Every once in a while, there is a new fast food dish that just stuns me into silence. I take a bite and then just sit for a few minutes, processing the questions running through my mind. “Why did they make this? Who is it for? What other ideas ended up on the cutting room floor so this could hit the menu? Why can’t they just listen to the fans and bring back whatever dish we’ve been complaining about not having?”
They’re not fun thoughts to have. But this is my lot in life as a food reviewer.
I want to bite into a new dish and go “WOW — I need to tell everyone about this!” It’s happened before. I was lucky enough to pick up a Popeyes Chicken Sandwich before the hype caused it to sell out. And I pinky swear that I wanted it to happen with KFC’s new Spicy Mac and Cheese Wrap. Desperately.
A piece of fried chicken wrapped in a tortilla with mac and cheese, a three-cheese blend, and spicy sauce? Get me high then sign me up!
But alas, that’s not what happened. Here is everything wrong with the Spicy Mac and Cheese KFC Wrap.
Spicy Mac & Cheese KFC Wrap
Tasting Notes and Thoughts:
As you can tell, this actual wrap doesn’t look even half as good as the press photos would suggest. I don’t even know where to begin here, this dish is just lazy. KFC takes a single extra crispy chicken strip, wraps it in a chalky, undercooked tortilla, adds a minimal amount of mac and cheese, douses it in sauce, and calls it a day. The quality control on this dish is horrendous, I took three bites until I got to the mac and cheese, but the flavor barely registered under the spicy sauce.
All it did was make the dish more mushy.
I’ll give the wrap this: the sauce is great — it has a cayenne pepper flavor with a creamy savory texture, and is a natural pair for the crispy chicken strip, which is also pretty good thanks to its tender texture, and black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder heavy flavor. Might have the makings of an incredible sandwich there.
But what is the draw in having it wrapped? Or adding mac & cheese?
The tortilla is a throwaway, and the amount of mac and cheese is so minimal it might as well not even be there. You’d be better served ordering chicken tenders with a side of mac and cheese. Then you can go nuts dipping the tenders in even more cheese than this wrap provides.
The real draw here is that it’s $5 for two wraps. But while that might seem like a great value, it’s actually not money well spent.
The Bottom Line:
Don’t order this. Not even if you love KFC’s chicken tenders and mac and cheese. Order those together as part of a combo if you want an adequate amount of both foods. Otherwise, you’re essentially just getting a chicken tender in a bad tortilla with an admittedly great tasting sauce.