you can also get these in a special sandwich or in a bowl with mac & cheese and crispy onion strips.

These Steak Nuggets are a bit of a head scratcher for me. The idea of dunking meat into a sauce like chicken nuggets is odd, but I admit it sounds like something right up Arby’s alley. I mean, the chain plays with meat as often as a toddler plays with their food. Maybe they’re skating to where the meat is going, not where it has been, and we’ll see more fast food chains offer dippable steak chunks.

Arby's Steak Nuggets 5-pieces

Steak Nuggets seem like meat that’s looking for a stew to dive into. They have a tender, fall-apart texture that’s reminiscent of beef that has been sitting in a stew for hours. They are tender AF (as flounder).

Arby's Steak Nuggets are so tender

However, their flavor has a strong beef jerky vibe. So if you love the taste of beef jerky, but your teeth don’t like being jerked around by the toughness of it, these very tender morsels of meat will satisfy your taste buds without giving your jaw a workout. Personally, while I love the fall-apart texture, I was hoping for something without a taste that reminds me of convenience store snacking. An order does come with a container of Hickory Smoked BBQ sauce, which hides the beef jerky flavor, but does it so completely that I didn’t really taste any meatiness.

Arby's Steak Nuggets dipped in BBQ sauce

I imagine this would be appealing for an Arby’s customer on the carnivore diet or something similar. It’s kind of funny imagining a carnivore dieter shoving thinly sliced roast beef into their mouth, but less so if they’re popping these Steak Nuggets. As for me, they aren’t enjoyable enough that I’ll be popping them into my mouth again.

Purchased Price: $7.49*
Size: 5 pieces
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 340 calories, 27 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 670 milligrams of sodium, 5 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 17 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.

REVIEW: Arby’s BBQ Bacon Burger

It’s been a while since I last had to come close to unhinging my jaw to fit food into my mouth. But that was the case with the new Arby’s BBQ Bacon Burger stacked with an all-beef patty, bacon, crispy onion strings, American cheese, pickles, and smoky BBQ sauce on a toasted brioche bun.

It joins the Deluxe and Big Cheesy Bacon Burgers on the Arby’s menu. Burgers are selling well enough that the meat chain made them permanent additions to the menu earlier this year, and I imagine we’ll be seeing more variations in the future.

I’ve never had an Arby’s burger before, not even the limited time Wagyu Steakhouse one, so everything was new to me, but this new one looked delicious. What caught my eye after seeing its height and how good it looked was the beef patty’s thickness, which was the primary reason I had to stretch my mandible muscles. It was a patty I’d expect from places like Ruby Tuesday, Chili’s, Applebee’s, TGI Fridays, or other casual dining chains that end with an apostrophe S or have a day in their name.

While it had a nice thickness, it was a bit dry. However, it had a decent meaty flavor and a nice char. But that was when I ate the beef by itself.

My burger was thick but also messy, thanks to the generous heaping of smoky and sweet barbecue sauce that was so plentiful that I needed five napkins to clean my mouth and hands after eating most of it. I don’t know if that’s the usual amount or if the person who made mine wanted to be the Oprah of sauce philanthropy.

There was enough of it that it drowned out the flavors of most of the ingredients. Other than the pickles, everything else pretty much tasted like barbecue sauce. No smokiness from the bacon. No pungent flavors from the crispy onion strings. No cheesiness from the American cheese. And no meatiness from the beef patty. I thought I lost my sense of taste, but after letting my wife take a few bites and asking her what she thought without mentioning my issues with it, she said it mostly tasted like barbecue sauce.

While it looks delicious, Arby’s BBQ Bacon Burger wasn’t as tasty as it looked. I’m not sure it was worth straining my mouth to make it fit in there.

Purchased Price: $10.49*
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 711 calories, 41 grams of fat, 17 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 87 grams of carbohydrates, 1821 milligrams of sodium, 50 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 37 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Arby’s Pumpkin Pie Turnover

Because Arby’s has the meats, it’ll always have turkey. But if you want to make that turkey sandwich from Arby’s feel more like a Thanksgiving meal, you can now get a pumpkin pie at the fast food chain for a limited time. Okay, not an actual slice, but a flaky turnover with a sweet pumpkin pie filling and topped with cream cheese icing.

However, it would’ve been better if Arby’s offered pie slices because its Pumpkin Pie Turnover doesn’t put me in a festive mood.

The pastry’s exterior is pleasantly flaky, slightly buttery, and pretty good for a fast food offering, but it’s the orange goo inside that doesn’t work for me. Maybe my expectations were too high. But shouldn’t expecting its flavor to unquestionably and instantly be recognizable as sweet pumpkin pie with delicious warm spices be the minimum? However, that’s not the case with the Pumpkin Pie Turnover.

The dessert’s usual warm spices are there, but they lack that oomph of flavor that I’ve experienced with almost every pumpkin pie I’ve stuffed into my pie hole. It’s like a lite pumpkin pie, with the squash flavor standing out more. I have not been this disappointed in a pumpkin pie product since eating a Kirkland Signature Pumpkin Pie years ago. I don’t know if it’s still the case, but that gigantic pie tastes bland.

The cream cheese icing on top, which I think is supposed to look like laces on a football, has a mild tanginess, and it was nice to taste it on its own. But it’s not enough to help turn around this turnover.

When I received my order, the cashier asked me if I had the Pumpkin Pie Turnover before. She said she has yet to try it. I told her I haven’t. But now I want to drive back to Arby’s and tell that cashier it’s disappointing. Arby’s may have the meats, but it doesn’t have a very good Pumpkin Pie Turnover.

Purchased Price: $2.69
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 347 calories, 19 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 4 milligrams of cholesterol, 261 milligrams of sodium, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 21 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Arby’s Big Cheesy Bacon Burger

My post-race routine is fairly simple: shower, stretch, and stuff a burger in my face. I recently completed a half marathon and, due to a series of events after that race, I had to postpone the burger part of my routine. Two weeks later, I was craving the thing I never got. Right on cue, Arby’s sent an email advertising its new Big Cheesy Bacon Burger.

It’s one of the two limited edition burgers currently being offered at Arby’s. The Deluxe Wagyu Steakhouse Burger is the base version (a wagyu blended beef patty, burger sauce, American cheese, tomatoes, red onions, lettuce, and garlic & dill pickles on a toasted brioche bun) with the Big Cheesy Bacon Burger having all the same ingredients but with the addition of Swiss cheese and bacon.

It had some heft when I pulled it out of the bag, but didn’t seem very big. Like a mattress in a box, after I took it out of its wrapper, it seemed to expand. Size-wise, it was reasonably comparable to what I’ve gotten from Red Robin. Taking a peek under the bun, I was surprised at the produce’s freshness. I wasn’t expecting rotten tomatoes or anything, but the two vibrant red tomato slices took me off guard. I’m used to fast food tomatoes looking half the time like someone took a red Sharpie to styrofoam.

Even though it looked good, I was ready to find out if it tasted good. In my first bite, I got a bit of every component. All I could think as I took my time taking it all in was, “Wow, this is a really balanced burger.”

Too often, when fast food sandwiches have a laundry list of toppings, they become a mess of competing flavors. In this case, everything was working together to create something extremely delicious. The balance of the sweet burger sauce, hickory bacon, juicy tomatoes, crisp pickles, salty cheeses, and savory meat created a flavor that I could only describe as the most perfect “burger” flavor.

The meat on its own was a bit dry, but the dryness wasn’t noticeable when eaten with the other components. Multiple times (I assume for legal reasons), Arby’s reminds us that the patty is 51% American Wagyu and 49% ground beef. I can’t speak on the American Wagyu being anything special, but the meat quality was above any other fast food offering I’ve had.

Overall, I was extremely satisfied with Arby’s Big Cheesy Bacon Burger. It was delicious and filling and exceeded my expectations from a fast food restaurant. The high quality of the ingredients is what made it stand out. It’s only around for a limited time, so if you’re thinking about trying it, I’d go sooner rather than later.

Purchased Price: $7.99
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 824 calories, 51 grams of fat, 21 grams of saturated fat, 118 milligrams of cholesterol, 2085 milligrams of sodium, 46 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 15 grams of sugar, and 48 grams of protein.

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