Bottom Line: The Diablo Chicken Sandwich from Arby’s is just as hot if not hotter than the Diablo Roast Beef and a heck of a good fast food option that really brings the burn!
I tried Arby’s Diablo Roast Beef sandwich and really rather enjoyed it (you can read that review here), so when I noticed that the Diablo sammies had not departed to Limited-Time-Only-Ville yet, I decided to snatch up the chicken sandwich version. I have been eating a lot of chicken lately because the restaurant industry has decided that poultry meat pairs well with spicy, and that was the reason that my first stab at the Arby’s Diablo sandwiches was with roast beef. But I was curious about the chicken as well and went ahead and gave it a try.
Here is the description that Arby’s gives for the Diablo Chicken Sandwich: Crispy Chicken with natural cheddar cheese, fiery seasoning, fire-roasted jalapeños, lettuce, and a Diablo BBQ sauce on a toasted red chipotle bun.
They use their normal crispy chicken breast which is a decent size piece of meat, though the filet I got was a bit on the dry side. Not that it mattered, though, because the sauce made up for that and paired quite well with the poultry. The cheddar cheese is a nice addition, as usually spicy chicken sandwiches pass on the fromage. The shredded lettuce is still overkill as bits of that fell out with each bite (no eating and driving with this one). Those diced jalapenos still don’t stand out taste-wise among the mix, but I am sure they are amping up the heat.
This actually seemed hotter than the roast beef version and I was tempted to reach for something to put out the fire. I don’t know if they put more sauce or seasoning or jalapeno bits on the sandwich as the burn started right away and this got really close to the Fiery heat level. But the tasty toppings along with that crispy chicken breast make for a darn good fast food sandwich that really sets your mouth on fire!
I got the Diablo Loaded Fries this time as well, but I opted for curly instead of crinkle cut. As I thought, those are not quite as good at holding the toppings since they are so thin, so stick with the crinkle cut on for the loaded fries. They did not offer me that small, vanilla “extingui-shake” this time around, so I guess the challenge portion of this has passed. But I still made it through the sandwich and fries without reaching for something to cool my mouth (even though I was tempted several times). I’m a professional, though, so you may not want to try this at home.
The Diablo Chicken Sandwich comes in at 520 calories which is 70 more than the roast beef version. That’s still not too bad for the drive thru, but those loaded fries pile on another 460 cals. So it will be a salad for the next meal if you go that route! I don’t know how much longer these Diablo sandwiches will be around, so you better go get one quick if you have not tried them yet. I’m hoping Arby’s will add them to the permanent menu, but you know how fast food chains love to play that here-today-gone-tomorrow game. So get one while you can.
Tale of the Tape:
Calories: 450
Fat: 20g (6g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 29g
Carbs: 55g
Sodium: 1750mg