McDonald’s, Wendy’s and other burger joints are leaning into chicken

Chicken: It’s what’s for dinner — even at major restaurant chains long known as temples to beef.

The first permanent menu item McDonald’s has rolled out in four years consists entirely of white meat. In introducing McCrispy Strips last month, the fast-food giant acknowledged that diners “have made one thing clear: they want more chicken.”

Wendy’s launched a new Cajun-spiced chicken sandwich in April, the same month Taco Bell brought back chicken nuggets, declaring it wants to become the “go-to destination for crispy chicken.”

The poultry push comes amid fast-food operators’ broader battle for customers who’ve been tightening their dining-out budgets.

McDonald’s last week reported its worst quarterly U.S. sales decline since the depths of the pandemic in 2020, with a 3.6% drop. Wendy’s saw first-quarter global sales shrink by 1.1% and reduced its outlook for the year. Chipotle, which also flagged a slowdown, said its limited-time honey chicken offering helped prop up sales, which slid 0.4% for the quarter.

Consumers have been demanding more chicken even as they’ve rebelled against menu price hikes during the past year, sending many restaurant chains racing to roll out value deals and find other ways to keep customers coming back.

Chicken featured in nearly 40% of all Grubhub restaurant orders last year and was purchased almost three times as often as beef by grocery customers, the delivery company said in December.

Visits to chicken chains swelled by 4.3% in the third quarter of 2024 from the same period a year earlier, according to the location analytics firm Placer.ai, while quick-service and fast-casual traffic dipped by 1.3% and 2.4%, respectively. These trends play to the strengths of chicken-focused brands including Dave’s Hot Chicken, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and Church’s Texas Chicken, while putting pressure on burger-centric incumbents.

“The reason they’re doing this, as much as anything else, is really about competitiveness,” Jonathan Maze, editor-in-chief of Restaurant Business magazine, said of fast-food chains’ embrace of chicken.

Consumers are seeing more stable prices for poultry than they are for many other animal proteins. Chicken costs were up just 1.3% in March from a year earlier, federal data shows, while pork rose 2.9% and beef and veal prices surged 8.6%.

But Maze said the biggest factor may simply be a shift in diners’ tastes — as fast-food brands themselves have acknowledged. Chicken at Wendy’s “consistently resonates with our fans, and we do not expect this momentum to slow down,” a spokesperson said. “Our focus on chicken is more intensive than ever!”

One upside for restaurants, Maze noted, is that chicken makes for ideal finger food, which operators are encouraging by rolling out new dipping sauces.

“It offers different flavor profiles, allows you to get creative without overcomplicating your operations,” he said.

More chicken options are expected to pop onto menus soon. McDonald’s last month teased plans to reintroduce its chicken Snack Wrap, and Taco Bell says it’s considering permanently adding a crispy chicken option after the limited-run nuggets sold out nationwide in less than a week.

Tyson Foods said Monday that it saw “double-digit growth” in its business supplying chicken to quick-service restaurants, a bright spot for the meat producer that said its beef segment is facing “the most challenging market conditions we have ever seen.” In chicken, though, Tyson said a key measure of quarterly earnings nearly doubled last year’s.

Not all chicken chains are benefiting from the trend, nor are fast-food brands all leaning into chicken because they’re struggling. Taco Bell saw sales jump 9% in the first quarter, boosted not just by chicken nuggets but also by its Steak and Queso Crunchwrap Sliders, parent company Yum Brands reported last week. Meanwhile, Yum’s fried-chicken mainstay KFC has struggled, with its U.S. sales notching a 1% drop, outpaced by those of Wingstop and Raising Cane’s.

Restaurants are trying other things to keep diners coming back, from digital upgrades and subscription programs to sleek new remodels. But for now, chicken looks like one of their most powerful tools.

“Americans love chicken, frankly, and these big fast-food chains are pretty intent on giving it to them,” Maze said.