Chick-Fil-A Vs McDonald's: The Chain With The Cheaper Chicken Sandwich Combo

Food prices are through the roof, and folks are looking for any way to save a buck or two at the drive-thru. If you're craving the protein-rich bite of a chicken sandwich, where can you get the most value?

Between popular fast-food chains Chick-fil-A and McDonald's, Mickey D's is one of several that customers consider overpriced these days. Nevertheless, when it comes to combo meals featuring a poultry sandwich, McDonald's serves up the cheapest option with its McChicken Meal Deal on the McValue Menu. Chick-fil-A's Chicken Sandwich meal is almost double the price.

Value is a relative term, though. While pricewise, you're going to pay less at the Golden Arches, Chick-fil-A's sammies claimed the No. 1 spot on Food Republic's ranking of fast-food chicken sandwiches, easily surpassing the competition with their huge, toothsome filets and buttery buns. The Chick-fil-A sando is unquestionably a more filling bite, serving up 29 grams of protein, where McChicken has just 14 grams. However, on the flip side, your McChicken Meal Deal includes McNuggets along with the fries and drink, giving you more cluck to fill up on.

You get more options with Chick-fil-A's combo, not being locked into fries as your side, but getting your pick from a wide range of choices. A medium soft drink comes standard, as well, while McDonald's meal deal gives you only a small soda, though both chains let you upgrade your drink. At the end of the day, which meal represents a better value is largely a matter of preference. Pricewise, though, you'll undeniably save the most green with the McD's option. Even so, please note that prices may vary based on location.

McDonald's McChicken Meal rings up at $5, and for that price you get one McChicken Sandwich, a four-piece order of McNuggets, a small order of french fries, and a small drink. While McDonald's doesn't offer the range of options that Chick-fil-A does, there's room for customization — though some changes will increase your cost. On your McChicken, for instance, you can add extra mayo, lettuce, and a second chicken patty — each for an upcharge — as well as other toppings that don't come standard. Bacon, cheese, and tomatoes will cost you, but adding pickles, ketchup, and mustard is free.

While you don't have the option to swap out your fries or McNuggies for something else or to up their sizes, you can opt for a different drink if you want something other than soda, and you can change to a larger size, as well. The McD's app lets you pick from the broad spectrum of McBeverages, from specialty drinks like the Refreshers and dirty sodas (an innovation you can thank Utah for) to milkshakes, smoothies, and McCafe coffee drinks. These specialty drinks do incur upcharges. Oddly, though, the app lets you upgrade to a larger basic soda without charging extra. A programming glitch was my first thought. But, upon further exploration, it seems Mickey D's actually charges the same price for all soda sizes, with the exception of the extra-small, which costs a little less. It turns out that offering any size for the same low price gets more people in the door and raises revenue.

Over at Chick-fil-A, the Chicken Sandwich by itself (with no sides or drink) will run you more than $5. So, you're already paying more for just the sammich than you would for McDonald's entire meal.

The basic Chicken Sandwich meal, with no upgrades, costs over $9. If you want to swap your Waffle Potato Fries for something like a Fruit Cup or Mac & Cheese, you'll pay extra. Again, however, even though you're paying more, you're getting a lot more options. For your side, you can opt for a medium or large size for items like the Waffle Fries, Mac & Cheese, and Fruit Cup, and you can choose a cup or bowl if you want the Chicken Noodle Soup as your side. If you get a Side Salad (McDonald's doesn't even offer salads on its U.S. menu anymore), you have lots of customization options — basically a salad bar's worth — from adding veggies like grape tomatoes and roasted corn to adding fruit, bleu cheese crumbles, bacon, boiled egg, and more. You can also change up the salad dressing, request an extra packet, and add salt and pepper.

Like McDonald's, Chick-fil-A lets you upgrade your drink, opening up the full array of beverages and drinkable treats for your selecting pleasure (for an upcharge). You can select any of the teas or lemonades (or half-tea, half-lemonade hybrids Chick-fil-A is famous for); you can get a frozen drink, ranging from Frosted Soda and Frosted Coffee to milkshakes and floats; or you can select a hot or iced coffee or any bottled drink the chain offers. Chick-fil-A does, incidentally, charge you for upgrading to a larger soda.