Burger King Announces New, Revamped Chicken Sandwich to Enter Fast Food Wars

Burger King was the one fast-food player that has been conspicuously absent from the chicken sandwich phase of the fast-food wars. However, that is all about to change. The fast-food company announced plans to finally make a big play in the chicken sandwich battle by taking the hand-breaded sandwich they have been testing in several markets to the national level. Burger King made the big announcement just a few days before McDonald's is set to launch its own wave of new chicken sandwiches.

Burger King claims their sandwich will be better than other chains' because it will the filet will be hand-breaded. "What if hand-breading were to chicken what flame-grilling is to burgers? That's been our guiding filter to bring a delicious chicken sandwich to guests in a way only BK can," Ellie Doty, chief marketing officer, Burger King North America, said in a statement on Wednesday. "We'll take the time to get it right and our guests will definitely taste the difference."

The company said it started working on the hand-breaded sandwich in 2019, around the time Popeyes' incredibly popular sandwich kicked off the chicken sandwich fixation among the fast-food chains. They started testing it in select markets in September 2020. Unlike McDonald's, Burger King did not set a specific launch date for the nationwide rollout because they don't want to "half a— the process." The sandwich will be available "later this year," is all the company teased.

You can get the sandwich with or without spicy breading. The sandwich has a "thick cut white meat chicken breast that is freshly breaded by hand for a bite that is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside," according to the company. The chicken is served on a potato bun with deli pickles and signature sauce. You can also add lettuce and tomato.

Burger King is owned by Restaurants Brands International, which also owns Popeyes. The company also owns Tim Hortons in Canada. Earlier this week, CEO Jose Cil teased "exciting product quality launches" in 2021, including "exciting new innovations at Popeyes that build on the culinary genius of the Chicken Sandwich," notes AJC.com.

Last month, McDonald's announced three chicken sandwiches that will be available nationwide on Feb. 24. The first is the basic Crispy Chicken Sandwich, which you can also get as a Deluxe Chicken Sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce, and mayonnaise. The third is the Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich, which adds a Spicy Pepper Sauce. On Thursday, McDonald's launched a website where customers could pay $5 for a sweatshirt, 7" vinyl single, and access to the sandwiches a day before everyone else. The package quickly sold out.