Fast Food

Chicken Chains

Why KFC Gave Up On Grilled Chicken By Ben Hillin Oct. 18, 2025 2:20 pm EST

KFC is about as American as it gets. Big portions, tons of fat and delicious as all hell — not to mention it's ready in a minute or so. Did anyone else like to dip their fried chicken in the brown gravy, too? No...? Well, anyway, it might be surprising to remember that KFC twice tried to get in on the health food trend of grilled or broiled chicken, but it didn't go so well.

So what gives? Did the Colonel veto grilled chicken? No, probably not. While KFC and its parent conglomerate, Yum! Brands haven't really addressed this publicly, it does seem that when you have "Fried Chicken" in your brand name and try to sell grilled chicken, customers won't exactly be champing at the bit

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