pickles – Michael Eats

Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

Pickle-heavy fried chicken sandwiches are officially a thing at fast food joints. There was the Pickle Glaze Chicken Sandwich at Popeyes, the Pickle Sandwich at KFC, and now, the Triple Pickle McCrispy at McDonald’s.

I was a bit baffled as to what the hell is going on, so I Googled it, and apparently the pickle mania is a Gen Z thing. Sure, why not? I guess pickles have rizz. Am I using that right? They’re full of rizz? That seems right.

Here’s how the McDonald’s website describes the Triple Pickle McCrispy: “A crispy chicken patty – made with 100% Canadian-raised seasoned chicken – and shredded lettuce on a soft potato bun. But that’s only the beginning. Crispy dill pickle-seasoned cucumbers, our classic pickles and a generous spread of our all-new creamy dill pickle sauce. All together in a bold collision of pickle pickle pickle flavour.”

I enjoyed this. It is, indeed, very pickley, with a noticeable punch of pickle flavour. The sauce is slightly sweet and thoroughly zesty, and the fried pickles are basically like the crispy onions that McDonald’s occasionally uses, only… pickley. They’re tasty.

Between those two things and the standard McDonald’s pickle slices, it’s a lot of pickle — but in a satisfying way. This doesn’t just feel like a novelty. I’d get it again.

Location: 4559 Hurontario Street, Mississauga
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

The last time I had a pickle-themed fried chicken sandwich, it was the Pickle Glaze Chicken Sandwich from Popeyes, and it was legitimately one of the worst things I’ve ever eaten. So I won’t lie: I was a bit wary to try what KFC had cooked up.

Thankfully, KFC’s version of the pickle / fried chicken sandwich was actually pretty tasty. Which is a good thing, because they’re really going all in with the pickle-themed menu: they’re also serving Fried Pickle Chips (which I tried), Pickle Pepsi (???), and Loaded Pickle Fries.

The Pickle Sandwich, as per KFC’s menu: “KFC’s Pickle Sandwich is made for true pickle lovers—because there’s no such thing as too many pickles. Featuring our crispy, hand-breaded chicken, it’s topped with crunchy dill pickle chips, sweet bread and butter pickles, creamy mayo, and bold dill pickle seasoning—all on a toasted potato bun.”

It’s good! Maybe it was my rock-bottom expectations, but I liked everything about this. The pickle flavour is pronounced but not overwhelming, with a nice balance between the actual pickles, the crunchy fried pickles, and the punchy pickle seasoning. It seems like it should be too much pickle, but the pickle-explosion flavour contrasts well with the creamy mayo and the fried chicken (thankfully, I got lucky and got a piece of chicken that was hot and fresh).

I also tried the Fried Pickle Chips: “Made for serious pickle fans, crunchy & tangy Fried Pickle Chips topped with dill pickle seasoning and paired with dipping sauce.” I’m a fan of fried pickles in general, and this was a good version of the dish. Sometimes fried pickles come in spears, and that is incorrect — with the slices that they’re serving here, you get a much better ratio of crispy fried exterior to pickle interior.

It comes with a little tub of ranch for dipping, which seems like a missed opportunity for yet another pickle-themed component — but maybe that would officially tip over into too much pickle? Either way, the creamy ranch works quite well with the enjoyably crunchy, somewhat sweet fried pickle slices.

Tag: pickles

Triple Pickle McCrispy from McDonald’s

Pickle Sandwich and Fried Pickle Chips at KFC