Round up the napkins
Published Oct 17, 2025
Popeye’s
Popeye’s has made a number of menu innovations this year alone. There was a line of chicken wraps, which came out a few weeks ahead of the recently revived McDonald’s Snack Wrap. There was also an epic pickle menu, which had everything from a pickle-glazed chicken sandwich to pickle-infused lemonade. Most recently, the fast food chain graced its fans with a new iteration of its bone-in chicken wings, which can be prepared with any of three classic sauces or four new dry rubs.
To find out if they’re worth ordering in bulk for a football game (or for a solo lazy weeknight in), I took the liberty of tasting the entire collection to find out what’s worth the spend. Read on for my honest feedback, original photos and overall rankings. (P.S.: You can score 12 or 18 wings for $1 a piece if you order in October…just sayin’.)
Now, the chain’s bone-in wings start with an updated mild marinated base, featuring a blend of Louisiana-inspired seasonings. I tried one plain wing before sampling the sauces and dips to see how tasty they were on their own. The chicken was freshly fried, super savory and impeccably juicy. The skin was flavorful without being spicy, as it was still very well-seasoned. The batter also clung well to the meat. It was a touch greasy, but hey, it’s fried chicken.
Popeye’s Chicken Wing Sauces, Reviewed
Thai chili stans, this one’s for you. This Popeye’s wing sauce boasted a mild heat level that even spice newbies shouldn’t be too intimidated by. It also had a subtly fruity flavor that was garlicky and a touch sour. It coated the wings well and surprisingly didn’t make them soggy as quickly as the other two sauce options.
This number was the hottest of the sauces (although it wasn’t as intense as the ghost pepper rub…more on that later). I liked that it was a thick sauce with many dry spices and seasonings in it rather than a runny hot sauce. Because of this, it partially dried onto the wings and coated them without making them soggy out of the gate. The heat was more nuanced than the Buffalo rub, with smoky, peppery notes that didn’t have the butter element to round them out.
Popeye’s Chicken Dry Rubs, Reviewed
The first thing you’ll notice is its cheesy, herbaceous aroma. It certainly made me excited to dig in. The garlic was strong, but soft rather than pungent and sharp. The dried parsley made for a nice appearance that one might not expect from fast food wings. While they were tasty, I feel like part of the allure of garlic Parm wings is a creamy sauce, so you may miss that component. That said, the flavor you crave is undoubtedly still there.
As a sour stan, I’m a big fan of lemon-pepper anything. Here, the lemon flavor was very deep and bright, but I was hoping for more of an acidic high note. (Think preserved lemon versus fresh.) Even so, the woody, sharp black pepper shone through in every bite, simultaneously amplified and complemented by the citrusy base.
This new Popeye’s chicken wing option was certainly the hottest of the entire lineup. But it didn’t merely deliver spice for spice’s sake; its flavor was nuanced and subtle enough that I’d consider this dry rub essentially a hack for ordering spicy plain wings (as in dry wings fried in spicy marinade or breading rather than doused in spicy sauce). The heat built up and made me salivate between bites, tingling to an impressive peak I didn’t anticipate.
Does anyone else remember the discontinued Popeye’s Buffalo nuggets from the 2000s? My dad and I literally couldn’t stop ordering them when they first launched. They offered all the punch and tang of Buffalo sauce minus the mess, as the sauce was in the marinade instead of poured on the outside of the chicken, which helped it retain its crispness. This dry rub made me miss them even more. It was hot, lip-smackingly vinegary and balanced by a buttery note that honored its namesake.
