With summer around the corner, fast food establishments are attempting to entice consumers by offering lighter fare. We were contacted to take part in the Arby’s Chicken Salad Taste-off. A simple proposition: taste two different chicken salads and pick a winner.
Dave B. and I decided to take the challenge. It couldn’t be that bad, could it?
Subway Orchard Chicken Salad on 9 Grain Wheat (Nutrition info)
The appearance alone is a good indicator of how this tasted. Oddly colored chicken slathered in a flavorless mayonnaise based sauce is jumbled together with dried cranberries, apples, grapes, and golden raisins.
Joe: Doesn’t taste like much of anything. Salt.
Dave B: I taste bread more than anything.
Arby’s Grilled Chicken and Pecan Salad (Nutrition Info)
If the appearance of Subway’s sandwich foretold doom, Arby’s has one up. This sandwich looks *more* appetizing with verdant romaine instead of wilted, colorless iceberg, bright green celery, and normal colored chicken. Grapes, apples, and pecans round out the salad. The sandwich is served on honey whole grain bread (a wrap option is also available).
Joe: The chicken tastes like chicken. Pecans add crunch.
Dave B: Definitely had more flavor than the Subway sandwich.
Both sandwiches had a poor filling to bread ratio, meaning the bread’s flavor stood out more than the chicken salad. Neither bread was anything special – strangely sweet and textured.
Truth be told, we were not overly excited by either sandwich. In our honest opinion, we would recommend making your own chicken salad. A good starter recipe can be found at Simply Recipes.
The winner of this taste-off is Arby’s. It’s not even a contest, really. Just look at the photos.
For a limited time, Arby’s has a coupon on their Facebook page for a free chicken salad sandwich with the purchase of a 22 oz. drink.
We also have 3 gift cards to giveaway to our readers. Recommend this story via Facebook or Twitter and leave us comment saying you’ve done it (please provide a valid e-mail address for easy contact). We’ll contact the winner’s via e-mail by 5/14.
I left a RT on the Twitter handle indplseater. I’m just stunned that Arby’s won something in a taste competition for once, even if it was against lowly Subway!
rt and posted on facebook…excited to try
I posted it on Facebook!
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Hi Hungry dudes,
I have a grammatical correction for you– at the beginning you wrote:
“Dave B. and myself decided to take the challenge. It couldn’t be that bad, could it?”
“Myself” should be “I”— “Dave and I took the challenge.”
When you use “myself” it needs to be in the context of “I hurt myself,” or “I talk to myself…”
Many people are afraid (?) to use “Me” and “I” correctly, so they default to “myself” too frequently.
Thanks Stace, we have since made the change.
I saw the ad for Arby’s new chicken salad sandwich, I could not wait to get there.
Well I was very disappointed. LOVE THE BREAD, they should sell that. I thought it was
sliced too thick.
The sandwich was totally tasteless, with TOO much mayonnaise. . All I can say is that it was
filling. I wondered if they tasted their own creation?. The filling could have used some.
salt and some other seasonings to perk it up a bit..
Rachel,
As you can see from our review, we couldn’t agree more. Tasteless is the best way to describe it and with so many options these days, people are not going to settle for that. Thanks for your response.