Introduction
If you’re a fan of fast-food chicken, you’ve probably noticed that some of your favorite menu items have disappeared over the years. From KFC’s Double Down to Burger King’s Chicken Fries, some of the most beloved chicken dishes have been discontinued. In this article, we’ll take a look at 8 discontinued fast-food chicken dishes that you’ll never see again. We’ll also provide some healthier alternatives that you can enjoy instead. So, if you’re feeling nostalgic for some of your favorite fast-food chicken dishes, read on to find out what you’re missing out on.
8 Discontinued Fast-Food Chicken You’ll Never See Again
Fast-food restaurants come and go, but some of the most beloved chicken dishes have been discontinued over the years. From KFC’s Double Down to Burger King’s Chicken Fries, here are 8 discontinued fast-food chicken dishes you’ll never see again.
1. KFC Double Down
KFC’s Double Down was a sandwich that featured two pieces of fried chicken as the “buns” with bacon, cheese, and the Colonel’s secret sauce in between. It was a hit when it was released in 2010, but it was discontinued in 2013 due to its high fat and calorie content.
2. Burger King Chicken Fries
Burger King’s Chicken Fries were a popular menu item when they were released in 2005. The fries were made with white-meat chicken and were shaped like french fries. They were discontinued in 2012, but Burger King brought them back in 2015 due to popular demand.
3. McDonald’s McPizza
McDonald’s McPizza was a pizza-like sandwich that featured a chicken patty, cheese, and tomato sauce. It was released in the late 1980s, but it was discontinued in the early 1990s due to slow sales.
4. Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich was a popular menu item when it was released in the late 1990s. The sandwich featured a spicy chicken patty, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. It was discontinued in the early 2000s due to slow sales.
5. KFC Hot Wings
KFC’s Hot Wings were a popular menu item when they were released in the late 1990s. The wings were made with a spicy breading and were served with a side of ranch dressing. They were discontinued in the early 2000s due to slow sales.
6. Burger King Chicken Tenders
Burger King’s Chicken Tenders were a popular menu item when they were released in the late 1990s. The tenders were made with white-meat chicken and were served with a side of honey mustard sauce. They were discontinued in the early 2000s due to slow sales.
7. McDonald’s McChicken BLT
McDonald’s McChicken BLT was a sandwich that featured a chicken patty, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. It was released in the late 1990s, but it was discontinued in the early 2000s due to slow sales.
8. Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Nuggets
Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Nuggets were a popular menu item when they were released in the late 1990s. The nuggets were made with a spicy breading and were served with a side of ranch dressing. They were discontinued in the early 2000s due to slow sales.
Chicken is big business for fast-food restaurants. Look no further than the recent so-called Chicken Sandwich Wars that pitted one chain against another in a bid to create the best-selling, market-cornering fast-food chicken sandwich of 2020, according to Restaurant Business. Chains including Popeyes, KFC, Fatburger, and others all released new chicken sandwiches over the course of a few frenzied months, both creating and then responding to a frenzy of public interest.
And if you prefer some stats, consider these: Chicken McNuggets are the fourth best-selling menu item at McDonald’s. Nuggets are the fourth best-seller at Wendy’s, while the Chicken Power Bowl is currently #1 on the menu at Taco Bell, via Fast Food Nutrition. And according to Statista, chicken-centric fast-food chain Chick-fil-A saw systemwide sales topping $13.7 billion in 2020, the most recent year for which complete data was available.
All those upbeat chicken stats aside, there’s no such good news for the eight menu items featured here, for these fast-food chicken menu items have been discontinued for good. (Plus, if you’re in the mood for a burger, these are the 8 Worst Fast-Food Burgers to Stay Away From Right Now.)
A huge hit when they came out in 2004, McDonald’s Chicken Selects nonetheless didn’t quite last a decade—they were pulled from the menu in 2013, according to Business Insider. As a replacement for these upscale takes on the McNugget, McD’s added Buttermilk Crispy Tenders a few years later, though those too are off the menu at least for now, having disappeared during the pandemic, which caused infamous chicken shortages far and wide.
Sign up for our newsletter!
Chick-fil-A canceled their Chicken Quesadilla not because it wasn’t tasty and rather popular, but because it did not hit a particular and all-important fast-food restaurant mark: it couldn’t be made fast enough. So while a Chick-fil-A quesadilla might have been a delight, it’s now a mere memory. Don’t worry, the Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich will live forever.
At the risk of editorializing, this is a canceled fast-food menu item that needed to be gone for good. The KFC Double Down was a “sandwich” wherein the buns were actually slabs of fried chicken, and between said slabs were bacon, cheese, and a sauce. Perhaps keto-friendly, this approximation of a sandwich was generally a horror show, and it packed in 37 grams of fat.
Taco Bell’s Spicy Chicken Crunchwrap Supreme was on the menu for less than half a decade, having been available from 2006 to 2010, reports Change.org. But in those scant few years, this hefty, filling fast-food menu item found fans aplenty, such that people were still calling for its return nearly a decade after it had been discontinued.
RELATED: We Tasted Every Taco at Taco Bell & This Is the Best
The McD’s Snack Wrap was about as healthy of bite as you could get from the fast-food chain that would genuinely fill you up some. Snack Wraps had chicken, cheese, and fresh veggies rolled up in a tortilla. They were cheap, tasty, portable, and popular. But they were canceled in 2016, and despite rumors of their return, these wraps are gone without any indication from McDonald’s that they will ever return.
According to Chew Boom, in early 2021, Burger King introduced a few new chicken sandwich options, like the new Ch’King Sandwich and Spicy Ch’King Sandwich. But in so doing, they also dropped their standard Chicken Sandwich and Spicy Chicken Sandwich, to the chagrin of many. To make things confusing, BK does also offer an “Original Chicken Sandwich,” which has a different shape and ingredient list than that canceled Chicken Sandwich.
RELATED: We Tried Every Burger at Burger King & This Is the Best
In the early 2000s, perhaps to compete with the popular McDonald’s Dollar Menu (in fact almost assuredly to compete with this low-cost menu), KFC added the KFC Snacker to its menu. It was a small, simple chicken sandwich: a soft bun, some mayo, and some fried chicken and that’s it. But it was a true fan favorite, and people were crestfallen when it was discontinued about a decade ago. But according to Food Beast, the subsequent addition of Chicken Littles was a decent stand-in.
So much for a slightly healthier fast-food sandwich option. McDonald’s dropped the Grilled Chicken Sandwich off its menu in March of 2020, according to Business Insider. And what was taking hold in March of 2020? Right, the pandemic. Also cut at that same time were salads and the chain’s beloved all-day breakfast menu.
READ MORE: 12 Discontinued Fast-Food Sauces You’ll Never See Again