French Fry Diary 105: KFC

KFC is of course shorthand for Kentucky Fried Chicken. The name change was for brevity, and to remove the word 'fried' to appease the Health Nazis, and not as urban legend says, because they no longer serve chicken. Sheesh. They’ve been around for decades, since Colonel Harland Sanders founded the chain in 1952. Known primarily for their trademark fried chicken with eleven herbs and spices. While their focus is chicken, they have always had potato side dishes – which is what we’ll be concerned with, especially the French fries.

In the 1980s and 90s KFC used to have shoestrings that were very good and crispy but those are long gone. Now they have natural cut potato wedges. I don’t go to KFC often but I was prompted by recent TV commercials. The primary objective for this visit to KFC was to try the new "Get a Grip" Boneless Filet.

At first glance, it’s fairly reminiscent of the boneless chicken breast filets Chick-fil-A used to sell back in the day, you know the same ones they now only serve in sandwiches. Bonus on the KFC version is that they come in an almost-fry-like cardboard pocket. As far as the filet itself goes, the grilled is better than the original recipe, and Chick-fil-A still does it better. Period.

As I said, currently KFC’s fries are of the potato wedges variety with a spice black peppery seasoning and possibly batter-fried. Being wedges you don’t get as many with an order unless you order the large, which is really large, a box the size of a whole meal. These wedges are pretty good, not great but not crappy either. Excellent when hot, crispy and always soft and fluffy in the middle. Bonus – they can be baked or nuked in the microwave later for leftovers.

Of the rest of the KFC menu, my favorites to order are the Honey BBQ Sandwich and the Honey BBQ Boneless Wings. This is notable as the KFC Honey BBQ sauce is excellent for dipping, for any fries. While I wish KFC would go back to the shoestrings they used to have, the potato wedges are still pretty good.