Technologies

McDonald’s Snack Wraps Are Back but Was It Worth the Wait?

Review: McDonald’s Chicken Snack Wraps are back and I sampled both varieties on release day. Here’s what I think.

McDonald’s Snack Wraps, a chicken-tortilla entree that’s been missing from US locations of the Golden Arches, flew back into US restaurants on July 10 — and after all this build-up, I had to try both flavor varieties right away.

McDonald’s Snack Wraps first came out in 2006 and were meant to be a chicken item that would appeal to drive-thru customers because they’re less messy to eat while traveling. Both of the two varieties include white-meat chicken strips known as McCrispy Strips wrapped in a flour tortilla with shredded cheese and lettuce. McCrispy Strips are a reworked version of a chicken item formerly known as Chicken Selects.

McDonald’s Ranch Snack Wrap is worth the wait

If there’s a basic or classic version of the two Snack Wrap varieties offered, it’s the Ranch Snack Wrap. It consists of one McCrispy chicken strip wrapped in a flour tortilla, sprinkled with shredded lettuce and shredded cheese, and lightly doused with the chain’s McCrispy Ranch Sauce.

Honestly, I was a little worried that the Ranch Snack Wrap wouldn’t live up to all the hype. Two days before the McDonald’s wraps came out, I tried out the very similar chicken snack wraps at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, another fast-food franchise that’s jumped on the snack wrap bandwagon. And they were delicious — but then, chicken is Popeyes’ reason for being. Those wraps were so good, in fact, that I wondered if McDonald’s, not a chicken franchise by nature, could possibly compete.

Good news: The McDonald’s Ranch Snack Wrap is delicious, and just about as good as Popeyes’ version. You’ll notice right away that it’s weirdly designed. The tortilla is huge compared to the relatively small chicken piece, and if you don’t slide the chicken up your first few mouthfuls will be plain tortilla and little else.

But the chicken is fresh and juicy, the cheese and lettuce are decent add-ons and the ranch sauce brings in a creamy taste of herbs and spices that blends well with the chicken. Note that the sauce delivery was kind of hit-or-miss, so you might want to add a shot of your own ranch dressing if you want an even distribution of sauce.

But it’s McDonald’s, not a fancy Michelin-starred eatery, so who expects perfection? If I was eating at McDonald’s, I’d order the Ranch Snack Wrap over either a basic burger or a McChicken sandwich every day of the week.

Grade: A

McDonald’s Spicy Snack Wrap review: Sauce is the weak spot

The Spicy Snack Wrap also features one McCrispy chicken strip inside a flour tortilla, again sprinkled with shredded lettuce and cheese. But this time, the sauce is McDonald’s orangey Spicy Pepper Sauce. And that’s the problem.

I love spice, often adding Sriracha or hot honey to my sandwiches, but I actively disliked the McD Spicy Pepper Sauce. It was overly sweet and dominated each mouthful, so while the chicken itself was the same crispy juicy strip as in the Ranch Snack Wrap, its taste was buried. There’s no question that it comes with a kick, though — I was still feeling the heat 20 minutes after lunch.

If I ordered McDonald’s Snack Wraps again, I’d stick to the Ranch Snack Wraps and pass on the Spicy Snack Wraps. But if you want to try both, I noticed on McDonald’s app that you can order a mix-and-match meal including one Ranch Snack Wrap, one Spicy Snack Wrap, fries and a drink.

Grade: B-

Fans have Snack Wrap fever

Zach Ciampa, who regularly covers new food releases under the social-media handle Snach With Zach, said there’s been an intense fan base out there for the wraps.

«Regarding McDonald’s Snack Wrap, it’s by far the most requested item I’ve ever seen my audience ask or demand to come back,» he told CNET. «Not just the most requested in recent memory but the most requested of all time. And that’s not limited to McDonald’s.»

Read more: Review: McDonald’s Minecraft Meals Feature The Hottest Nugget Sauce Ever

Ciampa said the only similar fast-food items that come close to the same level of interest are Dairy Queen’s S’mores Blizzard and Taco Bell’s Caramel Apple Empanada, both of which have made recent returns.

McDonald’s is riding a viral wave. The fast-food chain’s Minecraft Happy Meals and adult Minecraft Meals hit restaurants on April 1 and sold out quickly.

A recent analysis by VegasInsider.com found that the Snack Wrap was by far the most searched for discontinued McDonald’s menu item of 2025.

What you need to know about Snack Wraps

Release date and time: The Snack Wraps are at participating McDonald’s now. You can order on the McDonald’s app, in restaurants, or in drive-thrus.

Price: At my local restaurant, Snack Wraps are priced at $3 apiece and a meal including fries and a drink was listed at $12. Prices may vary by location, A co-worker said Snack Wrap meals were $10.50 at his New York City McDonald’s.

Varieties: You can order a Snack Wrap in Spicy, which features a habanero-pepper kick, or Ranch, which features a burst of cool ranch sauce.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 29, #963

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 29 #963.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

What a fun NYT Connections puzzle today! There’s a favorite children’s story in one group, and four classic author surnames that, naturally, don’t show up in an «author surname» category. Read on for clues and all of today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Maybe it’s Maybelline.

Green group hint: Too hot, too cold, just right.

Blue group hint: Raise a cup.

Purple group hint: They all sound like words with a similar meaning.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Makeup.

Green group: Featured in Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Blue group: Ending with drinking vessels.

Purple group: Homophones of words meaning «brutal.»

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is makeup. The four answers are bronzer, foundation, liner and stain.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is featured in Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The four answers are bear, bed, Goldilocks and porridge.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is ending with drinking vessels. The four answers are fiberglass, Silverstein, smug and stumbler.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is homophones of words meaning «brutal.» The four answers are Gorey, Grimm, grizzly and Scarry.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 29, #493

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 29, No. 493.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition features some tricky terms. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Checkmate!

Green group hint: Think Nadia Comăneci.

Blue group hint: Soccer stars.

Purple group hint: H2O.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Chess pieces.

Green group: Gymnastics terms.

Blue group: Premier League Golden Boot winners.

Purple group: Water ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is chess pieces. The four answers are bishop, pawn, queen and rook.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is gymnastics terms. The four answers are handspring, round-off, salto and twist.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Premier League Golden Boot winners. The four answers are

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is water ____. The four answers are bottle, boy, hazard and polo.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Google Gives Chrome an AI Side Panel and Lets Gemini Browse for You

The update also includes Nano Banana image tools and deeper integrations with Google apps like Gmail, Calendar, Maps and Flights.

Google is turning Chrome into something closer to a digital copilot.

In the next wave of Gemini updates rolling out, Google on Wednesday revealed a set of new AI-powered features coming directly to its browser, aimed at reducing the frustrations of exploring the internet each day. Built on Gemini 3, the updates introduce an always-available side panel, deeper app integrations, creative image tools and a new browser agent called auto browse that can complete multistep tasks on your behalf.

Essentially, Google wants Chrome to be like an AI wingman that browses, compares and multitasks for you.

Now you can automate browsing

To me, the standout new addition is auto browse, a browser agent designed to handle tedious and time-consuming chores. Instead of hopping between tabs, filling out forms or manually comparing prices of things like products or flights, you can ask Chrome to do the legwork.

Auto browse can research flights and hotels across different dates, collect documents, schedule appointments, manage subscriptions and help with tasks like renewing a driver’s license or filing expense reports.

In a live demo I saw, Product Lead Charmaine D’Silva used the new tools to plan a family vacation. Gemini compared destinations and prices across multiple travel sites, checked school calendars to see when her kids were off and lined up schedules to find workable travel windows. When it came time to book, though, D’Silva emphasized that the final decision and purchase were still hers, underscoring Google’s plan to keep humans in control for key tasks like booking and purchases.

The feature is rolling out to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US now, signaling Google’s broader push toward more agentic AI experiences.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

A new side panel experience

Another update rolling out now is a redesigned Gemini side panel in Chrome, available across MacOS, Windows and Chromebook Plus. Instead of opening a separate tab, Gemini now lives alongside whatever you’re working on, making it easier to multitask without breaking your flow. Testers have used it to summarize reviews across sites, compare shopping options and juggle packed calendars while keeping their main task front and center.

AI image editing with Nano Banana

Chrome is also trying to become more creative. Google is bringing Nano Banana, its AI image editing and generation tool, directly into the browser. You can now edit and reimagine images you find on the web without downloading files or switching apps — whether that’s mocking up a living room redesign or turning raw data into an infographic at work.

Chrome connects with other Google apps

Under the hood, Gemini in Chrome is becoming more connected to the rest of Google’s ecosystem. Integrations with Gmail, Calendar, Maps, YouTube, Google Flights and Shopping will allow the assistant to pull in relevant context and take action across apps. Planning a trip, for example, could involve referencing an old email, checking flight options and drafting a follow-up email to your travel companions. Now all in one place.

More to come

Looking ahead, Google says personal intelligence is coming to Chrome in the coming months. With user opt-in, Gemini will remember context from past interactions to deliver more tailored, proactive help across the web, while giving you control over what data is connected and when.