The colonel's secret recipe revealed? Not so fast, says KFC (2024)

FAQs

What did the colonel say about KFC? ›

And I know wallpaper paste, by God, because I've seen my mother make it. ... There's no nutrition in it and they ought not to be allowed to sell it. ... [The] crispy [fried chicken] recipe is nothing in the world but a damn fried doughball stuck on some chicken.

Eleven secret spices

Combine KFC's secret recipe for its breading with two cups of flour to thoroughly coat your chicken pieces after dipping in an egg and milk wash. This is what makes consumers come back and want more—even making some want it so much they K-F-C them in court with fast-food lawsuits!

KFC employs two different firms, Griffith Laboratories and McCormick & Company, to formulate the blend; in order to maintain secrecy, each firm is given a different half of the recipe. Once the Griffith portion has been formulated, it is sent to McCormick and combined with the remaining ingredients there.

Kentucky Fried Chicken Begins

When World War II ended, Sanders began working to sell franchises of his chicken business. He was in his 50s by this time. His delicious recipe was rejected 1,009 times! He had over a thousand rejections, yet he didn't quit.

I've only had two rules: Do all you can and do it the best you can.

In the ad, KFC said: "A chicken restaurant without any chicken. It's not ideal. "Huge apologies to our customers, especially those who travelled out their way to find we were closed." KFC: How much do we spend on fried chicken?

They marinate the chicken in buttermilk, bread it with flour and seasonings, then fry it either in an open fryer (for crispy) or pressure fryer for original recipe. The seasoning packet for each is also different. But no boiling.

KFC swears by high-temperature, industrial-strength pressure fryers for their extra-crispy skin. Pressure fryer is widely used in fast food industry. It is exclusively used by big corporations to fry their chicken fast.

The secret recipe is regularly identified with the phrase "eleven herbs and spices," the amount and identification of which remain a trade secret.

What is the unhealthiest item in KFC? ›

Worst: Extra Crispy

Here's where "crispy" is a code word for "steer clear." The extra crispy recipe is by far the least healthful of KFC's chicken options. A single breast will set you back 530 calories, 35 grams of fat, and 6 grams of saturated fat.

MSG is also used by franchises like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Chick-fil-A to enhance the flavor of foods. For example, Chick-fil-A's Chicken Sandwich and Kentucky Fried Chicken's Extra Crispy Chicken Breast are just some of the menu items that contain MSG (8, 9).

KFC apologized this week for sending a mobile app alert telling German customers to “treat yourself” on Kristallnacht. Kristallnacht, or the night of broken glass, refers to the pogroms against Jewish people in Germany and Austria carried out by Nazis in November 1938.

Yum Brands Inc., is a restaurant company that owns quick-service chains Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC, as well as fast-casual brand The Habit Burger Grill. It is headquartered in Louisville, Ky.

The regulatory authorities found that KFC's chickens did not adhere to the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954. Chickens contained nearly three times more monosodium glutamate (popularly known as MSG, a flavour enhancing ingredient) as allowed by the Act.

The lawsuit claimed that Heublein prevented Sanders from franchising his new restaurant and that it was unlawfully using his image for products he didn't develop. The lawsuit was eventually settled for $1 million and the couple was allowed to keep their eatery.

Branding himself "Colonel Sanders", the founder became a prominent figure of American cultural history, and his image remains widely used in KFC advertising. The company's rapid expansion made it too large for Sanders to manage, so in 1964 he sold the company to a group of investors led by John Y. Brown Jr. and Jack C.

So that's when he started serving wary travellers passing through his gas stations the same fried chicken he grew up eating. They loved it. So he expanded and opened his first KFC franchise in 1952 in Salt Lake City after perfecting his secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices.

In 1976, the Colonel was named world's second most recognizable celebrity. At the age of 90, the Colonel was stricken with leukemia. Until his death in 1980, he traveled 250,000 miles a year, visiting the KFC empire that he had founded. KFC remains the world's most popular chicken restaurant chain.