My Dear Impulsive Buyers,
I’ve now lost count of my days spent embroiled in the chicken sandwich war.
Whenever I feel they are close to an end, another challenger enters the fray. New culinary battles ensue.
I’ve seen some good sandwiches come and go by the wayside. Young. Fresh. Barely out of the test kitchens. KFC. McDonald’s. The Ch’King – all basically forgotten before they even had a chance.
While Popeyes remains the world superpower, I have a burgeoning respect for a chicken sandwich so battle-tested, so decorated, it has now transcended the sandwich itself – Wendy’s Spicy Chicken.
We can all learn something from Wendy’s Spicy Chicken. To survive the wars, you must adapt. Days may become months, and while boys become men, chicken sandwiches must become potato crisps… ?!
——–
That’s right, folks, Pringles has a Wendy’s Spicy Chicken flavored crisp, and I’m pretty jacked up about it.
I couldn’t even tell you how many Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwiches I’ve had in my life, but I’m pretty confident no other fast food item even comes close. So I knew I had to write this review.
After picking up my can of Pringles, I swung by Wendy’s so I could really see if they would… stack up.
I have to say, at first, I was a little bummed.
The crisps tasted like poultry seasoning and heaps of black pepper, but it wasn’t distinctly Wendy’s. I cleansed my palate between alternating bites of Pringles and the sandwich, but it just wasn’t clicking like I’d hoped.
Don’t get me wrong, the crisps were delicious, but on a flavor mimicry scale of 1 to Jelly Belly, they came in at about a 6.
I think the main problem for me was the fact that they were missing a little tang of the mayo, which is a key ingredient of Wendy’s sandwich. I also think the crisps tasted like they had a slightly different tasting pepper, but the heat levels were about the same.
I guess you lose a lot in the flavor transfer when you’re biting into a juicy chicken fillet versus a crispy potato chip, and I couldn’t get past that. I did stack some Pringles on my sandwich for a couple of bites to create a Chick-inception just for fun.
All in all, I enjoyed the Pringles, but next to the sandwich, they were only pretty good… That was until I ate them on their own the next day.
I guess the sandwich being there put too much pressure on the Pringles and my dumb brain because they tasted spot on this go around. I was blown away. The aftertaste was especially similar to Wendy’s, and I ended up polishing off the rest of the can. It was essentially like eating the Spicy Chicken Sandwich and fries at the same time.
So, my recommendation would be to just enjoy the chips as their own thing, and I guarantee you’ll notice just how much they remind you of the Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich.
This was a great effort by Pringles, and I hope Julius Pringle and Dave Thomas keep their collabs rolling. I want a line of Spicy Nugget Pringles that come in different dipping sauce flavors. Spicy Nuggets with BBQ. Spicy Nuggets with Honey Mustard, etc. Whatever. I bet those would be excellent.
——
Perhaps this crisp is what we’ve been waiting for all along. The one that will bring an end to the great chicken sandwich war. I write to you, hopeful that we will find common ground and see rise to more such chicken-based snack ingenuity.
I hope this review finds you well.
Purchased Price: $1.59
Size: 5.5 oz can
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (About 15 Crisps) 150 calories, 9 grams of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 200 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of total sugars, less 1 gram of fiber, and 1 gram of protein.
The only thing I can say to this is: WANT!
I had the exact opposite reaction! In fact, I thought that I would scream in disgust if I ate these. Black pepper, UGH!!!!! But to each his own. 🙂
hahaha I haven’t been able to track these down yet but amazing review Vin!!
I’m happy you always list where you bought them. Always hard to find new Pringles.
Ha love this review! Thanks for the detail…now to find me some at Target…
Are these a Target only thing? I hope not since I don’t have one near me
Not Target only. But anyway they’re disguisting as all Pringles are. I don’t remember when, but Pringles either changed their recipe or ingredients from the Pringles I would eat in say the 90’s or the 80’s. Now they all have a funky aftertaste, even more so funky are the low sodium crap.
But it’s the flavors that are no good as well.. they just don’t put enough flavor on them. These hardly taste like a chicken sandwich and they’re not spicy at all.
Just an FYI:
Went in to WalGreens yesterday to pick up their generic Cherry Cola NICE! brand … some of the best Cherry Cola I’ve tasted for $0.99 / 2 litre bottle.
When you mix it with milk, yes milk, just like Laverne of Laverne And Shirley mixes milk and Pepsi (that’s where I got the idea to try it one day), it is delicious, tastes just like a cherry cola float from Johnny Rockets in Los Angeles.
Anyways, while I was getting the soda, there was a whole bin of these Pringles Wendys Spicy Chicken tubes. Must’ve been ~30 or ~40 of ’em.
$0.29 per.
Yup.
~$0.29 per canister.
I bought 6, and probably shoulda bought more, but I didn’t know what they would taste like, and I didn’t wanna get stuck, so I figured I could stomach 6 even if they were not that good.
I’ve never had Wendys Spicy Chicken sandwich. I don’t eat out at all, especially fast food. Cannot afford it right now. So I have no relative comparison.
They were alright. Alright enough for ~$0.29 per canister.
Tried to imagine the tastes with my eyes closed. I GUESS I could taste the chicken, definitely the spice, but no lettuce nor condiments like mayonnaise. What I DID also taste was a cheesy taste, like a slice of some kind of cheese on the sandwich. Because I’ve never had the sandwich, I don’t know if the sandwich has cheese.
Anyways, of all the different Pringles flavours I’ve ever tasted, I’d give this about a 5-6 out of 10. Not bad, not stupendous, I’ve had worse, I’ve had better.
Kind of a spicy, “meh”.
Maybe this would help. I definitely would NOT pay full price for this flavour. However, I stopped buying Pringles years ago after their price point went above their $0.99. I buy ALDI and Wal*Mart canister chips now. If Pringles ever loses the greed and brings the price back down to $0.99 per, I’ll become a buyer again.
By the by, I was around when Pringles very first hit the market back in the lates 60s or early mid 70s. Cannot remember. I remenber when I tasted them for the very first time. It was like WOW what the hell is this … just like the very first time you heard Boston’s first album, Foreigner’s first album, FleetWood Mac’s !st with Buckingham/Nicks AND 2nd Rumours, etc. There will NEVER be another 1970s. Jovan Musk Oil, Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific shampoo (GAD did that stuff smell GOOOOD), high heeled shoes for men, psychedelic silk shirts, bell bottom corduroys and jeans, Tickle Pink cheap wine, Boones Farm Apple Wine, etc.
There will NEVER be a time like the 70s.