We tried chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A, Wendy's, Burger King, and McDonald's -- here's the winner

The chicken nugget was created by a food scientist at Cornell University more than 60 years ago.

Since then, the breaded pieces of chicken meat have become a part of nearly every fast-food menu.

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McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and Chick-fil-A each have their own approach to the chicken nugget, so we set out to find which chain does it best.

Marina Nazario contributed to this story.

The fast-food greats meet for our chicken-nugget face-off: Burger King, Chick-fil-A, McDonald's, and Wendy's.

First, Burger King's chicken nuggets. These are firm but not crispy compared with other options. We paid $5.89 for 10 pieces.



On first bite, we taste a little kick — possibly thanks to the noticeable pepper flakes in the breading. But these nuggets have a spongy texture that feels questionable.

Next up: Chick-fil-A. On the outside, these golden nuggets are tiny, crispy, bite-size balls housed in a simple box.



The first bite is a whole bite of the nugget. It's tender and the chicken tastes like chicken — a huge relief. For $3.05 for eight pieces, these small nuggets offer a big blast of flavor.



At $3.39 for 10 pieces, Wendy's chicken nuggets look crispy.

But after taking a bite, we were unimpressed. The chicken did not taste like chicken and the breading was bland. These nuggets are boring.



Finally, the classic McDonald's Chicken McNuggets. The breading of these nuggets have a distinct color — slightly lighter than the other nuggets.



Crunch! McNuggets are delightfully crispy. Thankfully, these taste like chicken, but we could not decipher what the secret ingredient could be for the delicious breading. It's the classic McNugget, for good or bad. We'll take it — and not question it — at $4.99 for 10 pieces.



After eating all of these bite-size chicken chunks, who comes out on top? Based on our decidedly unscientific taste test to find the perfectly tender, crispy, and authentic chicken nugget ...



... Chick-fil-A takes the title. The classic McNuggets are second, followed by Burger King and Wendy's. Chick-fil-A's simple little nuggets provide the right texture, flavor, and crispy goodness that lead us to believe that it has the best chicken nuggets in the game.

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