McDonald's Chicken McBites

I first heard of McDonald's Chicken McBites back in the fall of 2010 when they were being served in Australia. They looked pretty good but I put them out of my mind; most items from fast food chains that appear in other countries never make it to America. Then last spring I read a story that Chicken McBites were being tested in Detroit and would eventually be released all over the country. Yesterday was the day they came to my town and I had to try them.

I've liked popcorn chicken for more than twenty years. The first I ever remember having were at KFC back when it was actually called Kentucky Fried Chicken. Those were basically just breaded and fried pieces of chicken skin with very little actual meat on them. I loved them. Since then I've had popcorn chicken at dozens of places, some better than others. I was curious to see how McDonald's handled it.

The McBites are offered in three sizes: snack, regular and shareable. I ordered the latter, figuring Elizabeth would like to share them with me when I got home.

I paid for the McBites at the first window and, when asked what kind of sauce I wanted, replied "hot mustard." At the second window I was given the snack-size box. "I paid five bucks and change," I said, "I definitely should be getting a bigger size than this."

She asked for my receipt and then disappeared for a few minutes before returning with the proper size. And sweet 'n sour sauce.

Whatever. That's why I keep a strategic reserve of McDonald's sauces at home. 

The box was only about 75% full. Not that I was surprised by this. 

I'm not sure how necessary the directions are.

I elected to use the sweet 'n sour and hot mustard sauces, since a reader shared with me a few months ago that mixing the two with McNuggets is a nice flavor combination.

The pieces range in size from tiny crumbs at the bottom of the container to larger pieces about half the size of a McNugget. And they were surprisingly good. Certainly better than McNuggets, because almost all of the pieces were crispy and had plenty of crunch to them. These are light years ahead of KFC's popcorn chicken and just as good as the popcorn chicken at Popeyes. (I did not expect to ever have an item at McDonald's that was even half as good as a comparable item at Popeyes.)

The two of us finished the container. Not surprisingly, I preferred the McBites with the hot mustard sauce.

These are the best thing I can ever remember having from McDonald's. True, that's not really a hard list to top, but still, these Chicken McBites were worth the wait.