Wendy's vs. KFC: Which Has The Best Saucy Nuggets?

The flavor-blasted chicken nugget may be one of the most surprising yet intriguing fast-food trends to emerge in 2024. KFC expanded its menu in early April with a brand-new line of sauce-covered nuggets—fittingly named "Saucy Nuggets"—that are available in three bold flavors. Just two months after the launch, KFC's saucy nugget idea got some major competition from another iconic American fast-food chain.

Wendy's officially rolled out its own new line of "Saucy Nuggs" on June 3 after a lengthy two-year development period. The burger chain's take on the saucy nugget concept is practically identical to KFC's, as both feature classic chicken nuggets coated in the customer's choice of sauce.

But does one of these chains serve a superior saucy chicken nugget in spite of all the similarities? I recently set out to answer that question by trying both iterations in a tasting showdown.

The Method

In order to accurately determine whether Wendy's or KFC serves the better saucy nuggets, I made a point of trying every flavor available at both chains over the course of two days. KFC initially offered five Saucy Nugget varieties when they debuted in April: Honey Sriracha, Korean BBQ, Sticky Chicky Sweet 'n Sour, Nashville Hot, and Georgia Gold. KFC then tweaked its Saucy Nugget selection in June and currently only offers them in Honey Sriracha, Korean BBQ, and Honey BBQ flavors. Meanwhile, Wendy's Saucy Nuggs come in a whopping seven flavors: Honey BBQ, Spicy Honey BBQ, Garlic Parm, Spicy Garlic Parm, Buffalo, Spicy Buffalo, and Spicy Ghost Pepper.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

A saucy nugget would have all the best qualities of a boneless chicken wing in my ideal world, from the crispy coating to the flavorful sauce and juicy interior. Though there were things I liked and disliked about the versions from both Wendy's and KFC, one chain emerged as the clear winner in the saucy nugget rivalry.

Read on for my reviews of the saucy nuggets at both chains, followed by my verdict on the taste test victor!

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KFC

All of KFC's Saucy Nuggets are made with hand-breaded crispy chicken nuggets tossed in the customer's preferred sauce. The chain's Honey BBQ sauce is described as a smoky and tangy blend of brown sugar, honey, tomato, and secret spices, while the Honey Sriracha sauce combines red chili peppers, garlic, and honey. Meanwhile, the Korean BBQ sauce is a sweet and savory concoction with soy, garlic, sugar, and sesame. Eight-piece orders are currently selling for $6.09 at my local KFC in central New Jersey, though prices could vary.

The look: I was a bit disappointed to see how unevenly these nuggets were coated. Though the containers these came in all had a thick layer of shiny, syrupy sauce pooling at the bottom, both the Honey BBQ and Korean BBQ nuggets still had wide patches of chicken without any coating. The chicken pieces themselves, however, looked pretty enticing with a uniform layer of golden brown breading and some crispy edges visible here and there.

The taste: The taste wasn't much better than the look of these nuggets. I did appreciate that KFC uses real pieces of chicken rather than the ground meat typically found in fast-food nuggets. The breading also miraculously maintained a hint of its crispy texture despite the pools of sauce in each container. However, the flavors were a big miss in my book.

The Honey BBQ variety tasted more of sugar than anything else and would have benefitted greatly from more tanginess and smokiness to balance it out. The Honey Sriracha had a pleasant kick of spice and the sugar levels were thankfully a little more toned down, but I struggled to find any garlic or red chili pepper flavor. The Korean BBQ was by far the most palatable of the three because of the savory combination of soy, sesame, and garlic, but it was still way too cloying for me to fully enjoy. I don't see myself craving any of these nuggets again.

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Wendy's

There's one key difference that separates the spicy and non-spicy versions of Wendy's Saucy Nuggs. The spicy varieties (Spicy Honey BBQ, Spicy Buffalo, Spicy Garlic Parm, Spicy Ghost Pepper) are made with Wendy's Spicy Chicken Nuggets coated in their respective sauces, while the non-spicy varieties (Honey BBQ, Buffalo, Garlic Parm) are made with classic Crispy Chicken Nuggets and the same sauces as their spicy counterparts.

The Honey BBQ sauce is described as sweet and tangy with a touch of honey. The Buffalo sauce is vinegary and peppery with some buttery notes. The Garlic Parm sauce is flavored with parmesan, a little parsley, and four types of garlic. Finally, the Spicy Ghost Pepper sauce is a fiery red concoction that creates the "hottest nuggs" on Wendy's menu, according to the product description. Each six-piece order cost me $4.99.

The look: Wendy's Saucy Nuggs were piping hot when I picked them up and looked fresh and enticing. The sauces weren't nearly as thick as KFC's sauces and, thankfully, lacked that cloying, sticky quality. While there were some bare patches of un-sauced breading on both the Honey BBQ and Buffalo Saucy Nuggs, Wendy's did a much more even job of coating its nuggets overall.

The taste: While they're not completely flawless, there's a whole lot to like about Wendy's Saucy Nuggs. The burger chain's classic and spicy chicken nuggets are pretty darn tasty on their own, and its team has developed a really solid selection of sauces to complement them. The peppery, vinegary Buffalo sauce was sharp but balanced thanks to those buttery flavor notes. The Garlic Parm flavor was ultra-savory and almost more of a seasoning than a sauce, which helped the nuggets stay extra crispy. Though I would have preferred much less sweetness, the Honey BBQ sauce wasn't nearly as cloying or overpowering as KFC's version.

My favorite flavor of all was the Spicy Ghost Pepper. The nuggets were salty, crispy, a little buttery, and packed a delicious, nose drip-inducing kick. As someone with a pretty average spice tolerance, I'd put the heat levels at a five or six on a scale of one to 10.

The one thing that detracted from my experience was that the "Spicy Buffalo Saucy Nuggs" weren't spicier than the regular Buffalo Saucy Nuggs, so I suspect that I was given two non-spicy containers by mistake. However, I tried properly made Spicy Buffalo Saucy Nuggs in my initial review of the new menu items and did notice a difference in spice levels then.

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The Winner

If it wasn't pretty clear from my drastically contrasting reviews, Wendy's was my hands-down winner in this saucy nugget tasting experiment. I do typically prefer nuggets made with whole pieces of chicken, such as the ones served at KFC, over the ground meat nuggets served at Wendy's. However, the latter's flavors were better and more balanced in every way.

KFC's Honey BBQ, Korean BBQ, and Honey Sriracha are all great in concept, but that doesn't count for much if they're overwhelmed with sugar and not executed well. Wendy's, on the other hand, really focused on making tasty versions of familiar flavors like buffalo, garlic parmesan, and barbecue to pair with its tried and true chicken nuggets. Even after consuming an obscene number of chicken nuggets for this taste test, I couldn't stop going back for Saucy Nugg after Saucy Nugg.

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