Zaxbys has a peppermint shake on its holiday menu, and it is sticking around well past New Year’s Day. The Atlanta-based chicken chain’s Peppermint Cookies & Cream Shake is available at participating restaurants nationwide through Jan. 18, 2027.
The shake arrived Nov. 2 alongside a new Honey Chipotle Sauce, and both items run for the same limited window. The chain announced the pair on Oct. 26, 2026, as part of a holiday push it calls “Sauce the Hallz.”
What Is in the Peppermint Cookies & Cream Shake
According to the chain’s announcement on PR Newswire, the Peppermint Cookies & Cream Shake is a hand-spun, peppermint-flavored milkshake that is mixed with cookies and cream pieces and then topped with more of them. The release promises “all the flavor and feelings of the holiday season” in a single cup.
Zaxbys did not list a price in the announcement, and menu prices at fast-food chains often vary by location. Customers can check the cost at a nearby restaurant through the Zaxbys app or on the chain’s official website before ordering, a step that comes naturally to the diners who always check the menu first.
The shake falls into a long American tradition. A milkshake is a cold drink blended from milk, ice cream and flavorings, and the word first appeared in print in 1885, according to Wikipedia’s history of the milkshake. Electric drink mixers in the 1910s and 1920s gave the shake its frothy modern form, and drugstore soda fountains made it a fixture of American main streets. For many families, a seasonal shake sits right alongside other little rituals from the ’80s and ’90s, like a holiday stop at the drive-thru after a long day of shopping.
The Honey Chipotle Sauce Rides Along
The second new item is savory. Zaxbys’ Honey Chipotle Sauce is made with honey, brown sugar, red chili and chipotle peppers, and the chain pairs it with its Chicken Fingerz and Wings. The release calls the sauce “equal parts naughty and nice,” a nod to its sweet start and smoky finish.
A chipotle is a ripe red jalapeño that has been dried over smoke, and the name comes from the Nahuatl word for “smoked chili,” according to Wikipedia’s entry on the pepper. That smoke is what separates a chipotle sauce from a plain hot honey.
Zax Rewardz members got a head start on the sauce. They could order it starting Oct. 26 through the Zaxbys app, Zaxbys.com and third-party delivery apps, one week before the nationwide launch. That early-access window was a digital exclusive and closed Nov. 2, when the sauce reached every participating restaurant. Diners who order through delivery apps may recognize the model from the rise of the ghost kitchen, where app orders drive much of a restaurant’s business.
A Holiday Menu From a Georgia Original
Zaxbys opened in March 1990 in Statesboro, Georgia, near the Georgia Southern University campus, when childhood friends Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley started selling chicken fingers and wings with dipping sauces, according to the chain’s Wikipedia history. Sauces have been central to the brand since then, which makes a new sauce a natural headliner for a holiday menu.
The chain now has more than 1,000 locations in 24 states, according to its release, and QSR Magazine named it Transformational Brand of the Year in 2025. That puts Zaxbys a generation behind the fast-food chains that got their start in the 1950s, but in the same business of building loyal crowds around a short, familiar menu.
Seasonal shakes are a reliable part of that formula. Peppermint is one of the most recognizable flavors of the American holiday season, showing up in candy canes, hot chocolate and coffee drinks from November onward. Fans who like peppermint at home can carry the idea over to a home coffee bar stocked with candy canes and crushed cookies for holiday guests.
Dates, Ordering and the Fine Print
Both the Peppermint Cookies & Cream Shake and the Honey Chipotle Sauce are on menus from Nov. 2 through Jan. 18. Zaxbys calls both items limited-time offers, valid only at participating locations and subject to availability, so a restaurant that runs low on an ingredient may sell out before the end date.
Orders can go through the Zaxbys app, Zaxbys.com, third-party delivery or a visit to a restaurant. Joining Zax Rewardz requires creating an account in the Zaxbys app, which is available on Google Play and the App Store.
Patrick Schwing, the chain’s chief marketing officer, said in the release that the “Sauce the Hallz” campaign is about bringing bold flavor and a little extra personality to the holiday season. He added that more “saucy surprises” are planned later in the season, though the release did not say what they will be. The chain also said its Zax Packz are coming in festive holiday packaging, with more seasonal packaging planned.
Regulars who plan to use the rewards program for holiday orders can find the full Zax Rewardz terms posted on the Zaxbys website, according to the release.
How Long the Shake Will Last
The end date is the key detail for anyone planning a visit. Zaxbys lists Jan. 18 as the last day for both the Peppermint Cookies & Cream Shake and the Honey Chipotle Sauce, which gives fans 11 weeks from the Nov. 2 launch to try them.
Because the items depend on availability at each participating restaurant, the safest move is to confirm with a local Zaxbys before driving over, particularly in the final days of the run. Zaxbys has not announced any extension, so fans should plan around Jan. 18 as the final day.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: G. Edward Johnson – CC BY 4.0/Wikimedia Commons
