The Best New Fast Food Items I Tried In 2024

2024 was quite a tumultuous year, mainly filled with polarizing politics at play. Luckily there was plenty of comfort food being served up at fast food chains across America to make us all feel better, mentally, but perhaps not so much physically. Enter "lol" here. Each year, these chains introduce new menu items, hoping to lure in curious new customers, or keep existing ones returning for the latest and greatest. Some of these items are here for the long haul, while most were limited time only offers, which left us way too soon.

As a food critic for Daily Meal, and now The Takeout, my mouth and stomach have braved many sandwiches, drinks, and desserts in a single calendar year. Not all of what I took in were winners, but some items certainly have remained on my mind, long after entering my body. I strolled down food memory lane to come up with a perfect list of the best fast food items I tried in 2024. Please enjoy, and let's get ready for a great new year, which I'm sure will be filled with more delectable and delicious items to come.

Fried pickles have been with us since at least 1963, thanks to Arkansas' own Bernell "Fatman" Austin, but today remain a kind of hard to find, and underrated side order item. Sadly, most fast food chains have never even given frickles a chance. In November, Burger King dropped three Whoppers conjured up by its own eaters. One was the Fried Pickle Ranch Whopper, which apparently had such a winning topping that it warranted the anointing of Pickle Fries as a royal standalone side order item.

While the ones I ordered were rather pricey at $6.59, which is just $2 shy of the Whopper creation that gave birth to them, they turned out to be worth every penny. Sure, these fries lacked uniformity in shape from one to the next, the pickles weren't exactly firm under its crusty exoskeleton, and it was a mess to eat, but these were mainly observations, not complaints. The breading had a lovely crunch to them, and taken together with the dill pickle, made for a dream savory combination.

These fried beauties were so darn good, I almost didn't bother to dip them in the supplied cup of Hidden Valley Ranch sauce. Since I always strive to eat whatever is served as the chain intended it to be, I had no issue obliging. The ranch sauce acted as a nice coolant, cutting back on the heavy taste of the Pickle Fries, but wasn't fully necessary to enjoy this amazing snack. I'm already sad it's not staying in stores forever. Hopefully 2025 will see fried pickles everywhere!

Taco Bell put on quite a hype show in Las Vegas during Super Bowl weekend called Live Más Live, and unveiled pretty much everything it was releasing for the 2024. There was also the promise of a fan vote where either the Meximelt or Caramel Apple Empanada would be brought back from the dead.

After the presentation, fans and journalists in attendance were able to taste the items, and the one I instantly fell for was the Cheesy Chicken Crispanada. Everyone else out there didn't have to wait long, as the Cheesy Chicken Crispanada soon after hit stores, and I rushed out for a second encounter. This hot pocket tasted like a Mexican wonton, with melty cheese on the inside coating bits of chicken. In my review, I simply called it a "crunchtastic thing of beauty," and still stand by that assessment.

As for that fan vote, it never came to pass, as fan demand warranted the return of both the Meximelt AND the Caramel Apple Empanada. This crispy heated treat originally debuted in 2004, was last seen at Taco Bell in 2019, and was reintroduced late November as part of the Decades Menu. Five years away proved to be well worth the wait for this hot, caramel-licious dessert, and now I'm praying it never leaves our sights again. I think Taco Bell is onto something with these empanada items, and if more get released, I will shriek — "shells yeah!"

Hot Honey seemed to be the condiment that was drizzled on top of every snack, as well as endless menu items found at restaurants across America in 2024. We can all thank Mike Kurtz, who discovered this sweet and spicy combo in Brazil back in 2003, and has ever since spread it like a new kind of flavor gospel. In the summer of 2023, Pizza Hut gave it a whirl on top of its own pies and wings, with test runs in the Dallas and Cleveland markets. To help warm things up in February 2024, it launched Hot Honey Pepperoni pizza, as well as Hot Honey Wings nationwide.

The wings were nothing special. They seemed to bring the heat, but were devoid of hitting any kind of sweet spot. The Hot Honey Pepperoni pizza on the other hand, was a moist masterpiece, where the harmony of "sweet meets heat" hit the mark perfectly. Each pizza slice was overloaded with pepperoni, with an average of 14 round red beauties living on top of the gooey cheese. The plentiful flow of hot honey that covered every nook and cranny actually made the pizza a giant mess to eat, but it was a truly blessed mess. Not only were napkins needed for the fingers, but for the forehead too, with the spice inducing some well welcomed sweating to cool off this totally cool eating experience.

Wendy's has been serving up its chocolatey malty Frosty since 1969. It would take 37 whole years later for another flavor to grace the creamy concoction. Vanilla was an obvious next choice, but ever since, it seems like the floodgates have been opened for a rainbow of flavors that have followed.

2024 was a banner year for new Frosty flavors. Summer saw the introduction of the Triple Berry Frosty, which was like an instant upgrade of the standard Strawberry, with raspberry and blackberry joining the festivities. I was worried it would have an artificial or medicinal taste, but it actually ended up tasting a delicious Greek yogurt smoothie.

In the fall, Wendy's celebrated 25 years of Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants with a Krabby Patty Kollab. The burger wasn't anything special, but the real treasure was the Pineapple Under The Sea Frosty. Instead of being a mixed flavor, vanilla Frosty was the base, and was compartmentalized by swirls of an amber yellow goo that was partially made up of banana purée, mango purée concentrate, and pineapple juice concentrate. It was a ray of sunshine in a cup, which also reminded me how vanilla is actually a superior Frosty flavor or chocolate. The year ended on a high note, when the Salted Caramel Frosty made its debut. It was super rich and luscious, and while that doesn't sound like something one could eat a ton of, I couldn't keep my spoon out of it.

The temperature was certainly rising in summer 2024, and Burger King turned up the heat even more with the rollout of its Fiery Menu. While inflamed entrees like the Fiery Bacon Whopper and Fiery Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich were the main attractions, and items like Fiery Mozzarella Fries and Fiery Chicken Fries made for smoky sides, the real head-turner was a soda. I doubt that's what Burger King had in mind with its Fiery Strawberry & Sprite libration, but there was no denying its awesomeness.

In general, Sprite is a perfect soft drink to accompany fast foods. Its citrus flavoring helps to cut through the salt and greasiness of burgers, encrusted chicken, and various fried side pieces. It's also a potent digestive potable that calms the stomach after a heavy meal. This Sprite was unlike any that has ever touched my lips before. Yes, its signature fruity crispness still rang true, with a dash of strawberry flavoring, but this new spicy bent on it made for an unbelievable taste sensation.

The secret to this Fiery Sprite was a hint of habanero spice. It added a real pep to pair with the sweetness, creating a euphoric equilibrium of sensational swicy. Every time it hit the back of my throat, it gave it a little tickle. It was similar to what happens when downing some ginger beer, but on a whole new level of enjoyment.

KFC's culinary chicken legacy was built on Colonel Sanders' original blend of 11 herbs and spices. However, when it came to its chicken tenders, which first launched in 1993 as Colonel's Crispy Strips, that secret recipe was apparently not sprinkled all over it. In 2023, the chain took a new approach to its tenders, ditching the cooking by dryer method, for one using a fryer with pressure, just like with its old fashioned fried chicken pieces.

I got a golden opportunity to visit KFC's corporate headquarters back in the spring, and was even treated to a sneak taste of these new tenders. Their name sounded as classic as they hope to be: Original Recipe Tenders. It's one thing to taste them fresh and direct from the test kitchen, where they're carefully crafted to perfection, and another when they're released into the wild, in actual stores.

In October, Original Recipe Tenders were unleashed in KFCs for the public's enjoyment. I was happy to report that they were not only just as good as the ones I tried at HQ, but perhaps even better than I remembered. Thick in size, super crusty, and crunchy on the outside, and the white chicken meat on the inside was lovingly succulent. It came together to comprise one of the better chicken tenders on the market. Now can we get Original Recipe Chicken Littles to happen in the year ahead?

Everyone loves a secret menu, and getting a sneak peek at what's possibly in the pipeline at a restaurant's test kitchen. Well, for the students of Maryland University in College Park, they can spend all their free time from studying trying out new and wondrous Chick-fil-A creations. The place where this happens isn't called Chick-fil-A, but Little Blue Menu, as a nod to the blue-colored menu at founder S. Truet Cathy's first restaurant — Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia. Familiar favorites dot the menu like chicken sandwiches, tenders, nuggets, waffle fries and shakes, but so do wings, burgers, standard looking french fries, pastries, and pizza? Yes, pizza!

One could spend a month trying all these new innovative creations, but I had my eyes and mouth focused on a singular item — the Chick-fil-A Pizza Pie. Imagine a normal pizza, but then tricked out with bits of chicken, a happy helping of dill pickle slices, and Chick-fil-A drizzle sauce.

In general, pickle pizza is an acquired taste, but if you oblige in such dill-liciousness, you'll be rewarded with Little Blue Menu's wizardly creation. Even if pickles aren't your thing, perhaps curiosity alone would lead you to this pizza. There's no doubt you'd still walk away having tasted one of the more interesting pizzas you've ever tried from a non-pizza oriented fast food chain. The only real downside to this pizza is that there's no room within Little Blue Menu to scarf it down. They have no interior seating area, and a limited amount of space outside. Act quick, as you'll want to try this one hot out of the oven. Here's hoping Little Blue Menu goes big, and expands this pie's availability.

Season after season, Starbucks and its fancier Starbucks Reserve offshoot keep delivering drinks and treats to match the spirit of the times. While some have become so beloved, they return each year, the baristas in the test coffee bar are always brewing up something new to offer its thirsty customers. After getting "Wicked" with a pair of not so magical drinks to promote the film of the same name, Starbucks and Starbucks Reserve were ready to deck the halls with items to cozy up with in the lead up to the winter holidays.

While the Cran-Merry Orange Refreshers proved to be rather ... refreshing, and there were some really terrific treats like Coffee Eggnog Holiday Cookie and Pistachio Raspberry Tart, the bell of the ball turned out to be Iced Caramel Brûlée Eggnog Latte available only at Starbucks Reserve. Even though the temperature is cooling off rapidly outdoors, and the thought of a cold drink is far from most people's minds, this incredible Latte is just too great to resist. On their own, caramel, eggnog, and the burnt sugar coating of a creme brûlée could each improve a standard latte. Put them all together, and you have an unbeatable and unbelievable drinkable candy land of loveliness.

Sure, it may all be a bit too much sweetness to handle at once, but before the resolutions are cast for the new year, don't we all deserve a break for something indulgent? It's been quite a year, we all deserve it.

McDonald's has always been a family friendly joint, and when it dropped a new McFlurry in May, it leaned on the talents of "grandma" for inspiration. The Grandma McFlurry came in a comely cup that looks like it was crocheted on the set of the '80s sitcom Mama's Family. Looking inside the cup, one finds where the true action lies — in a white creamy sea glittered in gold dust. Its base is reduced-fat vanilla ice cream, and is loaded up with a double dose of butterscotch, in the forms of flavored crumbles, and a syrup.

While a caramel sundae at McDonald's is one of the chain's pure simple pleasures on its dessert menu, the Grandma McFlurry aimed to be an old school one, which turned out to be a glimpse of the future that I was ready to be transported to. The butterscotch syrup was a nice touch, but more fun and delicious were those flavored crumbles. When they landed on the teeth and were grounded down on, it created a nice textured delight that tasted like a softened toffee-flavored granola. Grandma did us so right, so is a Grandpa McFlurry, filled with Werther's Original candies, not far behind?

Chick-fil-A's Banana Pudding Milkshake has had a sort of legendary aura about it. For those who had the treat sometime between 2010-2012, many sweet memories remain to this day. For the rest of us who never had the pleasure, the question of "when will it return?" persisted for well over a decade. Other shake flavors have come and gone, and even returned, but the Banana Pudding Shake made fil-A-fanatics rabid, wondering what it tasted like, and if they would ever find out.

The chain's fall 2024 menu saw a spicy variation of the beloved Honey Pepper Pimento Chicken Sandwich, and it was joined by the long awaited return of the Banana Pudding Milkshake, as well as the new Banana Frosted Coffee. That coffee and sandwich were decent, but I barely even remembered them, when I could never get the thought of that Banana Pudding Milkshake out of my mind. The wait proved to be worth it, with a genuine banana flavored shake hosting a ton of cookie bit crumbles to make a complete neat treat.

With the Banana Pudding Milkshake and Grandma McFlurry both being loving spoonfuls of textured deliciousness, I'm hoping to find more bits and pieces in my creamy desserts now and forever. See you in the future kids ... 2025!