Jimmy John's Firecracker Wrap Review: A Unique And Unusually Bold Fast Food Wrap

For the summer of 2024, Jimmy John's introduced a brand new sandwich called the Firecracker Wrap. Limited-time menu items that revolve around purportedly high levels of spice have become something of a chain restaurant trend in recent years. Examples range from Dunkin's 2020 Spicy Ghost Pepper Donut, to Burger King's Trick or Heat Meal, which debuted on a Friday the 13th in October 2023. That contained a Ghost Pepper Whopper as well as Ghost Pepper Chicken Fries.

It's not just spice, but two factors working in harmony to make this new Jimmy John's menu item unique: heat and crunch. While the wrap contain multiple spice-centric components, one of those is portion of spicy potato chips included within the sandwich. Not only is the Firecracker Wrap meant to appeal to heat seekers, but proponents of chips as a sandwich ingredient. For anyone interested in trying or learning more about the Jimmy John's Firecracker Wrap, here's a rundown of the item as well as my personal review after I tried one for myself.

Even at a glance, the Firecracker Wrap looks different from the other wraps that are offered full-time on the Jimmy John's menu. That's because its ingredients are housed within a red jalapeño tortilla that's been colored an eye-catching shade of red. The meat within that colorful tortilla is a duo of salami and turkey. What makes the wrap spicy beyond its jalapeño tortilla is a combination of ghost pepper cheese, the chain's proprietary Jimmy Peppers, and crushed Firecracker Jimmy Chips, a spicy potato chip flavor that Jimmy John's tailor-made for its summertime wrap.

Rounding out its list of ingredients is a standard combination of lettuce, onions, tomato, Hellmann's mayo, garlic aioli, oil, and vinegar. Of course, like virtually every sandwich at Jimmy John's, it's possible to customize the Firecracker Wrap with a variety of meats, cheeses, vegetables and sauces.

Since Jimmy John's locations are operated by franchisees and not a single corporate owner, prices can vary depending on location. My Firecracker Wrap order at a Jimmy John's in Henderson, Nevada, near Las Vegas, totaled $10.49 before tax. In comparison, a location in Brooklyn offers the Firecracker Wrap à la carte for $12.99 before tax. On the slightly lower end of the spectrum, a franchise in Duluth, Minnesota prices the wrap at $9.59. As a general rule, then, the item should come out to somewhere in the ballpark of $10.00.

It's also possible to order the Firecracker Wrap as part of either a standard combo — which includes a side and a drink for anywhere from about $3.00 to $5.00 extra — or a limited-time combo called the Firecracker Feast. The latter pairs the Firecracker Wrap with a standalone bag of Firecracker Jimmy Chips, a 22-ounce fountain drink, and a Confetti Cookie Sandwich. The Firecracker Feast costs just over $15.00 in both Henderson and Duluth. It appears to be unavailable in the New York City area, so this all-inclusive summer combo may not be universal to all Jimmy John's locations.

The limited-time Firecracker Wrap became available on the Jimmy John's menu starting May 20, 2024. Limited-time wraps are nothing new for the sandwich chain — in 2022, Jimmy's John's served up a seasonal summer Thai Chicken Wrap from June 13 to August 1.

As of its debut, there's no end date for the Firecracker Wrap. A press release circulated by the restaurant's corporate owner, Inspire Brands, simply reads that it will persist "while supplies last." If we use the Thai Chicken Wrap's availability as precedent, the Firecracker Wrap could last through mid-July into August, assuming a similar window of about two months. It's also worth noting that we're assuming a standalone bag of Firecracker Jimmy Chips and the seasonal Confetti Cookie Sandwich will also remain on the menu during roughly the same timeframe as the Firecracker Wrap.

Three items are currently part of the full-time Jimmy John's wrap menu: a Chicken Caesar Wrap, a Jalapeño Ranch Chicken Wrap, and a Tuscan Italian Wrap. Each of those revolves around a distinct mix of ingredients that delivers on the item's name. Each wrap shares its outer tortilla in common — one uses a regular flour wrap while the other two come standard in a garlic & herb wrap — as well as a blend of lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Meanwhile, virtually any sandwich on the menu can be ordered in wrap form with either of those two kinds of tortillas.

The two elements that most immediately differentiate the Firecracker Wrap are its red jalapeño tortilla, ghost pepper cheese, and the chips within. Each of these are new to the Jimmy John's menu as of the item's debut. It's also noteworthy that none of the three full-time wraps include turkey, unlike the Firecracker Wrap. Otherwise, the vegetables and sauces that accompany it are on at least one, if not all of the standard wraps. It's likewise possible to customize the Firecracker Wrap, utilizing the same range of options available to anyone ordering one of the year-round options.

In its standard wrap form, the Firecracker Wrap contains 1000 calories. The Jimmy John's online menu lists the item with a caloric value ranging from 690 to 1000 — the former number refers to its Unwich form, which forgoes a tortilla for leaves of lettuce.

As of the item's May 20 release, Jimmy John's has yet to update its nutritional info guidelines to include the Firecracker Wrap. However, it does provide data for the red jalapeño tortilla on its own, which consists of 8 grams of fat (3 of which are saturated fat), 720 grams of sodium, 52 carbs, 2 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar, and 7 grams of protein. Of course, ingredients like potato chips and salami should increase those numbers significantly. Ultimately, like virtually all fast food items, the Firecracker Wrap is an indulgence. It at least includes solid servings of protein and veggies compared to plenty of competing fast food items.

Upon first bite, what's most apparent about the Firecracker Wrap is that the Firecracker Jimmy Chips are its most prominent component. That's a good thing, both because the chips taste great and the crunch they add to the sandwich is distinctly satisfying. While those chip pieces may become a little soggy from the sauces in the wrap, they would remain a bold addition to the wrap's flavor as well as its combination of textures.

The Firecracker Wrap's level of spiciness falls firmly in a middle ground — it's noticeable but not challenging, at least for spice lovers. Its spiciest component is its ghost pepper cheese, which is considerably hotter than what's typically served at fast food restaurants. Combined with all of the wrap's other ingredients, however, the cheese's spice level is dulled — which could be good or bad depending on your preference.

Most importantly, the Firecracker Wrap is tasty and well-composed. The sauce and salami, which add rich, garlicky, and fatty flavors, complement the spicy potato chip flavor at the sandwich's core. Texture-wise, a relatively firm tortilla, crunchy veggies, and soft meats all combine nicely with the potato chips. Altogether, this is a genuinely great chain restaurant sandwich that's capable of appealing to many customers without sacrificing uniqueness.

In order to assess the Firecracker Wrap, I ordered the item à la carte at the Jimmy John's closest to my home. After trying a few bites of one half as it's intended to be eaten, I opened it up and tasted most of its individual components in isolation so I could learn precisely what each ingredient contributed to the wrap as a whole. The second half of the sandwich I ate without dissecting.

My opinions are based on this single Jimmy John's trip. Past experiences with the chain were not a factor in this review.