The Most Unhealthy Things You Can Order At Fast Food Chicken Chains

Most of us can agree that fast food should not be eaten every day. Quintessential fast food items like burgers and fries are largely thought of as unhealthy, but what about the chicken? Opting for a grilled chicken sandwich at a fast food chain is generally lower in calories and fat than a cheeseburger. The fact of the matter is, most fast food chicken chains specialize in fried chicken — and the temptation to order it is all too real.

Fried chicken has more calories and fat than the grilled version, but the trouble with fast food chicken isn't just the calorie count or how many grams of fat it contains. Chicken from most fast food joints, be it fried or grilled, is extremely high in sodium. According to the American Heart Association, "Nine out of 10 Americans consume too much sodium. The average American eats more than 3,400 milligrams (mg) of sodium a day." Health professionals recommend a maximum daily sodium intake of 2,300 mg to avoid high blood pressure. Consuming foods high in sodium, calories, and fat may leave you feeling bloated and puffy (not fun), which can lead to weight gain over time.

If you find yourself staring at the menu board of your local chicken chain wondering what not to order, read this list of the most unhealthy things you can order at fast food chicken chains. Fair warning: some of them are not what you think.

KFC (that's Kentucky Fried Chicken for the purists out there) has toyed with boxed meals over its long history as a fast food chicken heavyweight, and the big box is one such manifestation. In recent years, KFC fans have had the option to go all out by purchasing what is known as a big box. These days, you don't have to deliberate between a spicy chicken sandwich or nuggets and fries. You can have it all in one ... big box. This is great for ravenous patrons who are deadset on really treating themselves to KFC, but the Spicy Chicken Sandwich + Nuggets Big Box Meal takes the top spot as the unhealthiest thing you can order off the menu.

The Spicy Chicken Sandwich + Nuggets Big Box Meal is customizable, but the range is still between 940 and 1,560 calories. In addition to the 620-calorie spicy chicken sandwich, you'll also get five chicken nuggets, one side, and a fountain drink. If you go the classic route and choose a side of secret recipe fries, that will add 320 calories to the meal. Soda brings another 250 or more calories, depending on your choice, but even the demure option of lemonade packs 140 calories. KFC's spicy chicken sandwich also carries 33 grams of fat, 85 mg of cholesterol, and 2,140 mg of sodium. 

If fast food chicken is what you desire, Raising Cane's has it. The menu here is refreshingly simplified: chicken fingers, crinkle-cut fries, coleslaw, Texas toast, and a chicken sandwich. Special sauce, lemonade, sweet tea, and fountain drinks punctuate the menu, but we admire that Raising Cane's stays true to what it does best.

The Caniac Combo is the most unhealthy thing you can order at Raising Cane's because it is the largest menu item. Having such a streamlined menu means most of what you can order is slight variations of the same things. The 3 Finger Combo, Box Combo, and Caniac Combo are identical ingredient-wise. The Canianac Combo is simply the largest portion in every way. You'll get six chicken fingers, a helping of crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast, coleslaw, two sauces, and a large fountain drink — all of which tips the caloric count upwards of 2,040 calories. If you eat the entire portion of the Caniac Combo, you consume nearly a full day's worth of calories in one meal crispy-fried basket of food.

We applaud Raising Cane's consistency in serving unprocessed chicken in a fast food chain across approximately 570 locations, including several on military base food courts. Raising Cane's claim to fame is its chicken fingers, and if you love them, you should eat them! Just don't order the biggest portion if you're leaning toward something healthier.

One chicken chain that makes a concerted effort to shake off the notoriously unhealthy fast food image is El Pollo Loco. The Mexican-style eatery, which was established in 1975 and is known for its fire-grilled chicken, tries to be mindful of calories — and does a better job of it than many of its contemporaries — but the Chipotle Chicken Avocado Burrito is hardly diet food.

The Chipotle Chicken Avocado Burrito contains grilled chicken rather than fried, but it still has 940 calories, 1 gram of trans fat, 84 grams of carbs, and a whopping 2,240 mg of sodium. As delicious as burritos are, it's hard to justify one that comes with nutrition stats like these. The Grande Avocado Chicken Bowl may appear like a lower-carb alternative to the Chipotle Chicken Avocado Burrito. With 90 grams of carbohydrates per serving, it turns out that the opposite is true — although the calorie count of the bowl is a little more palatable at 790 calories. If you have your heart set on eating the Chipotle Chicken Avocado Burrito from El Pollo Loco but want to keep your order under 1,000 calories, you'll need to forgo extras like side sauces, chips and guacamole, or churros for dessert.

Jollibee might be a lesser-known name in fast food chicken, but it started in Quezon City, Philippines, back in 1978. Now, there are roughly 100 Jollibees in Canada and the United States and about 1,300 throughout the world. The Filipino chain introduced the idea of fried chicken and spaghetti to the American public, but anyone trying to eat healthily should give this quirky combo a hard pass.

What could be so bad about a fried chicken drumstick and thigh paired with some spaghetti, sauce, and cheese? Well, to start, this combo tops out at the 1,400 calorie mark, though Jollibee's itemized nutrition info puts that number at 1,240 calories. Also, the spaghetti sauce at Jollibee isn't your average marinara. Jolly Spaghetti sauce includes "chunky slices of savory ham, ground meat, and hotdog." (via Jollibee). Stirring a plethora of meat into sauce may be jolly tasting, but it brings the reasonably-sized portion of spaghetti up to 610 calories. On its own, Jolly Spaghetti has 1,340 mg of sodium and 18 grams of sugar, but as part of the 2 Pc Chickenjoy meal, the sodium spikes to 2,390 mg. There's also a side of gravy in this meal. A small serving of Jollibee Gravy has 25 calories — which isn't bad, seeing as most people don't view gravy as a health food — but it adds 380 mg of sodium to an already salt-laden dish.

Slim Chickens is expanding so quickly that there's probably a location opening up right as you read this. The fast-casual chicken chain originated in Arkansas in 2002 as an entrepreneurial venture for high school pals Greg Smart and Tom Gordon. — but calling this place healthy would be a stretch.

Like Church's Texas Chicken, Slim Chickens lists its nutrition facts by the item rather than by the meal, but just looking at what's inside the chicken club sandwich is enough to know that the meal will be very unhealthy. The Chicken Club Sandwich packs 747 calories, 409 of which are calories from fat, 42 grams of fat, nine of which are saturated fat, and 1,044 milligrams of sodium. A fried chicken sandwich practically begs for a side of fries, but consuming regular-sized fries as part of the Chicken Club Sandwich Meal will add 470 calories, 22 grams of fat, and 1,180 milligrams of sodium. When eating a fast food chicken meal, you can shave off a few hundred calories by opting for a diet soda rather than a full-sugar one — or, better yet, drinking water.

After studying the menu at The Halal Guys Gyro and Chicken, we slowly realized that its falafel is basically junk food. The Halal Guys Gyro and Chicken was developed in 1992 out of a desire to offer the night owls of New York City (many of whom are cab drivers of Middle Eastern or Egyptian descent) a nourishing, halal-friendly platter of meat, rice, lettuce and tomato, pita, and signature white and hot sauces. Halal permits meat, but the Halal Guys Gyro and Chicken appeased many vegetarians by incorporating falafel into the menu — a little meatball made of ground chickpeas.

The Falafel Platter at The Halal Guys Gyro and Chicken ranks as the highest-calorie item on the chain's menu (1,049 calories), and it's a bit surprising. However, it's the Beef Gyro Platter that outdoes the others in terms of sodium levels, with an unpalatable 2,700 mg. The fast food chain offers a Combo Platter of beef and falafel that creates an imperfect storm of high calories and excessive sodium served up in one circular aluminum tin. While we appreciate The Halal Guys' dedication to bringing something more nuanced into the fast food chicken stratosphere, it fails to rise above the stereotypically unhealthy nature of the cuisine.