Tag: McDonald’s

If there were a Netflix mini-series about Fast Food Fried Chicken, spicy nuggets deserve their own episode.

Obviously, spicy chicken is nothing new, but when it comes to fast food’s big players, Wendy’s was the first one out of the gate with spicy nuggets. But its on-again, off-again availability eventually opened up space for Burger King to come onto the scene in 2017. They also came with a healthy side of creative social media stunts, including giving away free nuggets to anyone named “Wendy.” Amazing!

McDonald’s has offered spicy chicken items along the way, from various sandwiches to its Spicy Chicken McBites in 2012. But these new McDonald’s Spicy Chicken McNuggets are, apparently, the first new nugget flavor (officially) since 1983. And that’s not all, folks. These are accompanied by the Mighty Hot Sauce, the first new dipping sauce since 2017 (2018’s Szechuan sauce was a return, remember?)

My first impression? The packaging is lame. But it’s what’s on the inside that counts, so who cares?

My second impression? These nuggets are gorgeous! They had more of an orangey hue (am I imagining that?) than the standard Chicken McNuggets, and the tempura coating looked extra flakey. The Mighty Hot Sauce had the crimson tincture of torturous flames and visible chili flakes. Ohboyohboyohboy!

I tried the Spicy McNuggets without the sauce first. The texture was familiar and on point, super flakey and with that sort of airy fluffiness McNuggets are known for. I’m sure that texture isn’t everyone’s preference, but these deliver if you like McNuggets.

The spice level started out mild and grew naturally, like heat from a real spice source. Mine seemed to have a “dry heat,” which you’d expect on chicken. There doesn’t appear to be any seasoning within the nugget; it’s all on the coating.

My only small complaint is that the spice level seems to vary drastically from nugget to nugget. I was concerned when the first McNugget didn’t deliver much heat, but it grew with the second. But it doesn’t get hot enough for me when eating the Spicy McNuggets without the sauce.

But then, from a humble little black plastic cup, comes the Mighty Hot Sauce, karate-kicking the doors RIGHT off this mother with HEAT.

This sauce is fire. It coats the Spicy McNugget perfectly. In the laziest of descriptions, it’s like the sweet and sour sauce with heat. But it’s better than that. It has pepper flavor, a vinegar kick that hits you right away, a sweet *thwak* from, what is that on the label, Apricot? And then a long slow burn that leaves your tongue and lips tingling for a while after you’re done eating.

Pretty soon, I couldn’t tell whether the heat of each new bite was building from the McNuggets, or if the Mighty Hot Sauce was just blazing away. I found myself wishing I’d asked for honey or maybe ranch to balance it out. When I get these again (yep, “when”), I’ll definitely order fries and try dipping them in this spicy sauce.

Overall, I think this entry into the spicy nugget competitive landscape was well done by Mc’y D’s. It stayed true to its style of McNuggets while offering something new with a spice level you can build upon to your liking. If you want to take it to a 10, load on that Hot Mighty Sauce.

I’m glad McDonald’s didn’t try to overhaul its signature McNuggets too much, and that it launched a hot sauce that is genuinely hot. I will definitely be a repeat customer.

P.S. For what it’s worth, 50% of my McNuggets were boot shapes! Is there some kind of McNugget horoscope reading for when that happens?

Purchased Price: $2.00
Size: 6 Spicy McNuggets + 1 Mighty Hot Sauce
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (6 McNuggets) 250 Calories, 16 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 540 milligrams of sodium, 12 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of sugar, 0 grams of fiber, and 14 grams of protein.

My mother recently enrolled in the 23andMe ancestry service, and I found out I’m about 3% more Irish than I had initially thought.

I wasn’t sure how I’d get over the fact that my entire life had been a giant lie, but luckily for me, the news coincided with the annual release of McDonald’s Shamrock Shake – a treat that’s probably as authentically Irish as I am. I’m about 8%.

To me, late-February/March is Shamrock Season. The winter holidays are all done, Baseball isn’t starting for another month, and there’s not much happening other than the rebirth of the single greatest item McDonald’s has ever offered.

I said it. I’m standing by it.

While I fully intend to have about 12 Shamrock Shakes over the next few weeks, I had to put the O.G. on hold and try the new Oreo Shamrock McFlurry first.

Mashed up Oreo? Shamrock infused vanilla soft serve? That weird McFlurry spoon!? How could I pass that up?

They couldn’t possibly improve on perfection, could they?

If I were rating on looks alone, we’d be talking about a 3 out 10 review. I honestly think the guy took a couple of spoonfuls for himself before he handed it to me. It was a mess.

That classic Shamrock Shake green doesn’t pop as well in a McFlurry. I guess the Oreo cookies had something to do with that, but it still wasn’t as fun. I also thought I’d get it served a cool little clear cup, but I just got a sloppy blob of mint chocolate chip ice cream in a non-festive paper cup.

But ya know what, looks, like the lifelong belief in your family’s genealogical history, can be deceiving.

If you like the Shamrock Shake, there’s absolutely zero reasons you won’t like this McFlurry.

It’s as if they made a Mint Oreo-flavored ice cream. They use regular Oreo cookies, but it may as well have been the Mint ones.

The Oreo cookie pieces were nice and fresh, but the best parts were the little bits of crème dispersed throughout. I feel like that texture often gets lost when Oreo is used in ice creams. They really popped here. Between the crispy cookie pieces, the soft serve, and those little chalky yet chewy crème pieces, it made for a perfect blend.

If I had one minor complaint, it would be that the mint was slightly subdued compared to a classic Shamrock Shake. I would’ve loved one more pump of syrup to compensate for the Oreo additive, but it didn’t ruin the experience at all. The touch of chocolate and crème flavor was a tasty twist on the norm.

Hot fudge topping was also offered (which may have been an extra charge), but I skipped it, fearing it would overpower the Shamrock and Oreo flavors. This doesn’t need more chocolate.

So yeah, I had little doubt about the Oreo Shamrock McFlurry. It’s legit.

I still prefer drinking my Shamrock Shakes, but this is close.

My test results conclude that the classic Shamrock Shake is about 3% better than the Shamrock McFlurry. Get em both. It’s Shamrock Season.

Purchased Price: $3.59
Size: Regular
Purchased at: McDonald’s
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 560 calories, 17 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, .5 grams of trans fats, 45 mg of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 93 grams of carbohydrates, 71 grams of sugar, and 12 grams of protein.

What is McDonald’s Snickerdoodle McFlurry?

Thank goodness for work rage! I recently stomped out of my office and into a nearby McDonald’s for an afternoon stress-eating break and discovered the chain had rolled out a new McFlurry for the holiday season! Full of snickerdoodle cookie bits! Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Officially, the ingredient list is only vanilla soft serve and snickerdoodle cookie pieces, but there was definitely something else floating around in mine. I thought they were hazelnut bits at first. Then I read a description elsewhere that mentioned white chocolate chunks, which made much more sense.

How is it?

Much like the Snickerdoodle itself, this McFlurry was greater than the sum of its parts. Cookies, ice cream, and white chocolate – nothing particularly fantastic, right? But that cookie dust did something magical here that turned the basic ingredients into something far better than I expected.

Yes, it tasted cinnamon-y. The baked sugar in the cookies added a caramel flavor and I was getting nutty-maple, too, but couldn’t tell where that came from based on the ingredient list. The snickerdoodle and white chocolate bits added a lovely crunch to the creamy soft-serve.

From the first bite, this stole the crown of “my favorite McFlurry variety ever” from the Stroopwafel. The Queen is dead, long live The Queen! (Yeah, my McFlurries are female.) I hope they stick around after the holidays, but I’m going to eat as many as I can this month just in case.

Is there anything else you need to know?

Don’t try to order it at odd hours. ‘Cause the machines get hosed down. But you probably already knew that.

Conclusion:

Buy it. Eat it. Love it. Just not at the Times Square locations, because if I go in and they’re out of them, we’re gonna have a problem on our hands.

Purchased Price: $3.19
Size: 12 oz. Regular-sized cup
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (12oz/ Regular) 530 calories, 19 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 300 milligrams of sodium, 79 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 65 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of protein.

McDonald’s Donut Sticks are BACK, and this time they’ve got an accompanying chocolate sauce (maybe the folks there read our February review requesting this addition?).

I swung into the McDonald’s drive-thru and was told to wait five minutes for some fresh sticks. Usually, I’d grumble a little about the wait, but in this instance, I wasn’t upset since the result would be impeccably fresh ones, which I figure is the best way to enjoy them.

McDonald’s Donut Sticks with Chocolate Sauce are available in a six or 12 pack and only during breakfast hours. I’m not sure if you get double the chocolate sauce with 12, but it’s probably worth asking for. I went with the six-pack for $1.59.

They look the same as the ones from earlier this year. They’re incredibly light, super flaky, and very fragrant of cinnamon and donutty goodness. I would almost call these “cronut sticks,” but they lack a few pastry layers to qualify fully. My car began smelling like a donut shop almost immediately after I’d received the bag.

Let’s talk about this chocolate sauce. This sauce is thicc. It’s also smooth, sticky, rich in chocolate color, and it adhered well to the donut sticks. I did find I needed to be careful, as some of the pieces were a little too fragile and would sort of collapse from the pressure of the “scoop.” But a generic dip was quite successful.

The sauce tastes exactly like the hot fudge topping on McDonald’s soft serve sundae and comes in packaging similar to McNugget dipping sauces (careful not to mix those up, although honey could be an interesting adventure for these donut sticks. OOH! Or Hot Honey! Okay, I digress.)

Overall, the chocolate is a welcomed addition to the already delightful donut sticks. It’s not overpowering, and there was enough sauce in the container to dip my way through all six pieces. The chocolate doesn’t take this treat to an overly luscious place, but it certainly elevates the regular sticks.

Purchased Price: $1.59
Size: 6 Donut Sticks + 1 oz. Sauce
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts**: 280 calories, 13 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein.

**This is only for the donut sticks. The chocolate sauce nutrition facts are not listed on the McDonalds website or printed on the container.