Fried chicken is the ultimate comfort food.
Whether you eat it right off the bone with shamelessly greasy fingers or add chopped pieces of it to a salad, it’s sure to satisfy — as long as the meat is tender, the breading is crispy, and the seasoning is on point.
To avoid the messy task of preparing it at home, I headed to popular grocery stores near me to see if the premade options could hold their own and, if so, which offered the best value and taste.
At Stop & Shop, ShopRite, and Walmart, I picked up containers of hot, ready-to-eat fried chicken containing eight pieces: two drumsticks, two breasts, two wings, and two thighs.
Here’s how they compared.
ShopRite’s chicken impressed me right away.
Before tax, I paid $10.99, about $0.46 an ounce, for a 24-ounce container of ShopRite’s Bowl & Basket chicken.
From the first few bites, I was already impressed by how hot it was and how it tasted freshly fried. Drumstick, breast, wing, and thigh alike each had plenty of dark and white meat on the bone.
This hefty pack felt easy to divide among three or four people for a satisfying meal when paired with a few sides.
The meat was plentiful, but I wish the breading had a bit more flavor.
The breading of ShopRite’s chicken was light and tender without much crispiness, but the coating was even and not at all soggy.
The chicken had a light saltiness and tasted mildly seasoned. I think I detected garlic, onion, and some pepper.
Overall, I’d have liked a thicker, more robust breading, but the meat-to-bone ratio and the tenderness of that meat were both excellent.
Despite Stop & Shop’s container being the largest by ounce, I was underwhelmed by the amount of actual meat I got.
At Stop & Shop, the 32-ounce container of fried chicken came to $9.99, or about $0.31 an ounce.
Although all the packs I bought came with eight pieces, this was technically the largest by ounce. However, the physical pieces of chicken seemed to have less meat on the bones than the others.
Stop & Shop nailed it on taste and breading, but left me wanting more actual meat.
Salty but not overpowering, and savory with a subtle sweetness, this fried chicken managed to taste homemade in the best way.
I liked how uneven the breading was, which allowed for pockets of thicker crunch here and there, along with a few areas of just tender skin.
Both the white and dark meat from Stop & Shop were moist, and this fried chicken was so easy to enjoy on its own. I ate several pieces while standing in my kitchen, no utensils required — and no plate, either, though plenty of napkins were involved.
Had there been more actual meat on each piece of fried chicken, Stop & Shop would have been a clear winner.
Upfront, Walmart’s fried chicken was the most affordable option I tried.
Walmart’s 24-ounce container of chicken came to $7.97, making it the cheapest of the three I tried. However, that price breaks down to about $0.33 an ounce, meaning Stop & Shop’s was still a better value.
In terms of the chicken, each piece was encased in a thick, almost crusty breading that seemed dry, flaky, and too crunchy. It was kind of hard to bite into, but then it fell away in large pieces once cracked by my teeth.
The chicken seemed like it had been drying out under heat lamps all day, but I had purchased this container before 10 a.m.
Ultimately, I couldn’t get past all the dryness.
The flavor of the breading was all right — I thought I detected some notes of garlic and onion and a nice level of salt. Honestly, the seasoning blend might have made for a decent potato chip.
However, the thickness and flakiness of the breading still seemed way off for fried chicken. I wondered if it was made out of breadcrumbs instead of a typical batter.
The meat below that thick crust also felt quite dry and not that flavorful, with a bit too much gristle. These weren’t bad, per se, but that’s probably the highest praise I can muster aside from being impressed by the low upfront price.
The fried chicken I’ll repurchase depends on the rest of my meal, but Stop & Shop is hard to beat.
In the end, it was a bit tough to choose just one winner.
ShopRite’s fried chicken felt the most generous in terms of actual meat, but the breading was slightly too thin. The balanced sweet-and-savory flavor of Stop & Shop’s fried chicken was excellent, but the portions of meat felt less generous.
Ultimately, if I’m focusing on flavor and value and want a quick bite, I’d go back to Stop & Shop. Despite the pieces having a just OK meat-to-bone ratio, the price per ounce made this the best value, too.
However, if I want a more generous portion of tasty chicken that I can slice and tear to make a larger meal — whether that’s tortilla soup or a hearty wrap — ShopRite’s offering would be my go-to.
Based on my experience, I can’t see myself getting fried chicken at Walmart again unless there are no other options available for miles.
Read the original article on Business Insider
The post I tried fried chicken from 3 different grocery stores, and there’s just one I wouldn’t repurchase appeared first on Business Insider.
