This thing is not spicy at all. I would go as far as to say their regular spicy chicken sandwich is spicier than this thing.
by xThunderSlugx
29 Comments
WhiskySamurai
This was a massive let down but none of the “special” Popeyes sandwiches have been as good as the regular spicy one. The truff one was really bad. Fast food brands want to have every menu item accessible to everyone but at the same time market as if they’re reaching every niche.
Powerful-Meeting-840
Dang they ghosted you with the spicy part of the sandwich I guess. Maybe tell them they forgot to ghost pepper part and get a mew sandwich to see if it’s really not spicy or if they just didn’t make it correctly.
But any chain place I don’t expect really spicy. I’m happy with kind of spicy at chain places.
Got to go to local Thai/Mexican/Indian places if you want really spicy.
ChalkLicker
Spicy/ghost are about the same. I wish companies would stop marketing “ghost” products. 99% are gibberish and I don’t understand the point. Those that prefer heat will be let down, like you were, and the non-spice people would never buy it. Just don’t understand the thinking here.
GoatLegRedux
I went in knowing that it wasn’t going to be any reasonable amount of spice that ghost pepper would be associated with. And with that, I thought it was better than what I expected. That’s the trick with any major chain “superhot” offerings. Go in with extremely low expectations and you won’t be bummed when it’s still milder than eating a jalapeño.
Master-namer-
All of their *ghost pepper* stuff is a complete letdown. Ghost pepper wings were good (though not spicy at all), but even their quality has been below par.
slowerlearner1212
I thought the exact same thing. Not spicy in the slightest.
BearSSBM
They season these by opening a bottle of ghost pepper seasoning 2 feet away from the chicken
ratchetcoutoure
I tried it the other day and I agree. It’s just savory, no bite at all.
GOD69345
It tastes good, but it really wasn’t spicy at all.
DeliciousPumpkinPie
I don’t get how companies can get away with calling something “ghost pepper ___” when it only contains like 0.01% ghost pepper. If you want to be able to round 2 calories per serving down to 0, you shouldn’t be able to round up the tiniest sprinkling of ghost peppers.
glorythrives
while it’s not really spicy the flavor is good and somehow the sandwich is better than 99% of “hot chicken” places that have popped up in the last decade
FowlKreacher
Try Wendy’s ghost pepper spicy (if they still have it). That shit was bomb and actually had a decent kick
Hefty-Ninja-7106
I love Wendy’s ghost pepper “nuggs”. Spicy enough that my boyfriend can’t eat them.
IwKuAo
Maybe they save money by using tiny amounts of the hottest ghost peppers, instead of larger amounts of less hot peppers 😅 I agree it’s a scam
nosybystander
Agreed. Remember when people were fighting over the chicken sandwich? Wild times for something so incredibly regular.
Clean-Software-4431
I’m so tired of fast food places like Popeyes saying they have this new spicy item, ghost pepper this time, just for it to not even be spicy or tasty.
The regular Sammie is way better. But if they had a legit spicy one I would be all for it. Just can’t forget flavor as well as spice.
Never-Dont-Give-Up
What!? Popeyes sucks!? Holy shit!
WeathervaneJesus1
Popeyes is overrated in general. I don’t get the hype.
medicated_in_PHL
I always say it, but these national chains make food so that it will sell as well in Provo, Utah as it does in New York.
It will never be legitimately spicy.
kalitarios
I have yet to find any mainstream food to come close to the flavor and heat any number of artisanal hot sauces provide to a regular sandwich. Mainstream relies on gimmicks and perceptions. Think about it; if they made an actual “ghost” or “reaper” sandwich and someone’s mom got a hot mouth from it, they would have lawsuits out the ass. It’s not worth the risk. And most “spicy” foods you get from fast food establishments are just cayenne pepper powder mixed into the sauce or batter or rely on vinegar and/or jalapenos.
Seriously, get a nice $5-10 bottle of artisan small-business hot sauce and add it to a regular sandwich and see how much more value there is in the bottle, and you can re-use the bottle many times instead of a one-and done promotional sandwich.
A1Aaron18
I wish restaurants would start doing reaper sandwiches instead of ghost and actually make it spicy. I prefer the flavor of reaper anyways
I took this photo a few days ago when ordering at Popeyes — their “Signature Hot” is absolutely intended to be hotter than ghost pepper, for whatever reason.
The problem is is the expectation that any large chain brand will actually be as hot as they claim. Just like the same way when we order something extra spicy/hot at a place and have to reassure the person we can handle it. Never expect national brands to hit the advertised level of spice.
Most people love the idea of spice, just the problem that most people can’t even eat a raw Jalapeno without it being too much. These are the same people that will buy something hot, but not understand the jump in spice levels when you go from Jalapeno>Habanero>Ghost pepper. These are the people once the realize a true ghost pepper is painfully hot, they demand a refund because they can’t eat it.
Good example is even from my own experience. Me and the wife were entertaining some friends. My wife loves making buffalo chicken dip for those occasions, however we know our spice tolerance is above normal, so we make a tame version of it for everyone to enjoy. We then take extra hot sauce to add to our dipping bowl to make ours hotter. One of the people saw me upping the spice, wanted to add more spice to it. I warned him the hot sauce is superhot and probably won’t need more than 3-4 drops to burn himself with it. I think he took that as a challenge and put in 4-5. He took one bite of it, and ended up tossing the rest in the trash, because he could not handle it.
SlickStretch
I thought it was great! It has about the same heat level as the regular spicy chicken sandwich, but with very distinct ghost pepper flavors. I don’t think making it spicier was their goal.
Spiderx1016
Only fast food sandwich that I’ve found that’s actually spicy, Dave’s reaper. Tastes like shit though.
zigaliciousone
Should market it as “ghost pepper flavored” but even that is a stretch. I do like whatever they put in their spicy wing sauce though, it isn’t incredibly spicy but it does have kick and a nice, sweet finish
29 Comments
This was a massive let down but none of the “special” Popeyes sandwiches have been as good as the regular spicy one. The truff one was really bad. Fast food brands want to have every menu item accessible to everyone but at the same time market as if they’re reaching every niche.
Dang they ghosted you with the spicy part of the sandwich I guess. Maybe tell them they forgot to ghost pepper part and get a mew sandwich to see if it’s really not spicy or if they just didn’t make it correctly.
But any chain place I don’t expect really spicy. I’m happy with kind of spicy at chain places.
Got to go to local Thai/Mexican/Indian places if you want really spicy.
Spicy/ghost are about the same. I wish companies would stop marketing “ghost” products. 99% are gibberish and I don’t understand the point. Those that prefer heat will be let down, like you were, and the non-spice people would never buy it. Just don’t understand the thinking here.
I went in knowing that it wasn’t going to be any reasonable amount of spice that ghost pepper would be associated with. And with that, I thought it was better than what I expected. That’s the trick with any major chain “superhot” offerings. Go in with extremely low expectations and you won’t be bummed when it’s still milder than eating a jalapeño.
All of their *ghost pepper* stuff is a complete letdown. Ghost pepper wings were good (though not spicy at all), but even their quality has been below par.
I thought the exact same thing. Not spicy in the slightest.
They season these by opening a bottle of ghost pepper seasoning 2 feet away from the chicken
I tried it the other day and I agree. It’s just savory, no bite at all.
It tastes good, but it really wasn’t spicy at all.
I don’t get how companies can get away with calling something “ghost pepper ___” when it only contains like 0.01% ghost pepper. If you want to be able to round 2 calories per serving down to 0, you shouldn’t be able to round up the tiniest sprinkling of ghost peppers.
while it’s not really spicy the flavor is good and somehow the sandwich is better than 99% of “hot chicken” places that have popped up in the last decade
Try Wendy’s ghost pepper spicy (if they still have it). That shit was bomb and actually had a decent kick
I love Wendy’s ghost pepper “nuggs”. Spicy enough that my boyfriend can’t eat them.
Maybe they save money by using tiny amounts of the hottest ghost peppers, instead of larger amounts of less hot peppers 😅 I agree it’s a scam
Agreed. Remember when people were fighting over the chicken sandwich? Wild times for something so incredibly regular.
I’m so tired of fast food places like Popeyes saying they have this new spicy item, ghost pepper this time, just for it to not even be spicy or tasty.
The regular Sammie is way better. But if they had a legit spicy one I would be all for it. Just can’t forget flavor as well as spice.
What!? Popeyes sucks!? Holy shit!
Popeyes is overrated in general. I don’t get the hype.
I always say it, but these national chains make food so that it will sell as well in Provo, Utah as it does in New York.
It will never be legitimately spicy.
I have yet to find any mainstream food to come close to the flavor and heat any number of artisanal hot sauces provide to a regular sandwich. Mainstream relies on gimmicks and perceptions. Think about it; if they made an actual “ghost” or “reaper” sandwich and someone’s mom got a hot mouth from it, they would have lawsuits out the ass. It’s not worth the risk. And most “spicy” foods you get from fast food establishments are just cayenne pepper powder mixed into the sauce or batter or rely on vinegar and/or jalapenos.
Seriously, get a nice $5-10 bottle of artisan small-business hot sauce and add it to a regular sandwich and see how much more value there is in the bottle, and you can re-use the bottle many times instead of a one-and done promotional sandwich.
I wish restaurants would start doing reaper sandwiches instead of ghost and actually make it spicy. I prefer the flavor of reaper anyways
Idk, I loved it
https://preview.redd.it/mzjrom3r8ioe1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=959340cf7a26b2b1ef2989a78e4b0cbb336390c5
I took this photo a few days ago when ordering at Popeyes — their “Signature Hot” is absolutely intended to be hotter than ghost pepper, for whatever reason.
[My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.](https://youtu.be/17KmNrG9pE4?si=-y8PZ53XwU9KYtE0)
Popeyes is always a let down in my area at least.
The problem is is the expectation that any large chain brand will actually be as hot as they claim. Just like the same way when we order something extra spicy/hot at a place and have to reassure the person we can handle it. Never expect national brands to hit the advertised level of spice.
Most people love the idea of spice, just the problem that most people can’t even eat a raw Jalapeno without it being too much. These are the same people that will buy something hot, but not understand the jump in spice levels when you go from Jalapeno>Habanero>Ghost pepper. These are the people once the realize a true ghost pepper is painfully hot, they demand a refund because they can’t eat it.
Good example is even from my own experience. Me and the wife were entertaining some friends. My wife loves making buffalo chicken dip for those occasions, however we know our spice tolerance is above normal, so we make a tame version of it for everyone to enjoy. We then take extra hot sauce to add to our dipping bowl to make ours hotter. One of the people saw me upping the spice, wanted to add more spice to it. I warned him the hot sauce is superhot and probably won’t need more than 3-4 drops to burn himself with it. I think he took that as a challenge and put in 4-5. He took one bite of it, and ended up tossing the rest in the trash, because he could not handle it.
I thought it was great! It has about the same heat level as the regular spicy chicken sandwich, but with very distinct ghost pepper flavors. I don’t think making it spicier was their goal.
Only fast food sandwich that I’ve found that’s actually spicy, Dave’s reaper. Tastes like shit though.
Should market it as “ghost pepper flavored” but even that is a stretch. I do like whatever they put in their spicy wing sauce though, it isn’t incredibly spicy but it does have kick and a nice, sweet finish