The best items on the Popeyes menu, ranked

There may be no bigger drop-off from authentic Cajun cuisine to the stuff they serve at Popeyes than the red rice and beans. The rice tastes like the instant stuff you made in your 20s, when a box of Uncle Ben’s was still a culinary challenge. The beans taste like they were dehydrated and brought back to life about 5 minutes before they hit your to-go container. The slight smoky flavor could be bacon, or it could be liquid smoke pretending to be bacon. Either way, there are better sides on the menu.

Price:  $3.99 (Regular)

Calories: 260

Order with: Another side. You could try and douse this with sauce to make it better, but honestly, you’re gonna need something else.

If you’re a fan of fried pickles—the kind of person who every time they venture south of the Mason-Dixon just has to have an order—this might be the most let down you ever find yourself in a fast food restaurant. While these pickles were most definitely fried at some point, by the time they get into your bag, they’ve been reheated and lost their crunch completely. The only saving grace is that they do, in fact, still taste like pickles. And the Popeyes spicy breading gives them a brief hint of kick.

Calories: 523

Price: $3.99

Order with: More of an order without—the limited time side comes with buttermilk ranch, which makes an already soggy item even soggier.

Back when Popeyes started as “Chicken on the Run” back in 1972, the fried chicken landscape looked a little different and it may have been a standout. Now? There’s gourmet, brilliantly seasoned chicken everywhere from bodegas to award-winning restaurants. And in 2026, Popeyes just does not stand up. It’s a few steps lower on the flavor ladder from your standard grocery store deli stuff, and if you’re in the mood for some yard bird, you can probably find better within a five-block radius, no matter where you are.

Price: $5 (3 pieces)

Calories: 480-1140

Order with: Blackened seasoning. It doesn’t exactly save the fried chicken, but it helps.

After taking a bite of the classic Popeyes chicken sandwich, you realize the great chicken sandwich wars were as pointless as every other war. Because this sandwich packs about as much punch as a legally intoxicated fruit fly. The meat is clean and crisp, and the sandwich alone is serviceable—a notch or two above what you might find in the freezer section of Costco. But when compared to other chicken joints that use stuff like “pepper” and “spices” in their breading, Popeyes isn’t even in the same league.

Price: $5.49

Calories: 700

Order with: A side of the signature hot sauce. It gives the sandwich the flavor it so badly needs.

Popeyes only offers two desserts on its menu, and this is the lesser of the two. The cinnamon dusting on top is nice, but it will create a mess in the front seat of your car that lasts longer than the one from your last beach day. And the apple pie flavor isn’t worth the detailing. I’d put it about on par with a generic frozen apple pie, scratching the itch but not much else. As fast food dessert pie pockets go, it’s about middle of the pack.

Price: $1.99

Calories: 280

Order with: Two dollars in quarters as change. You’re going to need them for the car vacuum.

It only makes sense that a classic, Cajun fried chicken spot would also serve fried shrimp. The problem is, the fried shrimp suffers from the same lack of flavor issues as the fried chicken, and is in desperate need of some seasoning to make them even remotely interesting. There are other fried seafood options in the quick service space, and if you’re feeling shrimpy, that’s probably where you should go. Unless you’re a pescetarian who got dragged to the drive-thru, there’s no reason to order these.

Price: $8.89

Calories: 740-1450

Order with: All the sauces. Literally, get a side of every sauce on the menu. The butterfly shrimp’s dipability is their saving grace, and mixing and matching the sauces is the only reason they rank this high.

If you’re clamoring for something sweet at the end of your meal, the strawberry cream cheese pie is the move. At first bite, it seems like a standard fried pocket. Then your mouth is filled with a blast of sweet strawberry and smooth cream cheese, like a slice of deep-fried cheesecake in a single bite.

Price: $1.99

Calories: 300

Order with: A friend. This thing is rich and eating a whole one comes with a whole lot of regret.

Chicken tender mania has taken over America—even Taco Bell is doing tenders now. Popeyes entrants are respectable, a little heavy on the breading and light on the meat. Still, if you order like an 8-year-old everywhere you go, you won’t be mad at these, though some spicier breading would serve them well. That said, if you’re looking for the boneless, skinless, white meat experience at Popeyes, boneless wings are the way to go.

Price: $5 (3 pieces)

Calories: 420-520

Order with: A biscuit and sweet-and-spicy sauce. It’s the fried chicken sandwich innovation Popeyes wish they’d thought of.

The classic Popeyes sandwich gets the help it so desperately needs in the form of three sad pieces of fast-food bacon and some melted Havarti cheese. It’s not a novel combination on a chicken sandwich, but it adds enough to the classic to make it interesting, with some saltiness, creaminess, and crunch. Texture-wise, it’s excellent when eaten while still hot. Flavor-wise, it still leaves something to be desired.

Price: 6.99

Calories: 850

Order with: Ghost pepper sauce. They’re listed as separate sandwiches on the menu, but the super spicy mayo puts this sandwich somewhere in the realm of other spicy chickens.

After eating enough fast food, and believe me, I’ve definitely had my share, you realize fries fall into a few different camps. One of those is the battered-and-seasoned variety, which you may remember from Roy Rogers and Arby’s. Popeyes leans into its seasoning expertise and delivers the best seasoned fry on franchise row. An admittedly low bar, but one it tops easily. They’re crunchy, peppery, and pack more flavor than the chicken sandwich. Just remember, like any fries, you have to eat these things while they’re hot. If there’s none left when you get home, you cannot be blamed.

Price: $3.99

Calories: 305 (Regular)

Order with: Barbecue sauce. It’s a superior dipping option to ketchup with a pepper-covered fry.

Kudos to Popeyes for serving this stuff with a spork. Like, when was the last time you saw a spork? My guess is around the last time you played TV Tag. That little dose of grade school cafeteria nostalgia goes a long way, because when you bite into the mashed potatoes, you’re expecting the bland mush you got back then, and are treated to something much better. “Cajun” is a bit of a stretch, but the herb-filled gravy is flavorful and could stand on its own at a mid-range restaurant. The potatoes are a little mushy, but stop short of the gummed-up stuff you get at KFC.

Price:  $1.99 (Regular)

Calories: 110 (Regular)

Order with: The chicken sandwich. If you’re the kind who loves carbs on carbs, putting mashed potatoes and gravy on the sandwich might be the best menu hack here.

Unlike some chicken sandwiches that put the spicy stuff in the breading or the brine, Popeyes puts ghost pepper in its mayo. And if you’re an avowed mayo hater, it comes as a crushing blow. My advice as a no-mayo guy: Give it a try. It won’t change your stance on mayonnaise, but the ghost pepper gives the sandwich enough of a punch that you can almost ignore the condiment, and the pickles help bring the whole thing together. If you are into dairy or creamy textures, this might become your fast-food favorite.

Price: $5.49

Calories: 760

Order with: Signature hot sauce. If you’re gonna go spicy, go all-in. It adds some moisture to the sandwich, too, and levels it up.

Knowing discerning fried chicken fans probably also know their mac and cheese, the chain put some effort into crafting this side, with a mix of cheese and pepper that makes it close to a stand-alone pasta dish. Popeyes mac and cheese is more like the baked stuff you’d find at church picnics and less like the stuff your mom made out of a box. And for that, Popeyes deserves some credit. 

Price: $3.99 (Regular)

Calories: 280

Order with: Be nice to the person at the counter, and ask for a side of the lemon-pepper dry rub. Lemon pepper mac and cheese will change your life.

Popeyes offers seven different wing rubs and sauces, and after trying them all, I’m pronouncing lemon pepper the king of the bone-in wing. The citrusy salt and bold pepper trickle down into the little nooks and crannies of the wings, creating an explosion of flavor when your mouth hits one of these little seasoning pockets. The only downside: There’s a human element here, and sometimes you get a wing that’s been flavor-neglected. If you’re splitting an order, this seems horribly unfair.

Calories: 670

Price: $6.99 (6 pieces)

Order with: An extra side of lemon pepper rub, so that if you get a wing that’s lacking, you can make up for it.

Especially when they’re fresh, the biscuits are where Popeyes truly shines. These rich, buttermilk babies pack a sweetness and a warmth that tastes like the perfect beginning to any southern meal. Butter and honey aren’t even necessary, because the biscuits stay moist even if they’ve been sitting around a while. I’d eat these anywhere, but getting them at a drive-thru feels like a cheat code to gourmet food.

Price: $1.39

Calories: 230

Order with: Sweet-and-spicy sauce, and call it Asian/Cajun fusion.

There is a great debate in the wing-eating world about whether boneless wings are even “wings.” Technically, they’re more like smaller tenders or whole-meat nuggets, but we’re not here to debate fried poultry nomenclature. Whatever you wanna call these things, they’re fantastic, packing the spice the sandwich lacks into little, bite-sized pieces. They come in the same flavors as the wings, but the sauce is the move for boneless because dry rub doesn’t drip into the breading as it does with bone-in.

Price: $6.99 (6 pieces)

Calories: 480-1020

Order with: Signature hot sauce. It doubles the calorie count, but the butter is always worth it.