Burger King Is Testing Out Fiery Nuggets

Burger King's legacy goes beyond Whoppers and crowned mascots. It also includes Crown Nuggets and other varieties of breaded chicken pieces. Decades before nuggets sparked the finger food fight that arguably replaced the chicken sandwich wars, they were already part of the long-running competition between BK and McDonald's. In the 1980s, Burger King released chicken tenders to compete against the McNugget, capitalizing on a chicken trend that The Washington Post referred to in a headline as "Nugget Mania."

Since then, the fast food chain has offered different forms of nuggets. In 2011, its crown-shaped version got replaced by a more traditional-looking option (via the South Florida Business Journal). A decade later, the crowns came back to a limited number of locations temporarily. Last year, Burger King also tried out plant-based chicken nuggets and sold Ghost Pepper Nuggets for the fall, according to a press release. Now there is a new spicy nugget entering the chat that is reportedly being tested out in at least one location.

Burger King is trying out new Fiery Nuggets in Chicago, according to Youtuber The Fat Hipster, who has a video reviewing them. They boast a "triple pepper spicy glaze," and in an interview with Chew Boom, the YouTuber described it as "an oily spicy glaze similar to Nashville Hot style," except not as hot. While this version doesn't seem very fiery to him, he called it the "best tasting reformed chicken nugget variation I've ever had."

In a Reddit thread, fans of the fast-food chain were excited about the possible return of a spicy nugget option. One commenter wrote, "Man I would love for these to come back. Their last spicy ones were good and cheap" while another said, "I went out of my way for those sooooo many times." In his review, The Fat Hipster said that in the past, he's "never been truly overly impressed by the seasoning and flavor of a Burger King chicken nugget." But this time, the taste "overwhelmed" him in a good way. The first bite reminded him of "almost like a fried chicken place like Popeyes." He said it had lots of herbs and spices with additional "spicy spices" turned up a notch. However, as of this writing, it's not clear how many locations are offering this item or if there are plans for a national rollout.