If there's one thing my 6-year-old self was good at, it was eating chicken nuggets. My parents would take me along with them to restaurants and as long as those little-fried pieces of chicken had a home on the menu, the restaurant was okay by me. While today my tastes and palate have changed (thank goodness), I still love me an order of chicken nuggets with fries. Make it an order of Chick-fil-A nuggets, waffle fries and a side of Polynesian sauce and I'm in chicken heaven.
So when Sam's Club introduced their new Member's Mark Southern Style Chicken Bites (and fast food connoisseurs were saying they tasted just like Chick-fil-A), I immediately headed out to my local Sam's club to gran a 3-pound bag. These fully-cooked solid white meat chicken nuggets come frozen in a picnic blanket decorated bag, pictured with waffle fries and pickle rounds. Sadly the waffle fries are not included in the frozen bag.
Lyndsay Burginger
The Test
To make this test as official and scientific as possible I ordered a 12-count of Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets to test side by side. I also grabbed an order of fries, some sauces, and a lemonade to make it an entire meal. One the Sam's Club side, I preheated my oven and cooked the Sam's Club chicken nuggets according to the packaging directions. The crispy breading held up in the oven which was a welcome surprise.
Once both were cooked I added them to a plate alongside the waffle fries and sauces then enlisted the help of my sister to perform a blind taste-test. Would I be able to tell the difference between these nuggets?
Lyndsay Burginger
The Verdict
I was hit with a waft of pickles and dill on the first bite, something I knew was not present in Chick-fil-A nuggets. I opened my eyes to discover that I had a Maker's Mark chicken nugget in my hand. I took another bite, this time with sauce, but an overpowering pickle flavor was still solely present. Yes, I know Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches are flavored with pickle, but this was more than a hint of dill. The Member's Mark chicken nuggets tasted like they were doused in dill pickle juice. Those who said the breaded chicken "taste like Chick-fil-a" must really like pickle. Not to mention you need to be a Sam's club member to even buy the chicken nuggets at the club store.
The real deal Chick-fil-A nugget was next and contrasted with the frozen chicken nuggets more than I had bargained. I was really hoping for the Sam's Club nuggets to be an extremely convincing copycat so I didn't have to drive 15 minutes whenever I craved chicken nuggets. But alas, I now have over two pounds of these frozen chicken nuggets in my freezer and I'm not sure if I'll ever eat them when I have a CFA craving. At least I still have some leftover packets of sauce just in case.
