Marcus Lawrence | 

18 Ways to Hack the Chick-fil-A Secret Menu

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There’s a lot of info out there about the so-called secret menu and creating entirely new Chick-fil-A menu items, so I took time to figure out which of these items were legit, which secret menu hacks actually save you money on Chick-fil-A, and which items were urban legends.

 

How to Hack the Chick-fil-A Secret Menu

The Chick-fil-A secret menu isn’t so much a hidden array of food options as it is knowing how to customize food in a way that A) employees will agree to and B) creates something extraordinary.

Like most fast-food secret menus, ordering usually requires an in-person trip to a location or drive-thru, even though regular Chick-fil-A items can be ordered online. Some of the simpler menu hacks can also be easily customized in the Chick-fil-A app.

I hope you’re hungry. Here’s the comprehensive collection of Chick-fil-A secret menu items, hacks on how to order each one, approximately what I paid, and a list of the items you can’t get on the Chick-fil-A menu, secret or otherwise.

Don’t forget to check for Chick-fil-A coupons before your visit, and download the official KCL app for more useful tips.

Related: Prefer In-N-Out? Discover their secret menu and how you can save on your next meal.

 

Chicken Hacks on the Chick-fil-A Secret Menu

 

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

I was amazed at this legit hack on the Spicy Chicken Sandwich. Extra pickles give it good texture and tie the whole thing together. It’s literally the same price as any other sandwich — about $4.30 — since sauce packets and extra pickles are free.

  • Order a Spicy Chicken Sandwich
  • Add extra pickles
  • Get 2 packs of buffalo sauce (you have to add it yourself)
  • Optional: Make it an Original sandwich instead of spicy if you want to tone it down

 

Taco Chicken Burger

When I found this Chick-fil-A hack online, people said you could order sliced and diced lettuce and tomatoes, but that wasn’t an option at my local Chick-fil-A. So I improvised and came up with something that tastes like a Mexican chicken salad burger — and it’s the same price as the regular menu item (around $5).

  • Order a Spicy Deluxe Chicken Sandwich
  • Pepper jack cheese
  • Ask for it well done — it’s crispier
  • Ask for a packet of creamy salsa
  • Ask for a packet or two of tortilla strips
  • Add the salsa and tortilla strips to the top bun

 

Chick-n-Mac Sandwich

Another self-assembly marvel, this wacky secret menu combo is worth a few seconds of your time to finish. It’s quite tasty; although at more than $7.25, it’s hardly an economical option.

  • Order an Original Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich
  • No pickles
  • Order a Macaroni & Cheese
  • Scoop the mac onto the chicken patty, close bun

Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad Sandwich

A chicken and bacon sandwich in cardboard takeout food box from chick-fil-a

I discovered something HUGE with this Chick-fil-A hack: You can ask for the shredded grilled chicken on sandwiches! It’s some of the BEST chicken at Chick-fil-A and is typically reserved for the Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap and some salads. They’ll have to run back and tell the kitchen team, but this moment of awkwardness was worth it. It’s one of the best Chick-fil-A secret menu creations of the bunch, IMO, and well worth the $7 or so.

  • Order a Grilled Chicken Sandwich
  • Substitute the standard bun for the multigrain brioche bun
  • Substitute the grilled chicken patty for the sliced grilled chicken
  • Add lettuce
  • Add tomato
  • Add bacon (if you want to save $1.10, leave it off, but I wouldn’t)
  • Ask for two packets of Garden Herb Ranch
  • Add the ranch to the inside of both buns

 

 

Treats & Desserts on the Chick-fil-a Secret Menu

 

Root Beer Float

A person using a spoon to scoop ice cream from a root beer float in a Chick-fil-a cup.

If you’re looking for a fast-food root beer float (or a float made with another soda), head to A&W if you have one nearby; they’re roughly only $3.30. That said, A&W’s floats aren’t made with Icedream. Yum.

This is one of the most well-known secret menu items at Chick-fil-A, but you’ll want to tell your cashier that’s what you want. This is what will appear on your receipt if you order a large for about $4:

  • Order a medium root beer
  • Order a large Icedream
  • Ask them to combine the items

 

Frosted Arnold Palmer

A frosted Chick-fil-A drink with a person taking the lid off off the cup.

Frosted Lemonade started out as a secret menu item until its popularity forced Chick-fil-A to make it official. An Arnold Palmer is a drink that’s equal parts lemonade and iced tea. Add the Icedream soft serve and it’s easily the best treat on the secret menu for around $4.

  • Order a large frosted lemonade
  • Say you want it Arnold Palmer style

There’s also another twist on this: Frosted Strawberry Lemonade, which costs about $4.40. You can ask for it by name, but in case you get a newbie who doesn’t know this menu hack, order this:

  • Order a large frosted lemonade
  • Add a scoop of strawberry topping
  • Also available as a regular lemonade if you want to spend a little less (and not have the ice cream)

 

Cookie Icedream Sandwich

The kitchen moves quickly at Chick-fil-A, and they don’t have time to assemble this for you, so you have to get the pieces and make it yourself. Don’t worry; it’s quick and worth it — because it’s one of the best cookie/ice cream sandwiches $4 or so can buy.

  • Order two chocolate chunk cookies
  • Order a kids Icedream cup
  • Place the Icedream soft serve between the cookies; squish together

Tip: For a slightly (very slightly) healthier Icedream menu hack, make an Icedream Fruit Cup, which is as easy as ordering a side order of fruit and an Icedream cup.

 

Miniature Oreo Sundae

There’s no sundae on the Chick-fil-A menu, but if you use this menu hack, you’ll strike dessert gold — and it’s one of the best values on the secret menu at around $1.50.

  • Order a kids’ Icedream cup
  • Add chocolate syrup
  • Add Oreo topping, whipped cream, and a cherry

 

Double Cookie Milkshake

A person's hand picking up a Chick-fil-a cookie from a table next to a milkshake and bag.

A Chick-fil-A Cookies & Cream Milkshake is great, but what if you added even more cookie? And it’ll only cost you an additional $1.55.

  • Order a Cookies & Cream Milkshake ($4.29)
  • Add a Chocolate Chunk Cookie ($1.55)
  • Crumble the cookie over your milkshake and mix together
A close up on a Chick-fil-A milkshake with cookie crumbles added to it.

 

Breakfast on the Chick-fil-A Secret Menu

When you’re on the go and you want something tasty, Chick-fil-A has some great breakfast options. These get even better with a few customization hacks.

Related: What time does Chick-fil-A stop serving breakfast?

 

Grilled Chicken Bagel

You can get a breakfast bagel sandwich at Chick-fil-A with a few customization hacks for just over $5.

  • Order an Egg White Grill
  • Ask for a bagel with cream cheese instead of an English muffin
  • Ask for Colby jack cheese instead of American cheese
  • Add tomato

 

Spicy Chicken, Egg & Cheese Biscuit

This is a pretty simple twist on the Chicken, Egg & Cheese Biscuit — and it’s no more expensive than the regular version of this item (around $6.20).

  • Order the Chicken, Egg & Cheese Biscuit
  • Ask for a spicy chicken patty instead of the original chicken patty
  • Optional: Add Sriracha if you’re feeling especially brave; add tomato if you want to tone down the spiciness

 

Other Chick-fil-A Secret Menu Hacks

 

Chick-fil-A BLT

A bacon lettuce tomato sandwich open in a cardboard takeout box from chick-fil-a

What? A BLT at Chick-fil-A? Yep. It’s pretty tasty, too, with the multigrain brioche bun. And it’s pretty cheap at just over $2.

  • Order a multigrain brioche bun
  • Add lettuce, tomato and bacon
  • Ask for a packet of mayo

 

Bacon Grilled Cheese Sandwich

It’s pretty great that you can just order a bun at Chick-fil-A and add things to it; it’s cheap and opens up possibilities, and thinking outside the box is how you get the Chick-fil-A grilled cheese. Its only weakness? The cheese might not be quite melted. I recommend bacon or tomato to add flavor and take away from the weirdness of a not-fully-melted grilled cheese (but it’s still hard to beat at just over $2.50).

  • Order a buttered bun
  • Add American or cheddar cheese
  • Add bacon
  • Ask for it to be toasted (if it’s not busy, ask for it to be double toasted)

 

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese

A Buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese secret menu item sitting on a table inside chick-fil-a.

If you’re like me and wish Chick-fil-A’s mac had a little more punch, this is the answer. You have to assemble it, though. Get as many or as few nuggets or strips as makes sense. I got a 4-count of nuggets and wished I had ordered 6 – 8. The advantage of a smaller nugget count, though, is price (around $5.40). You’ll get bonus points for using Chick-fil-A’s seasonal heart-shaped Valentine’s Day nuggets (which also make a tasty gift for your beloved).

  • Order a macaroni & cheese
  • Order a 4-piece nugget (or more if you want)
  • Ask for 2 – 3 buffalo sauce packs
  • Combine in the macaroni bowl

Note: Add bacon to the macaroni instead of chicken and save $1.

 

Low-Calorie Chicken Sandwiches

The regular Chick-fil-A Original Chicken Sandwich is 440 calories. A few tweaks gets you down to 230 – 270, all for around $4!

  • Order a Chick-fil-A Grilled Chicken Sandwich, hold the butter on the bun (270 calories)
  • Order a Chick-fil-A Original Chicken Sandwich, ask for no bun and for it to be wrapped in green leaf lettuce (230 calories)

 

Extra-Crispy Waffle Fries

You can basically ask for anything that’s cooked to be “well done” for no extra charge, which means extra-crispy waffle fries for about $1.70. It may take a few more minutes — and if you’re in a drive-thru, you may have to go to the special pickup spot while you wait — but it adds some crunch.

You can do this with waffle fries, chicken patties, nuggets, strips, and bacon.

 

Fried Chicken Club

The most souped-up “burger” you can get at Chick-fil-A isn’t on the menu. It’s the Chicken Club — but with the original chicken patty rather than the grilled one for the same price of about $5.60. Sure, the calories are a bit higher, but the taste is bonkers.

  • Order a Chick-fil-A Chicken Club
  • Substitute the grilled chicken patty for the original chicken patty
  • American cheese, lettuce, bacon, and tomato
  • Optional: add mayo

 

 

Fictional Chick-fil-A Secret Menu Items

Some items you’ll read about online might be possible from a Chick-fil-A employee with some time on their hands but aren’t accessible to those of us on the other side of the counter. The following items are myths — don’t try to order them because you might get a polite chuckle out of your cashier:

 

Quesadilla

Chick-fil-A carries tortillas — sort of. They have what they call a “flatbread” that is used for the Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap.

Lots of secret menu lists include the quesadilla, so I thought it would be something Chick-fil-A is used to making. But my store said they were unable to make a quesadilla using the flatbread — whether it was because of the time it took to create it or because they didn’t have the equipment to do so.

 

Anything That Requires Blending

I saw lots of people saying they could get specialty shakes at Chick-fil-A, where you’d order a milkshake, a treat (such as a brownie or cookie), and have the employees blend them together for dessert nirvana.

My local Chick-fil-A said they don’t have the ability to blend drinks like that, but if you order each ingredient separately, there’s no stopping you from combining them yourself. It just won’t be as smooth as you’d like.

 

 

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