I Tried Burger King’s New Chicken Nuggets and Sauces
Here's how they compare to the original recipes.
jetcityimage
They say change is good — and that’s definitely true of Burger King’s latest update to a family-friendly menu item.
Following its recent Whopper refresh and guest feedback that called the chain's chicken nuggets “rubbery,” “dry” and “disappointing,” Burger King's culinary team did a complete revamp of its nuggets.
"It was a very sad moment to understand that our nuggets did not meet anyone's expectations of what a nugget should be,” Amy Alarcon, head chef of Burger King U.S. & Canada, says. “My job is to make sure that you get food that you absolutely love. So we went back into the test kitchen, and … and we [did] a 100% a do-over: the nugget, the sauce, the packaging. This was a no-stone-unturned process.”
To accompany the new nuggets, Burger King also reworked three of its sauces and introduced a new one for a limited time.
I got a chance to taste Burger King’s revamped chicken nuggets — in a side-by-side comparison with the old ones — as well as the new sauces ahead of their release on September 1.
How are Burger King’s new chicken nuggets different from its old ones?
For starters, the new nuggets come in a tidy little box, as opposed to a flimsy paper sack. This will presumably keep them warmer and possibly crisper.
As for the nuggets themselves, the new ones don’t look tremendously different from the old ones, apart from perhaps a bit plumper, with a coating that looks slightly more appetizing, but that’s where the similarities end.
Biting into them, the old ones were totally meh: dry, not flavorful, not juicy or crunchy or chicken-y. I didn’t finish my portion. The new nuggets, by contrast, were notably crunchier and more toothsome, with a nice salty flavor and a taste and texture that were distinctly more chicken-y. Maybe a bit more … complex, if that’s a word you could use to describe a chicken nugget.
“What makes the better nugget? What is it?” Alarcon wonders, before answering her own question. “People want it to be crunchy. They want it to be juicy and flavorful.”
The new nugget, developed with input from test-kitchen tasters of all ages, including kids, was a marked improvement on the old.
What about Burger King’s new sauces?
I also had a chance to dip my nuggets — old and new — into Burger King’s trio of revamped existing sauces and its brand-new limited-time sauce offering, Special Savory Sauce. “We re-created the classics,” Alarcon says, noting that a nugget is, for many, a “vehicle for getting sauce.”
The lineup includes …
- Special Savory Sauce: “A brand-new, limited-time dipping sauce combining creamy, tangy and lightly spicy flavors with hints of BBQ seasoning, ketchup, garlic, onion and black pepper.”
- Honey Mustard: “A richer, creamier take on our classic, made with mustard and honey for the perfect balance of sweet and tangy flavor.”
- Buffalo: “A classic cayenne pepper sauce with buttery richness, savory garlic notes and just the right amount of heat.”
- Sweet & Sour: “A brighter, more balanced take on the classic, blending sweet pineapple flavor with tangy notes and a savory finish.”
My far-and-away favorites were the new Special Savory Sauce, which was, yes, ketchup-y, but also had an appealingly spicy barbecue warmth, and the Honey Mustard, which was balanced and tasty and basically everything you’d want in a honey mustard sauce.
How can you get Burger King’s new chicken nuggets and sauces?
Both the new nuggets and sauces are available nationwide now.
Related Content:
