Fast food giants all have their own signature dish - from the Big Mac to a boneless bucket - but there’s a menu item at most drive thrus that is immensely underrated. KFC have the ‘Twister’ while McDonald’s offers ‘Big Flavour Wraps’, but there’s one supermarket who claim their peri peri offering is in the same league to these takeaway kings. And that supermarket is Aldi.
Their sassy social media manager is known for making the odd dig at other brands on Twitter, and shutting down any ideas of ‘dupes’, but in recent weeks has suggested that their wraps could be superior to those in the drive thru. Aldi tweeted: “When @KFC_UKI undercut @McDonaldsUK's chicken wraps but are still 3p more expensive than Aldi. #micdrop”
READ MORE: McDonald's v Five Guys v Burger King - we put burger giants to the test on Piccadilly Gardens
And to be fair to Aldi, they’re not wrong. KFC’s Twister Wrap of the Day comes in at £1.98, while McDonald’s is £1.99 - or £3.09 if it’s not the Wrap of the Day. But Aldi’s is the cheapest at £1.95.
Naturally, I decided to give Aldi a hand in putting their money where their - well, my - mouth is, and pitted the three against each other in a taste test. And here’s how I got on.
Aldi
I’ve recently discovered that Aldi’s wraps are quite difficult to get your hands on, as every time I’ve popped in to pick one up, the shelf has been empty. That said, the branch is fairly close to a high school and sixth form and imagine they’re a cheap and easy lunch option.
I popped into the store at around 8pm and my choices were slim pickings with just two wraps left in the grab and go fridge: a peri peri chicken wrap, and a second vegan option. I took my chances with the chicken, which still had two days on it before it’s use by.
The store was quiet and I was in and out within about five minutes, and put the wrap in my fridge overnight ahead of my quest to KFC and McDonald’s, come 11am when dinner is served. Aldi launched their wraps in store on March 30 earlier this year, claiming that they’re ‘40 per cent cheaper than McDonald’s’, based on paying full price at the fast food chain.
The supermarket said: “For those missing the McDonald’s Piri Piri Wrap (so loved there is a Change.org petition to bring it back on the menu) Aldi has the solution.” The Piri Piri Chicken Wrap is filled with chicken coated in a mild chilli sauce and doused in a creamy garlic yoghurt for ‘the ultimate spicy lunch treat’.
This was the only wrap that was cold, so really, Aldi have shot themselves in the foot in trying to compare themselves to KFC and McDonald’s in my opinion. However, it was well wrapped, though a little underfilled as there were at least three bites of empty wrap before you hit any filling.
Because of the sauce, the tortilla itself had gone a little soggy, and as I opened up the wrap it stuck together and tore, making a bit of a mess. The chicken had a spicy kick which was cooled by the yoghurt, but in general I’m a bit fussy about eating cold meats so I didn’t particularly enjoy it.
KFC
Twister wraps launched at KFC in 2019 and have since formed part of their finger lickin' lunch menu. They offer a different flavour Monday to Friday, and on Thursday’s their twister of the day is sweet chilli, which sounded like it would be my favourite from the list.
Other options include Kentucky Mayo, Smokey BBQ and Spicy Super Charger. The wraps cost £1.98 and diners can pay an extra £1 to add a drink to their order.
The sweet chilli wrap features 100 per cent chicken breast fillet with the Colonel's original recipe, with crunchy pickled slaw, buttermilk dressing and tangy Southern Sweet Chilli sauce, all wrapped in a lightly toasted tortilla. The wrap was ordered and in my hands within just four minutes, packaged in a cardboard KFC branded box. The tortilla was lightly toasted as promised, meaning it wasn’t soggy or floppy like Aldi’s.
Unwrapping the wrap, the filling was bursting with colour, from orange sweet chilli sauce to the pink and purple pickled slaw. The amount of chicken was ample, though the coating featuring the brand’s signature herbs and spices was a little scarce - but upon biting into it, the flavours more than made up for the missing crumb. There was a real zing to the pickle and the chicken was tender and tasty - I just knew this would be a difficult wrap to beat.
McDonald’s
At McDonald’s I ordered the most similar wrap - the sweet chilli chicken one. Because it wasn’t the wrap of the day, it cost £3.09 and took around 10 minutes to land in my arms due to a rather busy drive thru.
This also comes served in a tall box, though more brightly coloured in pink and yellow, with potential colour theory at play with yellow making people feel happy. It certainly did me, but maybe that’s because I was pretty hungry and sat in a car with three chicken wraps.
Out of its box, McDonald’s wrap was the first to unfold itself, which was potentially due to ineffective wrapping, or overstuffed filling. I was pretty pleased to find two Chicken Selects that were well coated in a crispy crumb, alongside sweet chilli chicken, mayo, lettuce and cucumber.
Personally, I don’t think a sweet chilli chicken wrap needs mayo, and I’d ask to have this taken off next time, but the rest of the wrap was a delight. It was well filled, with different textures from the soft wrap to crunchy cucumber, with the kick of the sweet chilli caressing the chicken.
Verdict
It was a pretty difficult wrap battle to judge. I was quick to decide that Aldi’s peri peri wrap was punching above its weight to consider itself to be comparable to the drive thru wraps. But between KFC and McDonald’s it was a tough choice as the lunchtime bites went toe to toe. Having enjoyed more Wrap of the Days than twisters in my time, the KFC offering took me by surprise at how tasty it was.
The chicken was full of flavour and the pickled slaw really set it apart from the somewhat boring salad added to McDonald’s wrap. Not only that but at £1.98, I found it to be the best value for money, too, as well as being the least messy to tuck in to.
For me, KFC is the ultimate wrap champion, hands down, mic drop.
To get the latest email updates from the Manchester Evening News, click here.
