How Disgusting is McDonald's Jalapeño Cheddar McChicken Sandwich?

By Gustavo Arellano Thu., Jun. 30 2011 at 9:36 AM

Before you dismiss me as a corporate-hating elitist...well, maybe I'm the former, for sure. But I do not reflexively hate McDonald's. I still maintain their ham Egg McMuffin is one of the great fast-food creations, one that spurs me to eat four in a sitting, while their small apple pies, gooey and crunchy, remains delicious. My father swears by their Filet-O-Fish, the only American food he regularly consumes besides--I kid you not--the New York steak 'n' eggs from Norm's, which I also love.

All this said, I've never liked McDonald's hamburgers, whether the Big Mac, their cheeseburgers, or any of their specials. They just have no flavor, are shoddily constructed, and always offer patties that I feel are barely grilled, if at all.

But when McDonald's announced they were debuting a Jalapeño Cheddar McChicken sandwich, I felt it was my Mexi duty to try it, to see how spicy it might be given the company was claiming in Spanish it was picante.

Even my camera wouldn't agree with the sandwich, refusing to truly focus...

Look at this limp, disgusting thing! The slice of white cheddar was waxy; the chicken, dry; the bun, tasteless. The burger as a whole was barely cooked, per McDonald's operating practice with its sandwiches. But the biggest offender were those darn jalapeños. Was I asking for to much in assuming whole slices would be included instead of a jalapeño spread, tossed with other ingredients, a spread too salty and with an unpleasant pickled aftertaste? Is it asking for too much to expect jalapeños to, you know, taste like jalapeños, to wait for its floral, zinging flavor to seize your senses for even a second? Might it have been too bold for me to wish that the jalapeño actually had heat?

I couldn't finish the Jalapeño Cheddar McChicken. Leave it to McDonald's to make jalapeños pointless--hell, even three decades of jalapeños left in containers at ballparks haven't brought down the pepper...

Follow Stick a Fork In It on Twitter @ocweeklyfood or on Facebook!

We Recommend

DanGarion

They should have used their old jalapeno relish, I was disappointed in the jalapeno stuff their developed for this sandwich.

Josh

It was a limp piece of fried chicken on that sandwich, not a burger... And what do you expect from McD's for $1.50? Ha

Hey Ralph

I've developed a strange attraction to these. I think it's the jalapeno "relish"...it's very similar to what McDs had in the early '80s (small packets by request only - made a cheeseburger something special).

DanGarion

The stuff they are using is crap nowadays. The jalapeno relish was awesome. I used to mix it with mayo and ketchup the make the most awesome spicy 1000 island dressing. I miss those days.

Rob

Like your dad the Filet-O-Fish is the only thing I eat from McDonald's (apart from the McRib, though the UK hasn't seen that for eons). You should see the crud they peddle over here at times. Eugh.

Christian Z.

I gave it the old college try too and really had a hard time getting through it.

I've always long believed that ironically, McDonalds, via its ancestry,is defined as a hamburger place, when in fact everything on the menu *but* its hamburgers...Egg McMuffins, apple pies, french fries, etc. ...are some of the tastiest things anywhere.