McDonald's Could Relaunch Another Popular Chicken Item This Year (Not Just The Snack Wrap)

One of the biggest changes McDonald's announced back in 2024 was its plan to reintroduce Chicken Snack Wraps to menus by mid-2025. This caused massive excitement among fans who have been begging for the product's return ever since it disappeared in 2016. However, the news of a Chicken Snack Wrap has also sparked speculation about the potential return of another popular menu item: Chicken Selects.

In a Q4 earnings call in 2024, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski shared, "We're excited about the significant opportunity we see within our chicken portfolio and see the potential to add another point of chicken market share by the end of 2026." The discussion confirmed that a "new chicken strip offering" is being prepared for launch sooner rather than later. The same style of crispy chicken featured in the upcoming Snack Wraps could potentially be sold on its own as a new menu item.

This news has us harkening back to McDonald's Chicken Selects, a chicken tender product discontinued in the United States in 2013 — though you can still find it at McDonald's locations across the pond. Given the wording of the announcement, the exact Chicken Selects recipe we once knew is unlikely to return; however, a similarly styled chicken tender seems highly probable.

While popular menu items like Chicken McNuggets and single-patty chicken sandwiches have been mainstays at McDonald's for quite some time, the prospect of new poultry innovations may usher the fast food chain into a chicken renaissance. Back in 2021, McDonald's launched its rebranded chicken sandwich, the McCrispy. The sandwich was a major success, inspiring limited-time flavor options like the Bacon Ranch McCrispy and the Spicy McCrispy.

McDonald's continued its push in the fast food chicken sandwich race in a big way with the introduction of the Chicken Big Mac in October 2024. More chicken products appeared on McDonald's menus just one month later when Spicy McNuggets were reintroduced nationwide for a limited time after testing well in regional markets. Clearly, McDonald's is building excitement around its chicken offerings in preparation for the return of Chicken Snack Wraps — and potentially, an all-new style of chicken tender.