Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane's, Popeyes, KFC, and Church's Chicken are recognized for using real, whole-muscle chicken (not processed paste) in their tenders, fillets, and nuggets. These chains often use breast meat without fillers, focusing on fresh, hand-battered, or hand-breaded options.
For fast food with real chicken, look to places like Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, Raising Cane's, Zaxby's, and KFC, which emphasize 100% chicken breast meat, often fresh, with no fillers, artificial preservatives, or added hormones in the US. Other options include Dairy Queen (white meat tenderloin) and Shake Shack, but always check ingredient lists as some chains, even those using real chicken, might add extra proteins or starches to breading.
McDonald's Chicken McNuggets® are made with all white meat chicken and no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. The chicken, which is cut from the tenderloin, breast and rib, gets mixed with a marinade for flavor and to help the Chicken McNuggets® keep their fun shapes.
Simply delicious. The chicken in our McNuggets® is 100% chicken breast – chopped into small pieces in order to make it easier to shape and eat. In our restaurants, each Chicken McNugget® is cooked by our teams until perfectly crisp and then served nice and hot. Just the way a Chicken McNugget® should be eaten.
Our suppliers hatch, raise and harvest chickens in the United States, and we only source chicken from suppliers that meet the following welfare standards. We believe that chickens should be treated humanely, from hatch to harvest, when they are well and when they are ill.
Burger King does use poultry along with additives meant to preserve quality and enhance flavor. But, other add-ins like isolated oat product act as a filler.
McDonald's McNuggets offer quality protein in the form of chicken breast but they're also high in sodium, which the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting. While McNuggets can fit into a nutritious eating pattern, lean protein sources with less fat and sodium are better choices.
It supplies Yum! Brands chains that use chicken, including KFC and Taco Bell, as well as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Walmart, Kroger, IGA, Beef O'Brady's, small restaurant businesses, and prisons.
Yes, there are ongoing calls for KFC boycotts in the UK, primarily from pro-Palestinian activists due to its operations in Israel and perceived support for Israel, alongside longstanding boycotts related to animal welfare and sourcing practices, though KFC UK emphasizes sourcing from British/Irish farms. While not on the official BDS list, some consumers target KFC, similar to McDonald's, in broader economic actions related to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Burger King, which had more than 500 fast food outlets in Ireland and the UK at the time, dropped Silvercrest as a supplier, using suppliers in Germany and Italy instead, after horse meat was found in their supply chain.
For fast food with real chicken, look to places like Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, Raising Cane's, Zaxby's, and KFC, which emphasize 100% chicken breast meat, often fresh, with no fillers, artificial preservatives, or added hormones in the US. Other options include Dairy Queen (white meat tenderloin) and Shake Shack, but always check ingredient lists as some chains, even those using real chicken, might add extra proteins or starches to breading.
Nutritionist Mhairi Brown said: "It's difficult to say which one is healthier, because ultimately we know a burger is not a healthy choice." Instead of beef, the Impossible Whopper patty is made from ingredients including soy protein, potato protein, coconut oil, sunflower oil, soy leghemoglobin (containing heme), and ...
Despite this, Burger King joins the list of restaurants that aren't using 100% chicken in its offerings. Burger King's nuggets and chicken fries have the longest list of ingredients.
