REVIEW: McDonald’s Spicy Chicken McBites

McDonald's Spicy Chicken McBites

If I were to ever start a food fight in a McDonald’s, which I’ve thought about many times in order to make the daily McDonald’s visit for the senior citizens that surround me a little more fun, I would arm myself with these McDonald’s Spicy Chicken McBites (or the regular ones, which ever were available).

Why would I choose to stock up on Chicken McBites?

If I understood physics, I could give you a detailed, equation-filled explanation about why Chicken McBites would be the best McDonald’s menu item to have in a food fight, but since I have horrible mathematical and scientific abilities that would make any Asian with perfect SAT scores shake their head in disapproval, all I can say is: Chicken McBites is good in food fight. Easy to throw. Easy to throw far. Easy to throw straight.

Now some of you might be thinking a Big Mac would be the best McDonald’s menu item in food fight because after you throw it, the sandwich splits apart and turns into a fast food buckshot, spreading two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and a sesame seed bun everywhere. However, the beef patties and sesame seed bun aren’t very aerodynamic. Also, there’s only one Big Mac per box. With a snack size Spicy Chicken McBites there are anywhere from ten to 18 pieces you can fling at others, and with the sauces you can stain their clothes in a variety of colors.

Yes, I have put much thought into which McDonald’s items would be good in a food fight. Avoid the salads.

McDonald's Spicy Chicken McBites Closeup

I don’t know if my eyes were deceiving me, but the Spicy Chicken McBites looked like they had a red tint to them, which made them appear a little ominous. The breading wasn’t light and crispy, instead it was more of a dense crunch, which I liked. The chicken inside the bigger pieces were tender, but a bit on the dry side. But, that’s par for the course when it comes to McDonald’s chicken.

The heat wasn’t too noticeable when I popped the first Spicy Chicken McBite in my mouth, but as I went through the box, the spiciness built up to a mild heat. There wasn’t any additional flavor with that spiciness. I thought they tasted like regular Chicken McBites.

However, just like McDonald’s other dippable chicken products, its flavor is all about the sauce. I didn’t ask for any of the spicy sauces, like Hot Mustard or Hot Habanero, because I thought they would overwhelm the spiciness of the McBites. Instead, I went with Sweet ‘N Sour, which I thought complemented the spiciness well. I also tried it with Tangy Barbecue, which was decent, but not as tasty.

McDonald's Spicy Chicken McBites Innards

The Spicy Chicken McBites are tasty, but the thing about them, actually Chicken McBites in general, is that when you get a box it’s either hit or miss, there’s no consistency with it. I’ve tried the snack-sized spicy and regular versions several times and, as I mentioned earlier, the number of pieces I got in each box has varied, and the same can be said about the size of the pieces. If you look at the photo above, you’ll see a lot of big meaty pieces, but when I bought another box, more than half the pieces I got were small and mostly breading.

I know part of the appeal of popcorn chicken is having those pieces that are pretty much just breading, but I feel a little ripped off when I purchase a box that’s mostly breading when the previous box wasn’t.

Sure, those smaller pieces of breading are firmer, making them ideal for inflicting a little pain during a food fight. However, I’d rather have more pieces with chicken in them just in case I want to eat them instead.

(Nutrition Facts – Snack Size – 270 calories, 17 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 600 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of sugar, 0 grams of fiber, and 14 grams of protein.)

Item: McDonald’s Spicy Chicken McBites
Purchased Price: $2.99*
Size: Snack size
Purchased at: McDonald’s
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Surprisingly decent spiciness. Awesome ammunition to have in a food fight. Goes great with Sweet ‘N Sauce. Tender chicken. Comes in a variety of sizes. Dense breading has a nice crunchiness. Easy to throw. Easy to throw far. Easy to throw straight.
Cons: Tastes like regular Chicken McBites. Inconsistent meaty piece/breading piece ratio. Slightly dry chicken. Red tint makes them look a little ominous. Available for a limited time.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the price I paid might be higher than what you’ll pay.

10 thoughts to “REVIEW: McDonald’s Spicy Chicken McBites”

  1. I loved the original McDonald Chicken bites but the spicy
    ones are TERRIBLE. My tongue burned for half an hour after
    eating them.

    I wish they would bring back the regular bites. Nice little
    pieces of real white meat chicken. (Not the ground meat like
    the nuggets.)

  2. Do they still sell McDonaldland Cookies? Those little suckers would make great ammo!

  3. That last picture actually looks surprisingly juicy.

    I haven’t had a fast food nugget in a while, but going purely on taste I sort of prefer the normal nuggets to these – and actually, I miss the way they were when I was a kid, when they had some dark meat in them and you always ran the risk of getting a big bite of fat. Sure, sometimes you’d bite into a vein or something, but it was worth it!

  4. My local McDonalds had a sign advertising a promotion for the snack size of the spicy McNuggets for $1 from June 25th thru June 27th or 29th. Not sure of the end date.

  5. Tried these on Friday, $1.00 snack box, which is a decent sized snack for a buck. Tasty, bready, and with just enough of a kick to be interesting. No sauce. Real chicken. I would buy these again.

  6. I got the snack size here in Missouri for $1 and took your suggestion on the sweet and sour sauce- very good!

  7. Just tried these a little while ago – what horrible crap!
    I was eager to get them at first, as Mickey D’s has done such a good job promoting them; first I went to my local McD’s, only to find out their card machine was down; I tried another & it was closed (I thought all the ones along major highways were open 24/7 these days – guess not); I drove 10 miles to another that I knew was open, but surprise, those idiots start serving breakfast at 3am, unlike the other 24/7 McD’s I’ve been to – @#$^#^!!
    I drive back to the one nearest me and decide to pay the atm fees & get 20.00; I get the large combo, costing me over $9.00 with tax (damn, Mickey D’s is getting EXPENSIVE!).
    I get the food home, and the damn Spicy chicken bites are almost all batter, with little real meat – what a ripoff!
    I KNOW a decent spicy chicken nugget is possible – Wendy’s does it effortlessly – but I guess this was too much to expect from the Golden Arches.

  8. Too much batter… not enough chicken!

    I recently ordered the spicy bites in the large share size and I must say that were quite tasty, but I feel rather ripped off due to the large number of breading only pieces that I received with my order (at least 30-40%). When you hear the name spicy chicken bites, you expect chicken not batter only.

    McDonalds should find a way to be more consistent in reducing the number of batter only pieces in the box or change the name of the product to spicy batter surprise with a disclaimer that the spicy batter may occasionally contain small portions of chicken. Then we could expect a lower price to follow due to being made mostly of batter.

    Until McDonalds finds a way to correct this problem, I will have to order something else.

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