Burger King and Wendy's both just debuted new Italian-style sandwiches as the chicken sandwiches wars heat back up. Here's how they compare.

After two years of high poultry prices, chicken is once again affordable — prompting the fast-food chicken sandwich wars to rev back up.

Source: Insider

Along with a whole slate of new chicken items across fast food companies, Burger King and Wendy's are both selling Italian-inspired chicken sandwiches.

It's not very surprising that the competing burger chains would roll out such similar items right now, CEO and president of Kalinowski Equity Associates Mark Kalinowski told Insider.

Kalinowski said Italian flavors are "widely popular" with broad appeal, and the two biggest casual dining chains, Applebee's and Olive Garden, both serve plenty of Italian food.

Chains usually have a good idea of what items their competitors are testing, so that may have spurred one of them to speed up the rollout to put the items head to head, according to Kalinowski.

I tried both to see how they compare.

First, I went to Burger King for the Italian Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich.

The sandwich comes on a shiny potato bun.

It includes a chicken breast, marinara sauce, and a few slices of mozzarella.

Burger King does chicken sandwiches really well, and this was no exception.

The chicken was juicy, with crispy breading, and the amount of cheese felt generous.

There was just enough marinara sauce to get the taste in every bite without becoming messy or making the sandwich soggy.

It's simple, with just three ingredients between the buns, but it works really well.

I'd eat it again for sure.

I paid $10.09 for a meal with fries and a drink, but the sandwich sells by itself for $5.89 in Rochester, New York.

Next I tried the Italian Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich from Wendy's.

It's similar to the Burger King sandwich, with a breaded chicken breast, marinara sauce, asiago cheese, and what Wendy's calls "Ooey-gooey fried mozzarella cheese."

That's all served on a garlic knot bun.

I was really excited to try this sandwich when Wendy's announced it.

The fried mozzarella is essentially like adding a mozzarella stick to a chicken sandwich, which sounded like a great combination to me.

Unfortunately, it was a major disappointment.

It sounds like a good idea, but the sandwich was just too dry and had far too much bread compared to anything else.

Between the bun, the breaded chicken, and the breading on the mozzarella, it was too much.

Maybe more sauce and cheese would have helped.

Wendy's take on the sandwich was considerably more expensive, at $7.99, and I wouldn't order it again.

As fast food chains continue to invest in chicken sandwich deals and prices stay low, it's possible there will be more experimentation with chicken dishes on menus in 2023.

Do you have a story to share about a retail or restaurant chain? Email this reporter at mmeisenzahl@businessinsider.com.