Everybody’s got a chicken sandwich these days, and McDonald’s is no exception. With less toppings than their beef counterparts, these chicken sandwiches only come in the ‘crispy’ (deep fried) variety. I kind of miss the option of getting grilled chicken, but doing this kind of research has taught me that they probably weren’t any healthier. Let’s look at the details of the ‘deluxe’ chicken sandwiches from McDonald’s.

Before we get into it, I’d like to mention that there is a McChicken sandwich available on the value menu that costs significantly less than any of these. The thing is, it’s just a dinky little processed chicken patty with a spattering of mayo and some stringy lettuce. The main problem I have with this is that it clocks in at 400 calories by itself. That’s the same as a McDouble burger – ugh.

Much like the ‘deluxe’ burgers, all of these chicken sandwiches are very similar. Each one comes with a fried chicken filet on a potato roll. In fact, the 470 calorie basic version only has some pickles and salted butter added to it. What is up with putting pickles on everything? Anyway, it doesn’t get terribly creative from there. The Spicy version simply replaces the butter with a pepper sauce, which apparently adds 60 calories. Swap out the pickles for lettuce and tomato and replace the pepper sauce with mayo, and you get the Deluxe version with the same calorie count. Those peppers must be quite caloric (actual peppers have virtually zero calories) because the only difference between the Deluxe and Spicy Deluxe is the sauce.

As I mentioned in the article about the ‘deluxe’ burgers, you’re going to save a decent amount of calories if you choose the chicken over beef on the ‘deluxe’ menu. I just can’t see myself enjoying a sandwich with just butter and pickles… even if I liked pickles.

I don’t know what kind of chicken they use at Burger King, but it’s packed with calories. Both versions of their ‘original’ chicken sandwiches are in the ball park, but are more than anything McDonald’s offers. Those Ch’King (not so clever) sandwiches are all more than DOUBLE the calories of anything you read about above.

Wendy’s goes the opposite direction with a number of comparable chicken sandwiches under 500 calories. They max out at (only) 810 for the Big Bacon Cheddar Chicken.

For more chicken variety, you can get all kinds of different sandwiches at Arby’s in the 500 calorie range. Their Roast Buffalo version is only 360.

I didn’t include Chick-Fil-A, Bojangles, Popeyes, Church’s, KFC, etc because I think they are a different business model better suited for a separate article.

Lessons Learned:

The chicken sandwiches at McDonald’s are very similar

If you want to save some calories, choose chicken over beef. You won’t get as many toppings though.

McDonald’s chicken sandwiches aren’t terribly bad in the calorie department, especially compared to Burger King.

If you like variety in your choice of chicken sandwhiches, you’re better off checking out Wendy’s or Arby’s.

eric’s opinion:

If I had to pick one of the four from McDonald’s, it would definitely be the Spicy Deluxe. You’re gonna save 100 calories over the Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe (which is basically the cheese part). I would never order any chicken from Burger King as you could get THREE sandwiches from another place at the same calorie count. I’d like to check out Arby’s roast chicken.