McDonald's New McCrispy Strips Don't Stand Out From The Fast Food Fried Chicken Flock

One of fast food's biggest moments of 2025 is finally upon us: McDonald's McCrispy chicken strips are about to go live. The official national rollout date is on May 5, but some social media users have been reporting that McDonald's locations near them have started selling the product early. In fact, my local McDonald's even has them out now, with a three-piece going for $5.49 and a four-piece selling for $6.19. The last iteration of McDonald's chicken strips was its Buttermilk Crispy Tenders, which were discontinued in 2020 as part of a COVID menu restructuring.

I got a chance to preview the new McCrispy Strips last night at an event held at McDonald's corporate headquarters in downtown Chicago similar to the one I attended for the Chicken Big Mac. Just like everyone else who attended, I was curious to see how these things would fare. Would the McCrispy Strips be a Raising Cane's killer? And how would they fit into the ever-growing universe of chicken-based fast food products? After trying them, I can report that the new McCrispy Strips are perfectly tasty, but I'm not sure they're going to set the fast food world on fire.

One of the pet peeves I've frequently heard that people have with Raising Cane's is that its breading is relatively unseasoned (that might be why you can buy Cane's sauce in 32-ounce soda cups). But in the case of the new McCrispy Strips, that's a non-issue. The breading on these strips is salty and full of black pepper, which ensures a naked bite isn't terribly boring. As you can see by the cross-section above, it's not a ton of breading, but rather a thin layer encrusting the strip of whole muscle breast meat. 

The chicken itself isn't particularly interesting; it's not juicy, but it's also not dry. It's also a bit stringy and pulls apart in shreds sometimes rather than providing a clean bite. The McCrispy Strip is a far cry from a McNugget, that's for sure — a McNugget involves spongy emulsified meat in a tempura-style batter, while these are whole cuts of chicken breast that are coated in a more traditional fried chicken breading. If you're hoping McDonald's has reinvented the wheel, it hasn't. This isn't a particularly exciting product. But it's one that's sure to be reliable, and though I don't think this is going to land on anyone's top three, it provides McDonald's customers with an element of choice. 

I am going to note that these tenders do feel pretty "sophisticated" in terms of their seasoning (if that's even the right word), so they don't appear to be positioned to appeal to children or young teenagers. But as Gen Z continues to grow into the workforce and starts spending its own money, I think McDonald's is playing the long game, as it's been noted that Gen Z strongly prefers chicken over other meat.

The new McCrispy Strips didn't come completely naked. McDonald's also released a new permanent Creamy Chili dipping sauce to go with them. Though there's a minor spike in heat at the beginning along with visible flecks of red pepper, it's more bark than bite. I'd say the sauce leans into its creamy side (creamy being mayo-based) more than anything else. If that's not your thing, the full roster of McNugget sauces is also available; honey works well with them.

Overall, I would say the new McCrispy Strips are just fine, and it's nice to see that there's some actual flavor in the breading. And when it comes down to it, it's less about the McCrispy strips themselves, but the fact that McDonald's has set up an entirely new platform that will allow it to experiment with selling new dips, wraps, and who knows what else down the line. The long-rumored-to-be-returning Snack Wraps will likely use the McCrispy Strips as their base protein. The reps I interrogated last night remained tight-lipped about their release date; we just know from piecing evidence together that it's probably happening sometime this year.  

It does make me wonder, though: Once those Snack Wraps are out, what could McDonald's possibly bring back to drum up this kind of attention again? I mean, there is that massive Big Arch burger that's rumored to be coming out at some point. A lot is riding on these McCrispy Strips, so if I thought they were just fine, we'll have to see what the rest of the world thinks in terms of their willingness to pay for them.