Chick-fil-A is most famous for its chicken sandwiches, but America’s third-largest fast-food chain isn’t limited to breaded poultry alone. Its half-tea, half-lemonade Sunjoy is one of the industry’s most iconic beverages and its recurring peach milkshake is a beloved limited-time indulgence every summer. Right now, the popular chain is offering two seasonal fruit-flavored libations: a Banana Pudding Milkshake and a Banana Frosted Coffee, both officially joining the menu on Aug. 26.
The Banana Pudding Milkshake is made with the chain’s Icedream dessert blended with real bananas and crushed-up vanilla wafer cookies. It’s also topped with a hefty helping of whipped cream and a maraschino cherry. This shake, which first appeared on Chick-fil-A’s menu in 2011, is a popular seasonal offering that the restaurant brings back annually, so if you missed it last year, you have another chance. It joins the vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and cookies and cream milkshakes on the current menu.
Meanwhile, the Banana Frosted Coffee is part-shake and part-iced coffee. It’s made with cold-brewed coffee, Icedream dessert, banana, and vanilla wafer cookie crumbles. This drink is a brand-new addition, though the chain introduced its regular slushy-like frosted coffee back in 2016.
Both new items are available only until Nov. 16, while supplies last. If neither seems like your cup of tea—or, in this case, frosty drink—the chain also launched a new fried chicken sandwich recently, the Spicy Honey Pepper Pimento Chicken Sandwich.
I love anything banana-flavored, so I knew I had to try out the new additions. The Banana Pudding Milkshake and Banana Frosted Coffee sounded intriguing—a banana pudding milkshake, I mean, come on. As it turned out, I liked one far better than the other. Read ahead to discover which one came out on top.
Banana Frosted Coffee
Nutrition: (Per 1 Drink)
Calories: 480
Fat: 9 g (Saturated Fat: 5 g)
Sodium: 180 mg
Carbs: 94 g (Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 74 g)
Protein: 8 g
“Banana” and “coffee” aren’t two words you often see together, especially when it comes to the flavor of a drink. Still, I was curious to try this new frosted coffee option, available for a limited time. What I got was something that was lacking in flavor and confusing in texture. I paid $6.09 for this drink, which I would have to say is an acquired taste.
The look: I know that Chick-fil-A’s frosted coffee is different from a regular iced coffee, but for some reason, I was still expecting a liquidy, Starbucks-esque iced coffee with ice cubes and all—not a drink that resembled Dunkin’ Coolatas or Starbucks Frappuccinos. (I went through a phase in grade school where I ordered these more often than I probably should have, so I know them well.) In short: If you’re not familiar with Chick-fil-A’s frosted coffees,, the consistency of it is more like a blended shake rather than a thin, water-based iced coffee.
Consistency aside, it was served in the same see-through cup as the banana pudding milkshake and had a light brown-tan hue. It also melted quickly, creating a messy “sweat-like” condensation on the outside of the cup that dripped down my hand as I sipped from its paper straw. All in all, this drink looked good enough but could also use an insulated sleeve or cup.
The taste: Vaguely like banana. I could barely taste the banana flavor, and when I finally did, it didn’t mesh well with the overpowering coffee taste. I also didn’t notice much of the crushed-up vanilla wafer cookies since they got soggy fast, bobbing around in the slushy mixture. The deep coffee flavor overpowered the banana flavor, and the aftertaste was all coffee, no fruit. If I ever order this drink again in the future—which it looks like I won’t—I would ask for some extra banana in it so the two contrasting flavors don’t have to compete so much.
Banana Pudding Milkshake
Nutrition: (Per 1 Shake)
Calories: 700
Fat: 22 g (Saturated Fat: 14 g, Trans Fat: 1 g)
Sodium: 370 mg
Carbs: 117 g (Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 97 g)
Protein: 12 g
Banana pudding is one of my favorite desserts, so I was immediately excited when I learned that Chick-fil-A added this new milkshake flavor. Much to my delight, the Banana Pudding Milkshake was flavorful and packed with exciting mix-ins like vanilla wafer cookies and toppings. However, it could use an insulated cup or sleeve to help with condensation. I paid $6.19 for a milkshake that anyone who likes banana pudding should try.
The look: Like other Chick-fil-A shakes I’ve had in the past, this one was ready for its close-up when it was handed over to me. It was attractively assembled in a see-through cup, topped with whipped cream, and finished with a maraschino cherry. Its color was a very light yellow cream, with bits of vanilla wafer cookies visible through the transparent cup.
However, the shake melted quickly, becoming thin in a matter of minutes, and the whipped cream went flat faster than I’d like. I kept wiping the sides down, and the condensation kept coming—it wasn’t even that hot out. Other chains, like Five Guys, have insulated cups that help the shake keep its thick and creamy consistency longer. I’ve seen other Chick-fil-A locations serve their shakes in styrofoam cups, and if my location offered an insulated sleeve in the least, I bet it would help avoid this.
The taste: Wonderfully fruity. I honestly had very low expectations in the taste department for this shake. I recently tried the vanilla and strawberry shakes from Chick-fil-A and found them both to be lacking in the taste department. If anything, they tasted strangely like butter. Instead, this shake was bursting with banana flavor. It had a fruity, natural flavor and didn’t taste synthetic or over-the-top. The bits of crushed up cookies were also a nice touch. I’m a huge fan of banana pudding. (New York-based Magnolia Bakery has one of my favorites.) And this truly tasted like a homemade banana pudding that was frozen and blended.
Packing 97 grams of sugar, this shake may be too sweet for some, but I imagine this drink would pair well with one of the restaurant’s crispy chicken sandwiches to cut through the saltiness.
The Verdict
If you’re into bananas, both drinks are worth a try, but the banana pudding shake is a much better option than the frosted banana coffee. Not only does it actually taste strongly of banana, but the flavors of the fruit, frozen dessert base, and vanilla wafer cookies meshed together seamlessly to create a delicious treat. The downside is, it’s only around for a limited time, so make sure to give it a try before it disappears in November.
