I Tried 8 Frozen Chicken Nugget Brands and the Winner Tastes Better Than Chick-fil-A

If you’ve ever been around a kid or have kids of your own, you know that chicken nuggets are one of the best foods. It's hard to find anything wrong with little pieces of chicken enrobed in a golden, crispy coating. Some of the best nuggets I’ve eaten were homemade, but admittedly, I’ve also had some pretty good frozen ones, too. After testing eight different frozen chicken nugget brands, there's now a new crowd favorite in my household.

How I Chose the Frozen Chicken Nuggets

As with many of my taste tests, I only selected nuggets that were available nationwide. I chose brands that specifically labeled their product as “nuggets,” so that meant no tenders, fun dinosaurs, or happy faces. I also kept to the most basic recipe within each brand.

How I Tested the Frozen Chicken Nuggets

I followed the package directions for heating, which meant baking at the temperature and time suggested. Then I gathered a select group (who just happened to be around) of adults and children and had them sample the food. The nuggets were set on plates and were blindly tested to remove any bias. I asked my testers to note the visual appearance of the nuggets along with the texture of the coating, the tenderness and juiciness of the chicken, and finally, the overall flavor. Here’s what they thought.

7th place: a tie between Perdue and Tyson

We couldn’t decide which we liked least, so chose to make it a tie. While testers appreciated the golden, crisp exterior, no one liked the “factory-pressed” shape of these nuggets or their spongy interior. Testers remarked that neither brand’s nuggets tasted much like chicken, which they didn’t like, but were complimentary when it came to their tenderness and juiciness.

6th place: Yummy

This nugget was also “pressed and shaped,” but testers liked its crunchy exterior. Unfortunately, there seemed to be just as much coating as there was chicken, which left testers feeling unsatisfied. As for flavor, testers thought these nuggets were bland and dry.

5th place: Applegate

The first thing everyone noted about these nuggets was that they were dry. They also lacked color and weren’t incredibly appealing to look at. Chicken flavor was noticed, but overall, it was a rather unremarkable nugget. We agreed they would benefit from a dunk in some kind of sauce.

4th place: Earth’s Best

These nuggets were definitely the most oddly shaped and colored of the group, but testers didn’t seem to mind. They found the chicken flavorful and liked the crunchy coating that was more sweet than savory. The coating was crispy and overall, testers liked them.

3rd place: Pilgrim’s

All of the testers liked Pilgrim’s golden and crunchy exterior which was “nicely salted” and flavorful. They also liked the proportion of the coating to chicken, which seemed “just right.”  They noted that the chicken was tender and juicy, and one tiny tester reported these were “very chicken-y,” which is a good thing she told us.

2nd place: Bell and Evans

“Tastes like really good fried chicken!” exclaimed one tester. We all loved the crispy exterior that also provided a nice crunchy contrast to the juicy chicken inside. Instead of uniformity, all of the nuggets were of varying sizes with tons of nooks and crannies for extra coating. These appeared to be actual pieces of chicken versus the pressed, spongy variety, and testers agreed this helped the nuggets secure the second place title.

1st place: Just Bare

“These look and taste homemade,” said one tester and others agreed. Like Bell and Evans, the chicken inside is a whole piece of breast meat versus something extruded or pressed. This made the nuggets more satisfying and enjoyable than the pre-shaped versions. The interior was remarkably juicy and the outer crust was crisp, with a texture similar to fried chicken. The tiniest taste tester exclaimed, “They’re just like Chick-fil-A, but higher quality.” We agreed.

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