Wait, Does KFC Have Grilled Chicken Or Not?

For a fast food chain that established its fame by selling crispy fried chicken in buckets, the idea of grilled chicken from KFC does seem a little left field. And yet, there was a time when KFC did sell grilled chicken, and not just as an experiment. Back in the late 2000s, KFC made the bold move to sell something new: Chicken that isn't fried. It was part of a national effort to update its image and be more attractive to customers becoming increasingly health-conscious. Grilled chicken was a great way to keep chicken fans, and the calorie-watching crowd, returning again and again.

For a short while, it worked. When it first rolled out nationwide in 2009, KFC's grilled chicken created quite a buzz. It wasn't exactly a backyard barbecue, but it was different for fast food, and some people loved it. Still, not everyone was on board. Those who came for that crispy, golden crunch weren't quite ready to swap out their drumsticks and preferred to improve the flavor of grilled chicken in the comfort of their own backyards. After all, KFC had built its legacy on fried comfort food. Even though it did serve to attract a niche crowd of health-conscious consumers, that crowd wasn't large enough to maintain sales. That's where things started to shift; the buzz died down, and the grilled chicken slowly faded from the spotlight.

Does KFC have grilled chicken today? The short answer is not officially. While KFC has secret recipes and ingredients in its food, it wasn't enough to keep the grilled chicken alive nationwide. Most customers still came to KFC for the classic fried stuff, and the grilled version just didn't have the same crave factor. By the mid-2010s, locations started phasing it out quietly. By 2018, the grilled chicken was no more. However, there's still a bit of a mystery around it: Every so often, someone online swears they saw grilled chicken at a random KFC location in a small town or on vacation somewhere. It's possible, since some franchise locations operate with a little flexibility, that a handful may have kept the grilled option around if it sold well locally. But as a brand-wide offering? It's been discontinued.

Still, grilled chicken fans haven't let it go. There are Reddit threads and food blogs that look back on it almost nostalgically. But, if you're asking yourself whether or not you can roll through a KFC drive-thru today and order grilled chicken, the honest answer is probably not. However, fast food trends tend to cycle. If enough people start asking again, perhaps the grilled chicken could make a comeback. Just don't count on it being on the menu this weekend. In the meantime, when you're grilling at home, remember that dark meats are the best pieces of chicken to throw on the grill!