--- title: Fast Food Joints Are Flocking to Offer More Chicken description: McDonald's, Raising Cane's and other fast-food chains that specialize in chicken are capitalizing on inflation and consumer-health trends. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 597 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 published: '2025-05-08T20:19:09.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - News word_count: 240 canonical: https://money.com/fast-food-chicken-prices/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Three types of fast food fried chicken](https://img.money.com/2025/05/News-Fast-Food-Chicken.jpg) Chicken has always been less expensive for restaurants than beef — at least going back to the early 1980s, when McDonald's introduced McNuggets. The gap widened last year, with [government data](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t02.htm) showing that beef prices rose 8.6% while the cost of chicken only ticked up 1.3%. Now, as consumers push back against recent menu price hikes, chicken continues to gain appeal in the fast food world. ## Regain financial stability with the help of Freedom Debt Relief ### Freedom can start you on the path to resolve your debt, especially if you owe over $20,000. Why wait? Select your state to get started today! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/l67257dab4e3?ap_referrer=%2Ffast-food-chicken-prices%2F) Cost isn't the only factor: Chicken tends to be popular among younger people who see it as a [healthier option](https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/03/food/chicken-menu-fast-food-competition) compared to beef, and the dipping sauce combinations are highly marketable. (You want fry sauce with that?) Chains that specialize in chicken are capitalizing. Raising Cane’s moved up nine spots (from No. 25 to No. 16) in an annual [ranking](https://www.circana.com/post/2025-definitive-u-s-restaurant-ranking-report) of the top 50 U.S. restaurants based on consumer spending. Wingstop made the second biggest jump, climbing eight spots (from No. 29 to No. 21). Chick-fil-A held onto its third overall position behind second-place Starbucks and first-place McDonald's, which just rolled out new McCrispy Strips. In the announcement, the golden-arched fast food juggernaut wrote, "We’ve been listening to our fans on social and beyond, and they have made one thing clear: They want more chicken." ## Reduce payments and make debt manageable with a Debt Relief program ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/25289/medium_2e7b27ce-b30d-40a3-beef-0139ecba6b47.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/a9040187e0da?bidid=4034744916&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=662963721&ptoken=15ef6102ac9b28d2d2e0f5ad0f84cfea) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/23879/medium_3847e650-29eb-411b-9b8c-05deb0d02cbc.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/56b8334af288?bidid=4034744917&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=662963721&ptoken=8ad4a925c789e0ceed47358de75385e1) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/15565/medium_832cc4b7-74f8-4735-8fe1-6917816cbe8d.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/3cbd2e1fca0c?bidid=4034744914&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=662963721&ptoken=141dc113ff98abae6d356654da3dd4e0) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/22445/medium_ba73f26a-1e1e-4e49-9739-df1298783de6.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/b4f65c9462f7?bidid=4034744922&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=662963721&ptoken=1e57bb23ff24c6263150c8ef9756cba3) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/9246/medium_94931930-28cf-46b5-b09d-683979caec81.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/bf84b0dd4f42?bidid=4034744919&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=662963721&ptoken=de511ff91ab5e234022d4f88c003fdd4) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/25289/medium_2e7b27ce-b30d-40a3-beef-0139ecba6b47.png) If you owe over $20,000 or more, Freedom Debt Relief can help you get back on your feet! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/u5c2defb44d4?ap_referrer=%2Ffast-food-chicken-prices%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/fast-food-chicken-prices/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Restaurants", "item": "https://money.com/restaurants/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fast Food Joints Are Flocking to Offer More Chicken" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/fast-food-chicken-prices/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/fast-food-chicken-prices/", "name": "Fast Food Joints Are Flocking to Offer More Chicken", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2025-05-08T20:19:09.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/fast-food-chicken-prices/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/fast-food-chicken-prices/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Fast Food Joints Are Flocking to Offer More Chicken", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2025/05/News-Fast-Food-Chicken.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Fast-Food-Chicken" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. 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