- TikTok creator Johnny Novo has reviewed 25 grocery retailer rotisserie chickens since March in a collection known as “Rooster Wars,” ranking them primarily based on style, texture, and worth.
- Fairway Market earned the highest spot with a 9.1/10 ranking for its moist Pollo Asado hen, adopted carefully by Publix and The Contemporary Market.
- Novo emphasizes moist hen breast and daring seasoning as key components for a excessive rating, typically favoring shops with flavorful, well-textured birds like these from Wegmans, Sprouts, Jubilee Market, and Acme.
Rotisserie hen is a weeknight savior in lots of households, and it’s probably the greatest leftover elements to have within the fridge for remodeling into shredded hen dips, quesadillas, salads, and even hen pot pie.
Not all rotisserie chickens are alike; one must be crispy and completely glazed on the skin whereas being juicy on the within. As prospects have clearly expressed their love for these handy proteins, grocery shops and grocery store chains throughout the nation—together with each giant chains and regional favorites—have developed their very own variations of rotisserie chickens. Naturally, somebody needed to rank them.
Johnny Novo (@jnov__) is a meals content material creator on a distinct segment (however essential) mission: discovering the very best grocery retailer rotisserie hen. It began in March this yr when he posted his first rotisserie hen evaluation and launched this journey to his followers. In a humorous voiceover, Novo says, “The subsequent section of my evolution as a person is to start out reviewing all of the grocery retailer rotisserie chickens.” He says that this is likely one of the greatest gadgets you may get from a grocery retailer — and we agree.
Novo calls this collection “Rooster Wars” and is totally dedicated to the duty. Since March, he has reviewed 25 rotisserie chickens, all from numerous grocery shops. His movies persistently spotlight the worth of the hen first, adopted by his stay style check and evaluation of the poultry. After the primary 20 opinions, the creator posted his rankings to this point in April, noting that he nonetheless has extra work to do.
After testing the primary 20 grocery shops, three chickens needed to accept the underside spots within the rankings: these had been from the regional supermarkets Morton Williams, Butterfield Market, and Vons.
Novo has already sampled rotisserie chickens from a variety of main grocery shops, together with Walmart, Entire Meals, Costco, Publix, and Albertsons. Some giant chains dominated the highest rankings, whereas in different cases, smaller shops emerged victorious. Listed below are the seven greatest rotisserie chickens that this skilled has recognized to this point.
Fairway Market
After the primary 20 opinions, New York Metropolis-based grocery store Fairway Market emerged because the clear winner within the grocery retailer hen wars, with Novo awarding it a 9.1 out of 10. Fairway’s Pollo Asado Rotisserie Rooster is seasoned with conventional Latin spices, and Novo notes that a number of viewers requested he evaluation this particular hen, regardless of the grocery retailer being a small chain.
“That is wanting phenomenal,” says the rotisserie connoisseur at first look as he admires the feel of the meat and the crispy, well-seasoned pores and skin. He’s particularly impressed by how moist the meat is, saying, “It’s not dry in any respect. This could be the very best grocery retailer rotisserie hen I’ve had.”
Publix
In second place on the rotisserie hen rankings is none apart from Publix, the Florida-based grocery store chain that has avid followers all through the Southern United States.
In his evaluation, Novo notes that lots of his followers extremely requested the Publix Deli Mojo Oven Roasted Rooster. He charges this merchandise a exceptional 9 out of 10, citing its flavorful, well-seasoned pores and skin infused with lime and garlic, in addition to the exceptionally moist hen breast, which is usually susceptible to drying out.
The Contemporary Market
Customers on the East Coast could be accustomed to medium-sized grocery chain The Contemporary Market. As Novo evaluates the butter, garlic, and thyme-flavored hen, he says that “this could be the very best pores and skin” he’s had. In keeping with the creator, the breast meat is flavorful and completely tender, incomes it an 8.9 out of 10. If you find yourself loving this hen, the grocery store additionally presents one other taste possibility: its Roasted White Wine Herb Rooster.
Sprouts
Along with a plain possibility, Sprouts presents three flavors of rotisserie hen: pollo asado, barbecue, and herb. Novo opted for the limited-edition pollo asado roasted hen to guage. Whereas he notes that the pores and skin “is a bit of soggy,” he finds this acceptable provided that it’s a “bag rotisserie hen.” The meat’s tenderness and the flavorful seasoning on the pores and skin in the end impressed him, main him to fee it an 8.6.
Wegmans
Wegmans is the place all of it started for Novo and his hen wars collection. As the primary evaluation within the quest to seek out the very best grocery retailer hen, the Wegmans rotisserie hen obtained an 8.5 out of 10 from the creator again in March.
Within the evaluation video, the hen appears well-seasoned and crispy, topped with a beneficiant quantity of rosemary on the pores and skin. Since this preliminary evaluation, Novo has sampled over 20 grocery retailer chickens, making it no shock that Wegmans has dropped to fifth place on the record. Nonetheless, when the creator first tasted the Wegmans Rosemary Roasted Rooster, he was instantly impressed. “I don’t know what’s going to beat this,” he remarked — and now we’ve got the reply.
Jubilee Market
Brooklyn-based grocery store Jubilee Market is situated in Greenpoint and solely sells chickens sourced from broadly revered meat wholesaler Pat LaFrieda. Novo notes that the grocery store’s hen is priced equally to Costco’s, which is shocking contemplating the warehouse retailer is understood for its affordability — and Jubilee’s hen even outranked this towering competitor by way of taste and texture.
Previous to tasting the poultry from Jubilee, he observes that the meat appears pretty dry, however he’s then pleasantly shocked by how juicy it seems to be. Novo can be happy with how the meat falls off the bone, however the star of the present was as soon as once more the seasoning, making the poultry worthy of an 8.4 out of 10.
Acme
From the Northeastern grocery chain Acme, Novo reviewed and rated the Lemon Pepper Roasted Rooster. When he first takes the hen out of the bag, it’s visibly very juicy. He observes a “little little bit of dryness” within the hen, however nonetheless finds it to be “fairly tender for a breast.” For him, what makes this poultry actually scrumptious and above common is the hen’s leg and thigh, incomes it an 8.3 out of 10.
In keeping with Novo, when ranking chickens and reviewing them on the spot, he believes {that a} rotisserie hen qualifies as “a really elite hen if the breast is moist too.” A grocery retailer will probably obtain a rating from him within the 9 vary if the breast is “excellent,” as he explains within the Acme evaluation. So, in the event you’re somebody who hates a dry hen breast — or one of many many individuals who depend on rotisserie chickens for meal prep — you would possibly need to hold tuning in to his poultry opinions.