While having crispy fried jalapeños, pickled jalapeños, and a creamy jalapeño sauce is a lotta jalapeños in Burger King’s new Loaded Jalapeño Original Chicken Sandwich, if the chain wanted to make a stronger case for it being “loaded,” it could’ve also added pepper jack cheese and had jalapeño bits baked into the bun. Then it would’ve been as loaded as this review is with the word jalapeño.

Along with all the peppery ingredients, the sandwich includes the usual Original Chicken Sandwich components and a few common Burger King accouterments — lettuce, tomato, American cheese, a long chicken patty, and an equally long sesame seed bun. The last two bring a bit of nostalgia to mind because the Original Chicken Sandwich was my favorite thing to eat at Burger King as a kid.

As you’d expect from a sandwich with jalapeños in three ways, the green pepper’s taste is potent. Leading the charge are the pickled pepper slices, which bring a briny, robust jalapeño flavor along with a vegetable crunch and heat. However, the sandwich tastes like they do all the heavy jalapeño lifting.

The crispy fried jalapeños add even more crunch, but contribute more of a fried taste. As for the sauce, it has some heat and a noticeable flavor on its own, but it doesn’t seem to enhance or distinguish itself from the pickled jalapeños. No tang. No twist. No (insert other T-word here). Basically, if I handed a stranger this sandwich without mentioning the creamy sauce, I’m pretty sure they’d say after I told them, “WHAAAAAA? Get out of here! This totally doesn’t taste like it has a creamy jalapeño sauce. Now get out of my house. I don’t know who you are.” That’s how much it blends in, and how much I can blend into a room without getting noticed.

Surprisingly, with all that jalapeño going on, the chicken patty isn’t overwhelmed. I can still taste it, along with a little of the tomato’s acidity. But I can’t say the same for the lettuce and American cheese. The leafy greens announced their presence only by falling out of my sandwich, and the American cheese was possibly added as flypaper to keep the ingredients in place… a job it failed at, judging by the crispy fried jalapeños and lettuce sitting on the wrapper I was eating off of.

Maybe it’s because the pickled jalapeños taste similar to what Taco Bell uses, but eating this sandwich brings the Tex-Mex chain to mind. If it ever makes a chicken sandwich, I imagine it would taste similar to this.

If you really like jalapeños, this sandwich will satisfy. If you’re a heat seeker looking for something to make you feel something, take your high-heat-tolerating taste buds elsewhere. For me, it’s an enjoyable sandwich, and I don’t mind that it’s not too spicy, but with the pickled jalapeños dominating, it tastes a bit one-note.

Purchased Price: $10.39*
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 740 calories, 41 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 75 milligrams of cholesterol, 2300 milligrams of sodium, 71 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar, and 31 grams of protein.

*Because I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.