Popeyes' Oreo Cheesecake Cup Review: A Sweet Ending To A Spicy Meal

In its Louisiana Kitchen, Popeyes rapidly became the golden brown standard for fast food fried chicken ever since founder Al Copeland opened his first location in 1972. Desserts have almost always been an afterthought for the chain, as diners mostly didn't have room left after munching on its famous spicy chicken. That has changed in the last decade, as Popeyes has really upped its game, introducing items like powdery beignets, fun-filled fruit pies, and a line of cheesecakes, including a Mardi Gras-flavored one. Its latest offering in the world of desserts is the brand-new and limited-time-only treat, the Oreo Cheesecake Cup.

So, does this new cheesecake creation live up to the hype and offer a tasty treat after your meal? And do the flavors work together as well as they sound? We aimed to find out, so we purchased one and set out to give it a taste test. Here's what we found.

When we popped the plastic lid off the Oreo Cheesecake Cup the dessert looked rather underwhelming. In a tiny, black dish lies a rocky terrain with a muted marble hue. But after taking one whiff we smelled a sweet surprise waiting to be devoured.

As our spork cut through the surface and into the short depths of the Cup, tons of Oreo bits welcomed our eyes at every inch. There are Oreo crumbles on top, within the cheesecake, and a thin black layer of the cookie that lines the bottom. What seems like it would be Oreo overkill never comes to that in taste. What you get is a solid — both literally and figuratively — creamy and dreamy little cheesecake with just enough notes of the chocolate cookie to satisfy. The cheesecake here is the real star, firm and luscious, and lays out as a great bedding for the best part of Oreos — the dark chocolatey cookie.

The Oreo Cheesecake contains a lot of Oreo cookies, cheesecake, and sadly (or happily) no fried chicken skin from Popeyes. The famous cookie is actually included in every bite of this treat.

Out of the current desserts Popeyes offers, by numbers alone, the Oreo Cheesecake Cup is the most indulgent of the lot (and in some categories, it makes the fried chicken seem like a healthy option!). A single cup contains 580 calories, 36 grams of fat, and 19 grams of saturated fat. The cover-your-eyes numbers continue from there and include 120 milligrams of cholesterol and 520 milligrams of sodium. While there are 7 grams of protein, they can't mask how this little cup tops out at 56 grams of carbohydrates and 41 grams of sugar.

Popeyes launched its Oreo Cheesecake Cup on Monday, July 24, 2023. The limited-time dessert is currently available at locations nationwide (including Alaska and Hawaii), and can be ordered as a single cup, or for those who don't like to share, as a double. The one-piece retails for $3.79, and the two-piece for $6.99, plus tax.

The Oreo Cheesecake Cups can be ordered directly in Popeyes at the counter, at in-store kiosks, in a drive-thru where available; you can also order it in advance for pick up using the Popeyes app. At certain locations, the app also allows for delivery options, as do other services like DoorDash, GrubHub, Postmates, and Uber Eats.

The Oreo Cheesecake Cup is served chilled. Since it's a solid and firm cheesecake, with no signs of melting, it allows for no immediate rush in eating it. You can eat your lunch or dinner, and eat the dessert afterward without missing any of this treat's beats. If you happen to be dining in the restaurant, you can even hold off ordering it until after the conclusion of your meal. The cup itself may look small, but it can easily be shared by two people (just be sure to ask for an extra spork).

Just when you think the folks at Popeyes thought of everything by creating this treat, it literally thought in new physical dimensions on the day of the Oreo Cheesecake Cup's launch. On its own Instagram, Popeyes suggested a "hack" that helps its bottom line with another collaboration, but an internal one — the Oreo Cheesecake Strawberry Biscuit Sandwich. Wow, just WOW!

When Popeyes took to Twitter to ask its followers how they would rate the new Oreo Cheesecake Cup on a scale of 1 to 10, its buddies over at Oreo chimed in and said it was an 11 out 10. While its collaboration cohorts may be a bit biased, that doesn't mean it's wrong. To keep in line with things, it would be wrong if we didn't throw our own number out there. How does 9 out of 10 sound? It's pretty much a hole-in-one and a fantastic dessert cup.

As one of the only creamy items on the Popeyes menu (that isn't coleslaw, buttermilk ranch sauce, or tartar sauce), the Oreo Cheesecake Cup is a welcome sweet delight to offset the heaviness and spiciness of the rest of thee menu fare. The Cup is so darn good, that it may be worth a trip to Popeyes just for dessert. If only there was a whipped cream or a cherry on top as an add-on option...