Review: Popeyes' Pickle Menu Is The Best Menu Ever

We all have our fantasy Venn diagrams in life, and mine is one circle that is Popeyes Fried Chicken and another for pickles. If these two sets were to ever intersect, the result would literally be one circle perfectly sitting atop the other. Somehow, for a long stretch of its history, pickles and Popeyes lived delicious, but separate lives. Things changed in an instant on August 12, 2019, when Popeyes launched the game-changing menu item that shook up the Chicken Sandwich Wars, complete with its own signature crispy pickle slices under the hood. For pickles, it was one small step, and for Popeyes, it would wait almost six years to make an even bigger leap for the cured cucumber we all love to nosh on.

If you ever wondered what fried pickles by Popeyes would taste like, that wonder is immediately answered with its brand new Pickle Menu. This menu isn't just frickles, frickles, frickles. There's also chicken three ways, fillet sandwich, boneless, and bone-in wings, all glazed, seasoned, and slathered up with a special pickle sauce. If that wasn't enough to chew on, there's even a Pickle Lemonade to cap it all off. Somewhere Arnold Palmer is crying foul.

This is no April Fools' joke, and we have a feeling that Popeyes' Pickle Menu may not only be what we've always been dreaming of, but perhaps a whole lot more. The Takeout took in a special sneak eat preview of this new Popeyes flavor adventure into the briny waters of pickledom. I went in with an open mind, and open mouth to see if this is the next great Popeyes innovation, or will it all end on a half-sour note? The truth can finally be told as to what the dill-y is, yo.

Popeyes is not exactly known as a bastion of pickles, but is giving customers much to think about with its brand new Pickle Menu. This menu is a limited time offering that includes five brand new items: Pickle Glaze Sandwich, Pickle Glaze Boneless Wings, Pickle Glaze Bone-In Wings, Fried Pickles, and even Pickle Lemonade.

Lucky Canadians got an early jump on tasting Fried Pickles when frickles debuted there in early January. As for the American debut, chef Amy Alarcon, VP of Culinary at Popeyes, told us: "We played with pickles in the past, but this time, what's special about it is we took the same pickle that's all the chicken sandwich, and the batter and breading that's on the sandwich, and used that on the fried pickle. And so it's just like this perfect little chip for dipping."

Chef Alarcon also beamed about the new pickle glaze that coats three of these new items. She said, "It's just a lot of dill, ancho [chili] pepper, red pepper, this savory onion, and garlic, and of course a little bit of butter, because we want this to have that crunch through and through. So we like to play with these glazes that just really stand up on top of that beautiful crunch."

The Popeyes Pickle Menu launched nationwide on April 1, 2025 at participating locations, for a limited time run that must end May 5. The five Pickle Menu items can be purchased anytime Popeyes is open for business, while supplies last. They can be ordered at the counter, at a kiosk, or in the drive-thru where available. Advanced ordering for dine-in, pick-up, or delivery are available through Popeyes' app or website, where customization of the menu items is also an option.

The Pickle Glaze Sandwich can be ordered à la carte or as a combo, which includes a side of your choice, and a drink. That side includes the Fried Pickles, and a drink of Pickle Lemonade. The Fried Pickle side order is available in one size only — regular. The Pickle Lemonade is available in one regular size, but in two varieties — Chilled Pickle Lemonade and Frozen Pickle Lemonade. The Boneless and Bone-In wings can be ordered in multiple denominations, with the six-piece being the smallest order and 24 being the largest. The price varies per location, but at my local Manhattan location of Popeyes, the Pickle Glaze Sandwich retails for $5.99, six-piece Wings for $6.99, the Fried Pickles $3.49, and the Pickle Lemonade for $3.49.

Before we march forward with Popeyes' new Pickle Glaze Sandwich, let's take a moment to salute its forerunner — the Chicken Sandwich itself. The sandwich is gargantuan, straight-up delicious, and a steal at its $5.99 price point. On outward appearance, the 800 calorie Pickle Glaze Sandwich doesn't look all that dissimilar from the original one at a distance. When you start to inch closer for a better look, you can see its flaky crust is besotted with seasoning. A quick whiff of this handheld beauty is dominated with the aroma of that fried skin exoskeleton, but you can tell there's a hint of pickle hidden deeper inside.

While the bun makes this sandwich a sandwich, I was first concerned with how the chicken breast fillet tasted in the glaze. My first bite was full-on skin crunch, followed by just a small piece of white chicken meat that was its usual juicy and tender self. No grizzle or fat to be found for miles. I seemed to somehow miss the pickle glaze on that first go, but when the chicken meat was more exposed to my eye, parts of it had a greenish hue to it. Normally, that would be a reason to cry foul about this fowl, but here, it is a most welcome sight.

The next bites, the glaze rung through, and with a lovely, but appropriately restrained pickle flavoring, somehow made the fillet even better than it was before.  When the soft bun entered the equation, the extra texture took away a little bit of the pickle flavor in a bite, but all was redeemed when a bite also included the crunchy pickle slaw and pickle chips.

Next up on the docket was a Pickle Glaze version of Popeyes' Boneless Wings. Popeyes' Boneless Wings have only been flapping around on the menu since June of 2024, but are essentially a rebrand of its former Chicken Nuggets. They contain more meat than a bone-in wing from Popeyes, but feature an equally crispy shell. Like many other sauces that came before — and more recently, the delectable Louisiana Garlic one – the Pickle Glaze that coats these Boneless Wings literally shone like glitter in the light. It had a lovely buttery sheen, which holds in place the noticeable sprigs of dill, black pepper flakes, and an array of other seasonings. While I expected a smell akin to what the Chicken Sandwiched emitted, for some reason, these had an almost star anise–licorice type smell to them.

Like with any of the Boneless Wings, the crunch was spot on, and the generous amount of meat within the skin was succulent and generous. If you're eschewing a fork here, be aware that you may end up with your own fingers getting glazed. That's not a bad thing, as the glaze is literally finger lickin' good. Just don't tell the Colonel. Also, be aware that six of these wings will net you 1,020 calories, but it is totally worth it.

After tasteful success with both the Chicken Sandwich and Boneless Wings, it was time to see how the Pickle Glaze worked its magic on traditional bone-in wings. Popeyes Bone-In Wings aren't exactly traditional to other places, as the chain places a large emphasis on the skin, and that's fine by me, as I'm still waiting for the day for Popeyes to introduce just "fried skin." (Feel free to steal this idea from me, Popeyes).

These wings looked even more drenched and wet than the Boneless alternative, as the seasonings popped even more here in the glaze. My first bite of the Bone-In skin was almost an epiphany, at least when it came to the Pickle Glaze. It had an unbelievably attractive graininess to it that almost felt like grinding sugar crystals on one's teeth. These greasy wings had a touch of spice to them, which added a nice wrinkle to the well-balanced pickle flavoring. That brief amount of heat only amplified the greatness of the pickle glaze, and had me falling in love with this iteration bite after loving bite. All that extra skin results in extra calories. Six of the bone-in wings nets an eater 1,200 calories.

Chef Amy Alarcon is particularly proud of the pickles Popeyes uses. She told us, "We found these amazing barrel cured pickles, they're fresh, they're never frozen. They are transcendent, and I think they really made the chicken sandwich." Those same very pickle chips are moonlighting for a month as a new side – Fried Pickles. If you've ever had the pleasure of eating frickles in your life before, then you know they are astounding mouth pleasers. I expected nothing but the best from Popeyes with its first ever nationwide version of them, and really, all it had to do is not mess them up.

While these Fried Pickles don't have the most attractive packaging, with a pale sandy brown skin, it did remind me of Popeyes' side item that was my favorite of all time, and sadly discontinued — Onion Rings. The skin was thin, greasy, but encrusted the pickle slices quite well, and gave off quite a beautiful smell. The Fried Pickles came in numerous sizes, but had a uniform taste with just the right level of salt in tow. The pickles stayed firm within the skin, which in turn allowed the skin to remain intact. This is all one could ever ask for in a Fried Pickle. And if you want to ask for more, be sure to ask for more Buttermilk Ranch sauce, as its coolness makes a real cool customer out of the Fried Pickles. Is this heaven? No, it's Popeyes, and 523 calories.

By name, a Pickle Menu sounds like one giant gimmick, and the one product that sounds like the gimmick to end all gimmicks is Pickle Lemonade. Look, I love pickles, and have been known to drink pickle juice on occasion, but how could Pickle Lemonade actually be a thing, let alone be good? Chef Alarcon was even surprised herself, noting, "One of the most fun things that came out of this is the Pickle Lemonade. That's literally the pickle juice from our pickles that are in our restaurants every day. So we were like, 'We just created our own hydration electrolyte drink.'"

There are two versions, and I started with the regular Chilled Pickle Lemonade. With plenty of pulp swimming in a light bog-green sea, it almost resembled limeade. As soon as a droplet of this liquid hit my mouth it was love at first sip. Wow, just wow. While this brew leaned more on the flavoring of pickle than it did on sugary lemons, it was not only drinkable, but fantastically one the finest potent potables I had ever tasted. That notion was actually shattered after I tried it in its optional, and even better Frozen Pickle Lemonade form. I literally could not stop drinking these concoctions. They were oddly refreshing, and a natural pairing for the four other Pickle Menu items. The Chilled Pickle Lemonade sets a drinker back 270 calories and contains 67 grams of sugar, while the Frozen one is 400 calories and has 99 grams of sugar.

I am not using hyperbole here when I state that Popeyes' new Pickle Menu is the best menu ever. Pickles make every sandwich better, so why can't the flavoring of pickles make other things better? Popeyes set out to prove such a thing and the results are astoundingly amazing. You know you've got quite a lineup here when you finally introduce the dream item of Fried Pickles and it's almost overshadowed by all the other awesome items on the Pickle Menu.

Popeyes' Chicken Sandwich already seems like the industry standard, and adding more pickle complements under the hood just takes it to a whole new level. Same is true of the wings, which have a lot of fabulous sauce flavorings for the choosing, but the Pickle Glaze one almost puts the rest to shame. Choosing a favorite is almost like doing so out of all your kids. But, I'd like to commend the Pickle Lemonade above them all, as a drinker who comes in with reservations, and comes out as a lifelong admirer of its potent greatness. If you want in on this Pickle Menu, the best entry point is a combo that includes the sandwich, a side of Fried Pickles, and a glass of Pickle Lemonade for $11.99, or in lieu of the sammie, fork over an extra dollar for those incredible Pickle Glazed Bone-In Wings.

I'm ready for this menu to stay on forever, and perhaps one day be joined by Pickled Onion Rings, and how about a pickle dessert like Key Lime Pickle Pie? It would be an instant winner, just like so many of Popeyes' other desserts.

A day before its launch, I was invited to a Popeyes in Times Square, New York City for a taste test preview of all five of the offerings on its Pickle Menu. There were also variations of the Pickle Menu items served, like slaw on the sandwich, and beluga caviar on the frickles, which sadly are not being served at actual Popeyes locations. All items were tried on site by myself and a friend, and their enthusiastic opinions were noted, but ultimately, this chew and review reflects my tastes and take on Popeyes' new Pickle Menu.

The ultimate criteria for this chew and review was flavor, smell, texture, execution, cohesiveness, pickle-ness, uniqueness, value, overall lovability, and the likelihood I would order from the Pickle Menu again during its limited run. The short answer is, I'm ready to order this menu each and every day. Please never leave. Please stay forever. Please, I beg you. Don't make me store gallons of Pickle Lemonade in my freezer just in case!