Wilder Shaw / Cheapism
Though Hardee's isn't typically known for its chicken, that portion of the menu stands eight items high. The chain has rolled out some updated tenders, so I figured it was a good time to get in there and figure out how they stack up to the rest.
Want to know what to pick if you're ordering fried chicken at Hardee's? Here are all eight chicken items from Hardee's, ranked.
Related: I Tried 10 Fast-Food Chicken Sandwiches, and McDonald's Was the Worst
$2.79
There's a reason that so many chains have some sort of chicken tender snack wrap on their menu. They're cheap, easy to throw together, and you'd have to be a real bingbong to make them not taste good. Most of them are just a chicken tender wrapped in a flour tortilla with some sort of sauce. That's gonna hit the spot every time.
The spicy wrap at Hardee's features the "spicy" seasoning Hardee's offers, which is hardly even close to spicy, as well as some pickles, mayo, and lettuce. This is everything you need, right here. Salt, fat, acid, heat.
Related: The Single Best Menu-Item at 11 of the Biggest Fast-Food Chains
$2.79
As I mentioned above, I am not here to convict the Honey Mustard Tender Wrap of any crimes. I'm just a simple fella who loves ranch dressing. I'd love it if there was one thing to distinguish these two from one another besides the sauces.
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$5.39
I'll start with the positive: The tenders are decent. Not bad at all. The chicken has a nice fry on it, coated well in crunchy batter. As it goes with fast-food chicken beneath KFC and Popeyes' level, this isn't exactly the juiciest tender you'll ever have.
What confuses me is how this chicken is deserving of the name "Nashville Hot." There is barely a difference between these and the standard tenders. I can pick up a little bit of cayenne in the seasoning on this chicken, but it's negligible. Fans of the ever-trendy Nashville hot chicken will want to look elsewhere.
$5.59
Even visually, these are hard to tell apart. They're decent tenders. Get them this way or Nashville-style. Doesn't matter to me. Won't matter to you. They taste almost identical.
Related: I Tried 7 Burgers at Hardee's, and It Was Mostly a Waste of Time
$6.49
The same flavor heist is happening on the Nashville sandwich as it is on the tenders. At least this one looks more like Nashville-style visually, but it's just about impossible to pick up much spice, especially with this thick potato bun sucking up every bit of flavor.
It's still fried chicken, pickles, and mayo on a bun though, and that type of thing usually doesn't fail.
$7.19
It's nice that Hardee's bacon has solid, smoky flavor, but it ultimately doesn't matter when the strips are paper-thin, floppy strands of nothing. Mayo, lettuce, and tomato add a lot, but I wish the bacon was thicker and crunchier. That would go an extremely long way.
$6.39
It's not bad. It's not gross. It's not really much of anything. Hardee's might want to reconsider these potato buns. They're like insulation. Just two huge, thick pads that suck up any sort of bold flavors the sandwich might have going on. It's fine at best, but you're better off with tenders, which you can actually taste.
