What are Burger King’s Crispy Chicken Tenders?

The newfangled Burger King Crispy Chicken Tenders boast of “whole muscle white meat chicken” in a “home-style seasoned breading.” Which means, yeah, they’re pretty much the same thing — conceptually — that you’d get at

How are they?

BK’s latest menu addendum isn’t going to win any awards for creativity, but it makes up for its lack of originality by being a plain tasty offering.

First off, the tenders themselves are pretty big (I’d say they’re about the same size as Zaxby’s Chicken Fingerz) and the breading has a nice — dare I say KFC-esque? — smoky flavoring. The white meat is quite chewy, and for those of you who dislike the prospects of a torched tongue, rest assured that while these tenders have a little bit of heat to ‘em, they’re by no means a “spicy” product.

Is there anything else I need to know?

Burger King isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel here, and that’s ultimately the best attribute — and biggest weakness — of the product. Although quite yummy, they don’t have an idiosyncratic feel to them, and the lack of an especially pronounced herb or spice does make the breading taste a bit too mild. Honestly, there isn’t anything about these plump, juicy tenders that you haven’t already experienced, and likely at a lower cost than the $5 price point.

Conclusion:

All in all, the Burger King Crispy Chicken Tenders are a solid — if not utterly predictable — addition to the BK lineup. Thankfully, its robust assortment of sauces gives the product a longer lifespan (naturally, I’d vouch for the Buffalo Sauce), and for a fairly small amount of food, the four-piece deal, surprisingly, filled me up.

Still, it would’ve been nice to have received a unique, proprietary sauce (how great would a Jalapeno queso have been here?), and one can’t help but be gobsmacked by the sodium content on these suckers — with a walloping 2,200 milligrams, eating these are equal to downing a full teaspoon of salt.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: 4-piece meal
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 630 calories, 31 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 100 milligrams of cholesterol, 2,200 milligrams of sodium, 52 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar, and 36 grams of protein.

As a huge fan of both authentic and inauthentic Tex-Mex cuisine, I’ve always had a penchant for jalapeno peppers. While a few chains add them as ingredients to their limited time only burgers, they nonetheless remain one of the less heralded toppings in the fast food cosmos. Needless to say, if I had it my way, jalapeno rings would be as ubiquitous as burger toppings as onion rings.

Thankfully, Burger King has come along with two newfangled, LTO sandwiches that seek to bring a little sweet heat to palates across America. First up in our dainty double feature of foodstuffs, it’s BK’s latest addition to the Big King family, the Jalapeno King.

As soon as you unwrap this monstrous burger, the powerful aroma of jalapeno hits your olfactory glands like a punching bag. The mammoth double-decker sandwich comes with half a pound of grilled beef, several strips of crispy bacon, a coating of pepper jack cheese, a green chile aioli (more on that in a bit) and, of course, a smattering of jalapeno rings.

If you’ve got a penchant for super filling, ultra-beefy burgers this one ought to satisfy you and then some. You get a TON of meat in this thing, and that aforementioned aioli is delicious (it’s basically a chipotle mayo dressing, with a subtle hint of lime thrown into the mix … I think.)

On the downside, though, the sandwich might be a bit too big for its own good. As much meat as they packed in this sucker, at least a quarter of the sandwich is just sesame seed bun on sesame seed bun action, and all that white (wheat?) space means some of the subtler flavors (like the bacon and the pepper jack cheese) get lost in the gustatory shuffle.

The considerably lighter Jalapeno Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich may not have the bulk of its beefy sibling, but overall I’d consider it the better one.

For starters, BK appears to have amped up their breading spices for this one, and for once, a fast food burger marketed as “spicy” actually TASTES respectably spicy. There’s a unique BBQ/Creole spice flavor I detected on the chicken rubbings, which makes it feel unlike anything you’ve probably tried at one of the major fast food chains before.

It has pretty much all of the same toppings and fill-ins as the Jalapeno King (save for the toasted potato bun), but the more condensed package allows the ingredients to meld quite a bit better than it does on the JK. You can feel the cheese and bacon gel together here, and the combination of pepper rings and BBQ spices might get your eyes to water a trickle or two. Of course, its smaller size also means it’s going to be a sloppier meal, so as always, we here at The Impulsive Buy encourage you to snack smart and ALWAYS opt for an extra napkin or two.

With both sandwiches costing north of $5 as standalone offerings, they’re probably not the best option for economically-minded diners. Still, you have to give BK props from at least trying to provide fast food consumers something outside the norm — as well as crafting two spicy LTOs that might get your nose running.

(Nutrition Facts – Jalapeno King – 990 calories, 65 grams of fat, 24 grams of saturated fat, 3 grams of trans fat, 205 milligrams of cholesterol, 1550 milligrams of sodium, 46 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar, and 55 grams of protein. Spicy Crispy Jalapeno Sandwich – 760 calories, 45 grams of fat, 11 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 95 milligrams of cholesterol, 1720 milligrams of sodium, 58 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar, and 32 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $6.29 (Jalapeno King)

Purchased Price: $5.49 (Spicy Crispy Jalapeno Chicken Sandwich)
Size: N/A
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Jalapeno King)
Rating: 8 ouf to 10 (Spicy Crispy Jalapeno Chicken Sandwich)
Pros: Both sandwiches are ridiculously filling; unlike most “spicy” fast food sandwiches. They’re genuinely spicy. The green chile aioli is superb.
Cons: The pepper jack cheese doesn’t taste that intense. Getting sauce and oil all over the place while you’re eating them. Trying to mathematically figure out how the chicken sandwich has more sodium than the Jalapeno King.

What is it?

In case the name didn’t give it away, it’s Burger King’s new summer drink blending Frozen Fanta Orange with vanilla soft serve.

How is it?

Decent, adequate, ordinary.

Grab a thesaurus, or use that Google thing, and pick your favorite adjective for average. Mine is fair to middling. With a simple concoction such as this, it would be hard to envision it being incredible or terrible. And it’s not; it’s just okay.

I was expecting more of an orange Creamsicle/Dreamsicle taste. This will remind you of that, but only faintly. There just wasn’t much tang from the Fanta and not much sweetness from the soft serve. Also, the consistency was a touch gritty — not quite a milkshake and not quite a slush.

Maybe the BK soft serve is to blame (after all, Dairy Queen and McDonald’s are known for their soft serve; BK not so much). I’m not sure I even knew BK had soft serve before having this.

Is there anything else I need to know?

One caveat about this review: upon ordering I was given the dreaded “let me see if the machine is working” response. After a less-than-confident “I think so” from the manager, my order proceeded. And the Burger King I patronized did not have Fanta of any variety at the soda fountain, so that made me wonder where said Fanta came from for my drink. Unfortunately, the machine that might or might not have been working properly was located out of view, so the mystery endures.

Conclusion:

If you are having one of those blah days where you don’t want to be too excited about something or too disappointed, this might be the drink for you.

Purchased Price: $2.00
Size: 16 oz.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 180 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 grams of cholesterol, 160 milligrams of sodium, 42 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 41 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

What is it?

Move over Meat Mountain. Take a hike Most American Thickburger. Flamethrower Grillburger? You might as well qualify for the kids menu now.

Just in time for the post-Independence Day afterglow, Burger King has graced us all with one of the most monstrous fast food burgers in history: a half-pound, all beef mega-sandwich topped with crispy onions, American cheese, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, bacon and a hearty, proprietary “tavern sauce” — all culminating in a 1,500 calorie-plus, Budweiser-co-branded, grub-on-the-go Goliath.

How is it?

Well, not that it’s all that surprising, but by golly, this newfangled American Brewhouse King is quite filling. Unless you’re a competitive eater or something, this huge honkin’ hamburger is almost sure to put you in a food coma, and truth be told, I was pleasantly surprised by how flavorful the whole thing was.

Even factoring out the gimmicky pseudo-beer-flavored queso (which I still found quite tantalizing), you’ve got a solid fast food burger here, in which all of the ingredients gel quite well together. It may be nothing more than a shameless novelty, but as far as shameless novelties go, it’s certainly one of the more unironically enjoyable to come down the fast food chutes in quite some time.

Is there anything else I need to know?

You can quibble over a few details (I thought the crispy onion bits were too small and too sporadically sprinkled), but for the most part, you are getting a pretty good (if not somewhat overpriced) burger.

Of course, the usual Burger King caveats do apply; considering this thing packs in almost a full day’s worth of sodium and has about half a dozen viscous fluids dripping out of it, you’d be well-advised to keep both a cold drink and a couple of napkins nearby at all times.

Conclusion:

As a tongue-in-cheek, “yeah, we KNOW how unhealthy we’re being on purpose” summertime splurge, this is astonishingly tasty. Unlike some of the other seasonal gimmick foods making the rounds these days, the American Brewhouse King actually has consumer value beyond being another “experiential” event food tailor-made for the Instagram set.

Calorie overload or not, there’s no denying Burger King crafted a hedonistically yummy fast food artery-clogger with this one; give it a try if you’re an adventurous sort, but be prepared to do a LOT of overtime on the treadmill afterward.?

Purchased Price: $6/29
Size: N/A
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 1,550 calories, 136 grams of fat, 47 grams of saturated fat, 8 grams of trans fat, 805 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,820 milligrams of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar, and 134 grams of protein.

What is it?

Hooray, it’s a new Burger King menu item that ISN’T just a slight variation of its King burger formula! Alas, that doesn’t mean said product is anything radically unique, though. Instead, BK’s newfangled Pretzel Chicken Fries are more or less a minute redressing of its meaty side dish…complete with a snazzy cardboard container featuring plenty of puns about both poultry and pretzels.

How is it?

If you’ve tried the BK Chicken Fries before, you know what to expect here. The taste, text and general mouthfeel is the same, and to be perfectly honest with you fine people, I thought the pretzel flavor — while noticeable — was still a little underwhelming.

You might expect the fries to have a nuttier, saltier taste, but by and large you have to really focus to even absorb the pretzel taste while you’re chewing. And in case you’re wondering, using any of BK’s proprietary sauces pretty much negates any kind of pretzel flavoring you might detect in these suckers.

Is there anything else I need to know?

Long story short, if you’ve had the regular Chicken Fries, you’ve basically already tried these. Yes, there is a subtle pretzel flavor in there, but it’s so subdued that I’m not even sure I’d be able to distinguish it from the regular Chicken Fries in a blind taste test. That said, the 9-piece set is actually astonishingly filling — you may not think that less than 400 calories worth of side dish can put a dent in your stomach, but these things might just surprise you.

Conclusion:

Although the product is only nominally “new,” as a limited-time-only offering it’s not bad at all. The fries are warm, flavorful and chewy, and they go incredibly well with the in-house zesty sauce (which, I think we can all agree, should’ve become a retail item a LONG time ago.)

As an overall fast food item, I’d say it’s well above average, but as an “event” food, so to speak, it’s hardly anything worth going out of your way to experience. And if you’re a health-conscious consumer, don’t even think about going anywhere near these things: with a whopping 1,200 milligrams of sodium, the Pretzel Chicken Fries contain nearly 30 percent MORE salt than a regular old BK Whopper.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 9-pieces
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 340 calories, 21 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,200 milligrams of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, less than one gram of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 16 grams of protein.