The Chicken Chain That Quietly Changed Its Recipe And What Fans Really Think About It

The most enduring fast food restaurants in the world last for a few reasons. To start, a lot exist in such large numbers that they're virtually unavoidable, and they're generally cheaper than the alternatives. They're also inimitably familiar; or at least they're intended to be. Your favorite fast food french fry, for example, should taste the same today as it did when you took your very first bite. When recipes change, as Church's Texas Chicken's did in recent years, it can incite fan-demonium.

Chowhound actually positioned Church's as No. 1 in our 2025 ranking of popular fast food fried chicken chains, but you can't please everyone. The poultry spot based in the American South made waves when it changed its recipe in 2024. Or changed it back, to be more precise, according to an article in Texas Monthly. Church's reverted to its original 1952 fried chicken recipe after rumblings of reduced quality and disappointing sales, the outlet reported. 

Some netizens, as anyone who has spent more than a minute online might be able to predict, were not impressed. "Nothing like it used to be," declared a post in the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit. "It tastes NOTHING like it used to," the netizen continued, now with greater emphasis, lamenting not only the titular chicken's different batter and breading, but also what they felt were even inferior biscuits. Commenters, as they are wont to do, also chimed in.

In that same Reddit thread, another user decried that their post-recipe-change eight-piece chicken order from Church's was "horrible." Others declared that it "completely sucks now." At least one forgiving soul, however, defended the tenders, asserting that they "liked it more than before," presumably before the throwback recipe episode began. So, what could be so different to inspire both such disgust and middling acceptance?

Church's brass hinted at the presence of standards, such as salt, pepper, garlic, onion, "and not a whole lot else," in the Texas Monthly piece. Since none of that is unexpected, we can imagine the absence of flavor is also what irks some people (another Redditor in the r/mildlyinfuriating thread did note scant seasonings). A 2024 press release on the occasion of the update only revealed "richer, savory spices that penetrate deep down to the bone," plus crunch and juiciness. Church's nutrition does not appear to betray its new (old) recipe, either. If you, too, abhor the new formula, you can always make a pretty easy fried chicken for yourself. At least you know what to expect.