The INSIDER Summary:
- We tried fried chicken from Popeyes, Church's, Chick-fil-A, and KFC to see which makes it the best.
- KFC was the clear loser — its chicken was dry, and its batter was bland.
- Chick-fil-A came in third place because while we loved the batter's flavor and seasoning, the chicken didn't taste as authentic because the chain doesn't offer meat on the bone.
- Church's came in second place. The meat was juicy and tender, but its batter wasn't as flavorful as Popeyes, which came in first place.
A good piece of fried chicken has to achieve the difficult balance of being crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Not all restaurants get it right — which is why we set out to find which ones do.
We sampled fried chicken from four popular fast-food chains:
- Popeyes
- Church's Chicken
- Chick-fil-A
- KFC
Keep scrolling to see which won.
Church's Chicken
Our first stop was the popular chicken chain Church's Chicken. We ordered the original chicken three-piece meal, which comes with a honey-butter drizzled biscuit for $5.43.
At first bite, we were struck by the juiciness of the chicken and the perfect crunch of the breading. But while the chicken was full of flavor, the batter was pretty bland.
Chick-fil-A
Our next stop was Chick-fil-A, which claims to be "Home of the original chicken sandwich."
We had high expectations for this chicken, as Chick-fil-A boasts that its chicken dishes are made from the most tender part of the breast then "marinated in special seasonings, hand-breaded, and pressure cooked to perfection."
We decided to order the three-count Chick-n-Strips, which cost $5.11.
Our first reaction upon seeing the strips was disappointment. They seemed small compared with Church's. That said, part of the size discrepancy stemmed from the fact that this chicken does not come on the bone, and it appears to be ground-up meat — essentially a glorified chicken nugget.
Once we took a bite, however, it was hard not to love this chicken. The breading was bursting with flavor (unlike Church's), and the chicken had just the right amount of tenderness.
But while Chick-fil-A was delicious, it tasted more like a chicken nugget than true, on-the-bone fried chicken.
Popeyes
It's no secret that Popeyes has quite the fan base, so we were excited to put this chain to the test.
Popeyes boasts bona fide real chicken that it says is "marinated for at least 12 hours, then hand-battered, hand-breaded, and bursting with bold Louisiana flavor."
We once again ordered a three-piece meal, which came in at $5.65.
We were immediately impressed with the first bite. This chicken had everything. The inside was just as juicy as Church's, yet the breading was full of delicious flavor and seasoning.
KFC
If any chain could beat out Popeyes, we thought it had to be KFC. A worldwide chicken chain, KFC also has quite a large fan base to its name.
With high hopes, we ordered the two-piece meal, this time coming in at $5.99 — which is quite a bit more expensive than the other chains, considering you're getting less meat.
At first bite, we were super disappointed. The chicken was very mediocre. The meat was incredibly dry compared with the others, and the breading was thin and tasteless. Though the batter did have some flavor, the chicken was hard and lacked the flaky crunch the others had.
In the end, we wondered why KFC is so popular.
The final ranking
After finishing our taste test, there was no doubt in our mind that Popeyes was the champion. Its chicken had the best crunch, flavor, and tenderness. We also had a clear loser in KFC. Its chicken was dry, and its batter was bland.
The real debate came when deciding between Chick-fil-A and Church's for second place. Both were solid contenders, so we called in a backup taste-tester to settle the matter. We chose Church's over Chick-fil-A because it was more authentic than Chick-fil-A's ground meat.
All in all, if you want excellent fried chicken, your best bet is Popeyes or Church's. If you're willing to sacrifice a true, on-the-bone experience, Chick-fil-A's strips are your best bet. But don't bother with KFC.