The 15 Best Cookout Menu Items, Ranked (2026)

Ask ten Cook Out fans for the best Cookout menu items and you will get twelve different answers usually delivered with the passion of a sports rivalry. The menu is famously huge, the tray system lets you mix and match endlessly, and everyone has a hill to die on (hush puppies vs. onion rings has ended friendships). This ranked list cuts through the debate.

Below are the 15 best things to order at Cook Out in 2026, ranked from solid to legendary covering burgers, BBQ, chicken, sides, and shakes. New here? This doubles as your first-visit playbook: start at the top and work down. For the full breakdown of how the tray works, see our Cookout burgers menu guide, and shake obsessives should check the best milkshake flavors ranking.

How We Ranked These

Three things decided the order: taste (the obvious one), value (what you get on a $7.39 tray matters), and uniqueness (items you cannot get anywhere else score higher). Reddit threads, years of fan debates, and the simple test of “would I drive twenty minutes for this” all fed the rankings. Your mileage may vary but this is the consensus list.

The Top 5: Cook Out Legends

1. The Big Double

The undisputed heavyweight. Two char-grilled patties, melty cheese, and that backyard-burger flavor no national chain quite matches. Ordered “Cook Out style” with chili, slaw, mustard, and onions, it becomes the full experience. If you only try one burger here, this is it.

2. BBQ Sandwich (Chopped Pork)

Slow-cooked chopped pork piled on a bun smoky, tender, and unmistakably Southern. This is the item that converts skeptics: people who came for the burgers leave talking about the BBQ. It anchors the BBQ section of the menu for a reason.

3. Chicken Strips

Hand-breaded, crispy, and consistently juicy the chicken strips are the safest elite pick on the board. They work as a tray entrée, and they double as the side you order when someone else’s tray looks better than yours.

4. Cheddar-Style Burger

A Cook Out original: a burger topped with a slab of melted cheddar and bacon-ish richness that eats like a completely different sandwich. Regulars order this when the Big Double feels too expected.

5. Chicken Quesadilla

The sleeper hit. Grilled tortilla, seasoned chicken, melted cheese and here is the kicker: it counts as a side on the tray, not an entrée. Ordering a quesadilla as a side is the most beloved value hack in the Cook Out universe.

Ranked 6–10: The Strong Contenders

6. Hush Puppies

Golden, crispy cornmeal nuggets that belong on every tray. The hush-puppy-vs-onion-ring debate is real, but as a side these are nearly perfect crunchy outside, soft inside.

7. Cajun Fries

The standard fries are fine; the Cajun fries are the order. Seasoned, crispy, and built for late-night cravings, they are the default side for anyone who has been more than twice.

8. Char-Grilled Chicken Breast

The “I want Cook Out but make it reasonable” pick. A properly grilled chicken breast that holds its own against the fried lineup proof the grill masters know what they are doing beyond burgers.

9. Onion Rings

Thick-cut, battered, and crunching exactly the way onion rings should. They lose the side debate to hush puppies on points, but only barely order both across two trays and settle it yourself.

10. Hot Dog (Cook Out Style)

An all-beef dog loaded with chili, slaw, mustard, and onions. It is messy, it is glorious, and it costs almost nothing as part of a tray. Purists get it plain; the brave get it Cook Out style.

Ranked 11–15: Honorable Mentions

11. Chicken Club Sandwich

Grilled or fried chicken with bacon, cheese, lettuce, and tomato a complete sandwich that rarely gets the spotlight it deserves.

12. Corn Dog

Nostalgic, crispy, and weirdly perfect at 1 AM. Nobody plans to order the corn dog; everybody is glad they did.

13. Spicy Chicken Sandwich

The heat-seeker’s pick. Crispy chicken with a peppery kick that stands up to anything the big chains offer.

14. Chicken Nuggets

Simple, consistent, dippable. The junior tray plus nuggets is a parent-approved move, and adults order them unironically as a side.

15. Oreo Mint Shake

Representing all forty-plus shake flavors: thick, hand-spun, and famously served as your tray drink at no extra charge. Any flavor could take this slot see the full shake ranking but Oreo Mint is the crowd-pleaser.

What to Order on Your First Visit

Keep it simple: a tray with the Big Double (Cook Out style), Cajun fries, hush puppies, and an Oreo Mint shake. That single $7.39 tray covers four of the top fifteen items and shows you exactly why people drive past three other fast-food joints to get here. On visit two, swap in the BBQ sandwich and the chicken quesadilla side.

Best Value Picks on the Menu

Value is Cook Out’s superpower, but some items stretch the dollar further. The $7.39 regular tray itself is the headline deal entrée, two sides, and a shake-drink for less than a single combo elsewhere. Within it, the quesadilla-as-a-side trick, the junior tray at $6.39 for lighter appetites, and loading up on premium sides (onion rings, quesadilla) instead of plain fries all maximize what your money buys.

Frequently Asked Questions