Chipotle's adds crispy chicken to select menus

Lately, menu innovation has become a major priority for Chipotle.

At the close of its fiscal year 2025, the restaurant chain reported a 1.7% decrease in same-store sales, indicating a decline in overall foot traffic.

In an effort to win customers back, the chain launched its Recipe for Growth initiative, which includes, among other things, regular menu updates.

"This year, we have increased the cadence of menu innovation," Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright told investors during the company's most recent earnings call in April. That innovation started with the addition of protein cups, the return of Chicken al Pastor, and the introduction of Cilantro Lime Sauce.

Now, a new test item indicates where the chain may be headed next: crispy chicken.

Chipotle quietly tests crispy chicken

In May, food influencer Elie Ayrouth spotted the new breaded crispy chicken at a Chipotle location in California. In a post shared on Foodbeast's Instagram page, Ayrouth said he was able to try the new protein in both a bowl and a burrito.

While Chipotle has not officially announced the launch through its own channels, a representative for the company confirmed the test to National Restaurant News in an e-mail.

"We tested a new menu item, Crispy Chicken, in select restaurants for a limited time," the note read. "We will use guest and operational feedback to determine whether to move forward with a broader market test as part of our stage-gate process."

The new chicken is free of preservatives, gluten, and anything artificial, in keeping with the chain's existing commitment to high-quality, fresh ingredients.

Initial diner responses on platforms like Reddit have been mixed, with some excited about the prospect of another high-protein option and others worried that the breading will get soggy when mixed into their entrees.

Crispy chicken has become a major restaurant trend

Crispy chicken is having a moment in fast food. Major players such as Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane's have built entire new menus around it, while other chains like Taco Bell have found it a valuable addition to their existing menus.

In 2025, Taco Bell, one of Chipotle's direct competitors, introduced its crispy chicken lineup, adding crispy chicken nuggets, a crispy chicken taco, and a crispy chicken burrito to its menu.

"The craving for crispy chicken is growing every single day and our fans told us loud and clear: give us more. We listened, continued to innovate and have now delivered," Taco Bell Global Chief Food Innovation Officer Liz Matthews said in a statement at the time.

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By early 2026, Taco Bell said it had sold over 70 million crispy chicken menu items, attributing nearly one-quarter of all new customer acquisitions to the protein.

"Over the past year, our crispy chicken has built a loyal fanbase faster than we could've imagined - and we're just getting started," Matthews said.

Fast-food chains aren't the only ones jumping on the crispy-chicken bandwagon.

Earlier this year, I covered Chili's new Big Crispy chicken sandwich lineup, which includes six new sandwiches.

"Chicken sandwiches [are] a very large market, with over 80% of people buying them at least once last year, and is by far the biggest segment of all restaurant chicken servings," Hochman told investors during the company's Q2 FY2026 earnings call.

Chipotle's menu strategy has already delivered encouraging results

So far, Chipotle's menu innovations seem to be paying off.

In March, the company saw a modest increase of 0.5% in same-store sales. While that number still falls short of the chain's overall goals, it indicates that the Recipe for Growth strategy is a step in the right direction.

During the company's Q1 FY2026 earnings call, CFO Adam Rymer said existing menu innovations had attracted new guests and increased diner frequency over extended periods of time, not just after launch or during the run of a limited-time offer.

"These results reinforce that menu innovation is not simply a short-term sales driver, but a meaningful contributor to building our average unit volumes over time and a core pillar of our Recipe for Growth strategy," he told investors.

Given the success crispy chicken has generated for competitors, and the buzz it's already generating online, a nationwide launch could give Chipotle another meaningful traffic driver at a time when the chain is trying to reignite sales growth.

Related: McDonald's unveils 2026 FIFA World Cup Happy Meal

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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 1:47 PM.