Bottom Line: Buffalo Wild Wings delivers an always good chicken sandwich with plenty of sauces to choose from and at a competitive price.
What’s to eat? Chicken, chicken, and more chicken! The good news on that is restaurants know how to spice it up quite well so that we are plenty pleased with their poultry offerings. And one place that rarely disappoints when it comes to spicy chicken is Buffalo Wild Wings. That chain has been trying to get a footing in the Chicken Sandwich Wars and previously launched a salvo with its Classic Chicken Sandwich deal (more on that here). Now they have a twist on that with their Saucy Chicken Sandwich (which is obviously–to me at least–an attempt to riff on the Wingstop “Sauced and Tossed” Sandwich which is selling quite well).
This “new” sandwich is basically existing ingredients from the kitchen jazzed up with a fancy name by some marketing genius. It includes the following:
Hand-breaded, deep-fried chicken filet. Always reliable at BWW.
Pickles. Pucker up for the expected chicken sammy add-on.
Challah bun. Holla for the Challah!
And your choice of their 26 signature sauces. So many to choose from . . .
At BWW, I typically go with the Blazin’ sauce because it is the hottest and best-tasting Buffalo sauce among the chains as far as I am concerned (more on that here). But it was lunchtime and I didn’t necessarily want my stomach on fire all afternoon (and it would be!), plus I wanted something a little different, so I went with the Jammin’ Jalapeno sauce which is one of their hotter choices (not as hot as Blazin’, though).
The chicken breast filet on this sandwich is decent-sized but definitely smaller than Popeyes which has set the bar in the Chicken Sandwich Wars. It has a good meat-to-breading ratio, though the crust is not crispy at all (sort of like KFC original recipe). The meat was also a bit dry, but that may have been a one-time thing because I have had good-and-juicy chicken sandwiches from BWW in the past.
The sauce has a nice sweetness, similar to a Teriyaki sauce but not quite as strong on the Asian flavors. If you have ever had Jalapeno jam, consider this a combination of that and Teriyaki. The pickles add the expected tang but kind of get lost in the mix with this sauce. They would go better with a Buffalo-type sauce like the Wild or Blazin’. This sandwich is quite messy since they put the sauce on afterward, so don’t try eating this while driving and have plenty of napkins close by. The Challah bun holds it all together quite well, but I don’t know that it is much different than the standard sandwich bun.
As for the heat, it hits right away and starts at the Medium level while working its way up to Hot. After a few bites, you definitely need a drink or something to cool the fire in your mouth. This is one of my favorite BWW sauces, but it appears to be an acquired taste because I have found others I have visited the restaurant with have not been as excited about it. If you don’t like a sweet sauce, this one may not be for you, but I like it because it delivers a good balance of sweet and heat. If I was stopping by BWW at dinner, I would probably get the Blazin’ sauce instead which would pair quite well with an ice-cold beer.
Calorie-wise, the sandwich itself comes in at 500 cals, but that is before pouring on the sauce. The Jammin’ Jalapeno adds about 180 cals because it is high in sugar (but hey, it’s fat free!), so that gets your tally up to 680. If you get the combo, those fries tack on another 420 calories, so reserve some time on the treadmill for penance.
The sandwich itself will run you $5.99 (price may vary, especially if you live in New York or California), but you can get the combo with fries for $8.29. And while that may not be the best for your beltline, it’s a heck of a deal for a sandwich of this quality and compares quite well to what the fast food joints are charging. There is no telling how long this version of the chicken sandwich will be on the BWW menu, but seeing as these are all standard ingredients for the restaurant, you should always be able to order it at any time. It just may cost more when not on special. But the deal is definitely worth the money and BWW has plenty of sauces to choose from that bring the heat.
Tale of the Tape
Chicken Sandwich
Calories: 500
Fat: 19g (8g Sat/1g Trans)
Protein: 30g
Carbs: 53g
Sodium: 1210mg
Jammin’ Jalapeno Sauce (2 oz)
Calories: 180
Fat: 0g (0g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 0g
Carbs: 40g
Sodium: 1360mg