If you follow our food coverage, it’s no secret that I’m no fan of Burger King. In almost every ranking we conduct, from breakfast foods to french fries to cheeseburgers to chicken sandwiches, Burger King tends to hover near the bottom. And trust me, while it might seem like I have some weird vendetta against BK — I don’t! Each time we hit a ranking, I’m rooting for them, hard. I don’t want to be a Burger King hater, but I legitimately can’t understand how this chain restaurant continues to operate, especially with all the sub-par food they serve.
Having said that, Burger King has just dropped a new Whopper and… I’m pretty hyped for it! Will this finally be the sandwich that wins me over (to be fair, the Ch’King sandwich is legitimately good, far from the best chicken sandwich in fast food, but good) or will it be yet another menu item that astounds me in its tastelessness?
We ordered the Ghost Pepper Whopper to find out. The Ghost Pepper Whopper will be available at Burger King restaurants nationwide for a limited time and seems to be themed around Halloween — so we don’t expect this one to last until the end of the year. Here is what to expect!
The Ghost Pepper Whopper
Price: $8.99
Tasting Notes:
While I approached the Ghost Pepper Whopper with genuine excitement, that excitement was tinged with a bit of skepticism. The OG Whopper, as iconic to the Burger King brand as it is, is not a great burger. It’s overcooked, charred to the point of tasting burnt, and dry as gravel. Biting into a Whopper just isn’t an enjoyable experience so my hope going into the Ghost Pepper was that it remedied some of those issues.
Well, I’m happy to say it has!
The build of the Ghost Pepper Whopper consists of a single 1/4 pound hamburger patty topped with Ghost Pepper cheese, bacon, crispy fried jalapeños, and queso sauce on a toasted orange and black sesame bun. The bun is a bit too dense and dry, this burger deserves brioche, but everything else is pretty much on point. The combination of beef and bacon provides a lot of smokey meaty savoriness while the spicy trio of fried jalapeños, ghost pepper cheese, and queso sauce deliver a bouquet of spicy sensations that tickle the tongue and water the mouth.
I’m not sure what they’re putting in this queso sauce, but it tastes hot with a savory and salty flavor that helps to offset some of the heat from the jalapeños and ghost pepper cheese. The burger is so hot that the grease is enough to inject the bun with its own sense of heat. I took a few pinches off the bun to see what it tasted like on its own — it has a strong cheddar-like sharpness — and was surprised when it started to burn my lips from the transferred burger grease. The Ghost Pepper cheese is good, it has a strong spice to it but doesn’t melt adequately, which makes me question the quality. Still, I can’t commend BK enough on those spicy fried jalapeños. They’re spicy, crunchy, and pack so much flavor that they deserve to be a side-order option alongside the fries and onion rings. Put these on everything, Burger King, and you might just save your menu!
The only weak points of this burger are the bun and unfortunately, the beef, but there are enough sensations going on in each bite to make up for the dryness. If Burger King stepped up their beef game, it’d have a real contender for best spicy burger in fast food. As it stands, this is pretty good, borderline great.
The Bottom Line:
Pleasantly surprised that Burger King has finally dropped a sandwich that justifies the existence of the Whopper. This is by far BK’s best burger on the menu, it’s a shame that it’s only available for a limited time.
Find your nearest Burger King here.