What Are Chicken Fries, Actually?

When it comes to burger-focused fast food joints, there really isn’t much innovation. Onion rings on a burger? A charcoal bun? Even more bacon? Snore. Enter Burger King, which introduced chicken fries in the early 200s. If you’ve never heard of chicken fries, it’s understandable. They haven’t always been a main menu item. But they’re back now, and they’re not exclusively at Burger King—you can buy frozen chicken fries at the grocery store. Today, we take a closer look at this holy union between chicken and fry. Dr. Moreau, eat your heart out (but save room for all these chicken fries). 

What are chicken fries?

Chicken fries are long, finger-sized strips of chicken coated in seasoned bread crumbs and fried. They were first launched as a special Burger King menu item in 2005, but earned permanent status in 2015. These days, you can get them at any Burger King establishment along with a myriad of dipping sauces such as ranch, barbecue, and Buffalo. (There used to be a chicken fry sauce, which was a mix of BBQ and honey mustard, but Burger King discontinued it.) As noted above, you can also find frozen chicken fries from brands like Tyson and Yummy at the grocery store. 

best frozen chicken fries

Best Frozen Chicken Fries

So, you can get frozen chicken fries at the grocery store, but what are the best frozen chicken fries? We found them.

What are chicken fries made of?

BK chicken fries are technically classified as chicken fingers, because, according to QSR, they’re made from strips of whole muscle chicken breast. They’re breaded with a mix of flours, starch, spices, seasonings, and things like “dextrose,” which we see on ingredient labels a lot but couldn’t pick out of a line up of powders. Tyson any’tizers chicken fries, on the other hand, are not specifically made with chicken breast.

Are chicken fries real chicken?

Well, they sure aren’t pork, folks! Yes, chicken fries are made of crispy fried chicken strips in the shape of french fries.

Chicken fries are something we firmly believe should be in the same conversation as cheeseburgers and mozzarella sticks. Perhaps, one glorious day, they’ll get their time to shine, and when it does, we’ll be there…with honey mustard and BBQ sauce firmly in hand.


About the Author

Joe Rumrill

Joe Rumrill is a fictional one-eyed spinach-loving sailor created in 1929 by E.C Se- Wait, no, that's not right... Joe Rumrill is a stand up comedian and writer currently based in Los Angeles. His favorite thing about food is a close tie between the taste and the nutrients one gets from it. His least favorite thing about it is the "gritty, dirt-like quality some food has", but he's most likely referring to the time in third grade he was dared to eat playground sand.

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