Can Chicken Beat Out Sausage and Bacon on McDonald's Breakfast Menu? We Found Out.

mcdonald's mcchicken breakfast sandwich biscuit mcgriddle chicken
Courtesy of McDonald's
Courtesy of McDonald's

It's 2020 and McDonald's is still betting on chicken. After launching all-new Spicy BBQ Chicken back in September, Mickey D's is finally adding chicken to its breakfast menu with the launch of the Chicken McGriddle and a McChicken Biscuit. But in a world where sausage, bacon, eggs, and cheese rule our morning meals, can chicken really succeed at breakfast? We ate both new sandwiches to find out.

Pancake bread is always good but...

The reason pancake bread is so successful in the bacon, egg, and cheese McGriddle as well as the sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddle is that the inherent sweetness -- via pockets of gooey maple syrups -- is countered by the salt of breakfast meats. Everything falls into place like a puzzle.

The Chicken McGriddle, however, lacks the same components. There is no egg or cheese, just a peppery McChicken patty sandwiched between McDonald's signature pancake bread. And, as we all know, the McChicken patties aren't hand dredged with a hefty batter, so don't expect added crunch.

Though I enjoy McDonald's pancake bread getting shine, the lack of cheese and eggs means the pancake bread overwhelms the McChicken patty, which suddenly tastes dull behind the pancake syrup. Hot sauce can coax a bit of life back into the sandwich but the damage is done; the strongest flavor you're getting bite to bite is the butter and syrup. 

The McChicken Biscuit is not as sweet, but struggles in other areas

Chicken and biscuits is an excellent breakfast combo, something I'd even venture to say that Chick-fil-A has perfected. Considering the drawbacks of the Chicken McGriddle, I had high hopes the McChicken Biscuit would be the winner of this launch, but it struggles elsewhere. 

For starters, the base of this entire sandwich -- the biscuit itself -- is disappointing. Its center is doughy, while the exterior is brittle and crumbly, sucking moisture out of your mouth. This, paired with an unexciting chicken patty, made for an uninspiring chicken sandwich. The McChicken Biscuit doesn't come with any sauce, so my suggestion is to douse it in honey, hot sauce, or both to make it more pleasing. But even with those additions, I wouldn't order it again over better breakfast menu options.

McDonald's does have good breakfast

The McChicken Biscuit and the Chicken McGriddle aren't sparkling additions. I wouldn't stray from my usual McMuffin or sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddle when grabbing some quick food in the AM. That being said, I think it's possible for the sandwiches to improve. Perhaps all they need is some cheese and eggs to give it that extra edge and truly make the sandwiches feel like breakfast.

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Kat Thompson is a staff writer at Thrillist. Follow her on Twitter @katthompsonn