Bottom Line: The Buffalo Chicken Dip Bites from Sonic don’t deliver much heat, but they offer a tasty and fun snack with a bit of a zing.
I haven’t done any reviews of items from Sonic on this site up until now because . . . well . . . they don’t have too much in the way of spicy offerings on their menu apart from the occasional limited-time-only selections. They cook up a decent fast food burger, and if you add jalapenos it has a nice kick. But beyond that, they don’t have much to choose from among their regular selections, not even a spicy chicken sandwich. But just recently, they added the Buffalo Chicken Dip Bites so I decided to drive in to “America’s Drive In” and give those a try.
These are basically what the name suggests which is Buffalo chicken dip wrapped up in little bites. They have chicken, buffalo sauce, and “melty cheddar cheese” which is stuffed into a “crispy, golden-brown wrapper” and then fried. Sounds completely unhealthy but definitely tasty! There are five in an order and “bite” is the right description because you get two or maybe three bites from each. (Or if you are really hungry, each one is gone in a chomp!)
The “crispy, golden-brown wrapper” is somewhere between a tortilla and the crust of an empanada, and it holds these together quite well. It has a good chew to it and it is not over-fried. Each of the bites has a decent amount of chicken inside which is tender and flavorful. You get a good Buffalo sauce zing from these and the “melty cheese” seems similar to cream cheese with just a little bit of a cheddar sharpness as well. There’s no sauce to go along with the bites and they don’t really need it because . . . well . . . the dip is already inside!
Heat-wise these don’t deliver much burn which is what I have come to expect from Sonic. They barely get to Mild on my scale, and even those who don’t care for spicy foods can likely tolerate them. But if you add a few drops of Buffalo or Louisiana sauce, that works quite well and kicks these bites up to about Medium (depending on the heat level of the sauce you use). That goes better with them than a Ranch or a bleu cheese sauce, and I rather enjoyed the bites with the bottle of Texas Pete I had on hand. (Which is a Louisiana-style hot sauce with Texas in its name that is made in North Caroline. Go figure.)
As for the calories, an order of five comes up to only 280 cals which makes them pretty much a side order (Sonic refers to them as a snack). Of course, I’m not getting out of that place without the tater tots with cheese (I’ll have a side with my side), and a medium order of those tacks on another 450 cals. That’s not terrible for the drive thru, but small order (310 cals) is probably the better way to go.
These are of course only available for a limited time as is typically the case when Sonic puts something spicy on the menu. At $4.29 an order in my area, that’s a little pricey for the portion size, but I could still see myself ordering these again. In fact, I may try them with the Buffalo Sauced Jumbo Popcorn Chicken next to see if those bring some burn. My expectations are not high on the heat, but I will have plenty of bottles of hot sauce at the ready to kick them up.
Nutrition Info:
Serving Size: 5 Bites
Calories: 280
Fat: 14g (6g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 14g
Carbs: 25g
Sodium: 650mg