Bottom Line: Bacon Cajun Ranch McCrispy from McDonald’s delivers a satisfying chicken sandwich with some good Cajun flavor and a kick of heat.
The Chicken Sandwich Wars have not cooled down yet, and even though McDonald’s has been doing well so far with its McCrispy sammies, that chain is not resting on its laurels. The Golden Arches has launched the Bacon Cajun Ranch McCrispy which piles all sorts of tasty things on their premium chicken sandwich and also delivers a kick. Here is the official description from the website:
The Bacon Cajun Ranch McCrispy is stacked with a southern-style fried chicken fillet and bold, applewood smoked bacon. Then, it’s topped with crispy and cool crinkle-cut pickles and finished with a creamy Cajun ranch sauce on the top and bottom of a warm, toasted potato roll.
This also comes in a “deluxe” version which subs in shredded lettuce and tomatoes for the pickles, and I opted for that one.
The chicken is breaded well and cooked through. The crust is not very crispy, but it still delivers some good texture and it is well seasoned. It is pretty obvious that McDonald’s is targeting the Chick-fil-A crowd with these sammies, and they come pretty close to that chain’s product. The chicken patty I got was a little dry in the center, but still quite edible which is certainly preferable to being overly greasy.
The bacon delivers some saltiness and a hint of smoke. It is rather plentiful, so bacon lovers should enjoy it. The lettuce and tomato bring some freshness, though there is way too much of the former and shreds fall out with every bite. The sauce has the tang you expect from Ranch along with a nice, Cajun kick. I am not a big fan of Ranch, but I really liked this and it amps up the sandwich, though it may be too heavy on the salt for some. The potato bun is pretty standard, but it holds things together well enough.
The sauce by itself has some heat, approaching Medium on my scale. But combined with everything else, the sandwich comes up to a little above Mild, though some bites are hotter if you get more sauce. And my lips were tingling when I was done, so you will know that you ate something with some heat. The version with pickles might end up closer to the Medium side of the scale because the lettuce and tomatoes in the deluxe sandwich do offset the burn to a degree.
Nutrition-wise, this new McCrispy comes in at 630 calories which is a bit on the high side for a fast food item (the non-deluxe version is slightly lower at 580 cals). A medium order of fries (and you know you’re going to get some fries) tacks on another 380 cals which gets you over one thousand total. So you better plan some time in the gym to do penance after this meal. And this sandwich is pretty high on the sodium at 1530mg.
This latest version of the McCrispy is on loan from Limited-Time-Only-Ville and it sells for $6.69 in my area or $10.29 for the combo with fries and a drink (the non-deluxe is eighty cents cheaper). It makes for a pretty satisfying sandwich with a nice Cajun kick and McDonald’s has done well with its latest line of premium poultry products. If you don’t feel like waiting in that long line at Chick-fil-A, you can generally get in and out of the Golden Arches pretty quickly, and their chicken sandwiches hold up pretty well in comparison.
Nutrition Info:
Calories: 630
Fat: 33g (7g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 33g
Carbs: 51g
Sodium: 1520mg