Every Chick-Fil-A Entree, Ranked

The term "expert" is tossed around pretty haphazardly these days. It actually means "having, involving, or displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience," according to the experts over at Webster's. Experience is the key word there, and there are many different ways to gain experience. Some will study sinkholes or motor vehicle accidents and become court-approved experts. Others (let's not name any names) will eat their way through an entire fast food menu over 70 times in a calendar year (yes, I know that's a lot of food) to know the ins and outs of each and every item and tell you which is best (and which are massive disappointments). I'm not saying I'm a Chick-fil-A expert, but I do know a lot about their food. It's with that extensive knowledge, plus additional research, that this ranking is compiled. Here is every Chick-fil-A entree, ranked, for your dining pleasure. 

Let's just get this out of the way: the grilled nuggets aren't that bad. What they are not, however, are nuggets. When Robert C. Baker invented the nugget, it had crispy coating. We can't just haphazardly cut up food and call the bits "nuggets." This is really not debatable; you can't "nugget" without a fried exterior. You can make the claim of healthy eating and all that stuff, but if you think you're eating healthy and you're eating nuggets, you're doing it wrong. Sorry grilled nuggets. You taste good, but in the big picture of rankings, you're last.

The Chick-fil-A original sandwich is what made Chick-fil-A what it is today. There isn't a single person out there that doesn't have their own way of dressing up the sandwich; no pickles, extra pickles, CFA sauce, you get the gist. For some reason, Chick-fil-A decided to help you out a bit by adding lettuce, tomato, and your choice of cheese to the signature sandwich. The thing is, you don't really need it. There's nothing wrong with putting that stuff on a chicken sandwich. Wendy's made its bones on a formula like that, but it's simply not needed on Chick-fil-A's sandwich. It's really not worth the extra scratch to add it to your sandwich unless you're hacking the menu, but that's a different story.

If you're not heading to Chick-fil-A for a salad, maybe you should. The twist to this salad is the fruit — you'll find strawberries, blueberries, and apples all tucked away with the signature grilled chicken served on top. Add in one of the lighter salad dressings, perhaps a tasty vinaigrette, and you've got a 400ish-calorie meal that will fill you up and hit all the right flavors.

Easily the most overlooked item on the menu, the grilled chicken cool wrap is an afterthought on most days. The ad wizards picked a fitting name, because the cool wrap definitely cools you down. Served cold, the wrap — loaded with diced chicken, lettuce, and a healthy mix of shredded red cabbage and carrots — really hits the spot on a hot day. Of your dressing choices, the avocado lime ranch is the single most unexpected sauce available in any quick-serve restaurant. The caloric intake isn't for the faint of heart, but man oh man is it delicious.

The drawback to the grilled chicken cool wrap is the bread. Damascus Bakery in Brooklyn, New York, makes the flaxseed bread, but it's largely inconsistent. It can be doughy at times, and depending on the storage methods, almost wet. Despite that, it's still worth a purchase, especially in the summer months.

Chick-fil-A reintroduced the grilled chicken sandwich in 2014, giving it more of a backyard feel and flavor. It might not be very "backyard," but it certainly is tasty. The key is a tangy marinade that includes apple cider vinegar, plus orange juice and grape juice. (Really!) It's got a refreshing bite that really hits the taste buds perfectly. Along with their suggested honey BBQ sauce, the sandwich really works. You can roll without the sauce — and honestly, they forget it half the time anyway — or just go with a sauce of your choosing and round out the flavors. It's a solid choice if you're looking to go a wee bit lighter than the usual fried fare.

The most underrated item on the entire Chick-fil-A menu is the Chick-n-Strips. You might think, "Why bother? I'm having the nuggets." The Strips are basically a step between a sandwich and nuggets. They pack the simplicity of nuggets and the lasting taste of a sandwich into each little strip, and you get three or four depending on your hunger. The Chick-n-Strips go with the dipping sauce of your choice, and are the perfect choice when the nuggets won't quite do.

Now that's a spicy sandwich! Paprika and "spices" according to the ingredients list, are what bring the heat. There's a really good chance that cayenne and chili powder are a couple of those spices. Chick-fil-A also uses much-maligned MSG to cut the salt content a tad. (It's worth mentioning that MSG is safe.) The paprika and other spices are not messing around — you can easily build up a neck sweat while polishing off one of these. The wonderfully odd thing is that the heat doesn't really linger. It's just there, and poof! It's gone! That's the magic of the spicy sandwich, and why it's so amazing. However, if the initial heat is too much for your mouth, you can always cool it down a bit with the garlic and herb ranch sauce. It's the spiciest sandwich out there (sorry, Wendy's), and the best-tasting spicy sandwich out there. Chick-fil-A's Spicy Sandwich is number one.