{"id":759164,"date":"2026-07-12T21:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/759164\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T21:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:06:13","slug":"kfcs-secret-to-getting-finger-lickin-good-fried-chicken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/759164\/","title":{"rendered":"KFC’s secret to getting ‘finger lickin good’ fried chicken"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many theories about what makes KFC\u2019s signature fried-chicken menu item<\/a> so \u201cfinger lickin\u2019 good\u201d \u2014 from the chain\u2019s blend of herbs and spices to the chicken it uses and the breading technique it\u2019s perfected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the biggest reasons KFC\u2019s chicken is legendary is that it\u2019s cooked in commercial pressure fryers, according to\u00a0The Takeout<\/a>. The method cooks the chicken quickly, creating a crisp crust while keeping the meat juicy.<\/p>\n

KFC\u2019s website says founder Colonel Harland Sanders<\/a> spent nine years perfecting his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices, along with the\u00a0cooking technique\u00a0the chain still uses today.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0fast-food giant<\/a>\u00a0says its chicken is made \u201cthe hard way,\u201d with each piece hand-breaded and freshly prepared.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur chicken isn\u2019t made the fast way or the easy way,\u201d according to KFC.<\/p>\n

A 2020 episode of Food Network\u2019s \u201cUnwrapped\u201d said the original handwritten Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe \u2014 the chain shortened its name to KFC in 1991 \u2014 is so secret that it\u2019s \u201clocked in a vault along with vials containing samples of all 11 herbs and spices.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are many theories about what makes KFC\u2019s signature fried-chicken menu item so \u201cfinger lickin\u2019 good\u201d \u2014 from the chain\u2019s blend of herbs and spices to the chicken it uses and the breading technique it\u2019s perfected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The restaurant\u00a0goes so far as to mix half of the spices in one place and the other half somewhere else, with a third party blending them together, a narrator on the show revealed.<\/p>\n

In 2016, the Chicago Tribune reported that Sanders\u2019 nephew, Joe Ledington, showed a reporter what he claimed was the original recipe from a family scrapbook during a visit to the\u00a0Harland Sanders Caf\u00e9 and Museum.<\/p>\n

KFC disputed the claim, saying, \u201cMany people have made these claims over the years, and no one has been accurate \u2014 this one isn\u2019t either.\u201d<\/p>\n

KFC\u2019s website says founder Colonel Harland Sanders spent nine years perfecting his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices. SINSU1980 \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

The Louisville, Kentucky-based chain has also said that Sanders\u2019 original 1940 recipe \u201cis locked up in a digital safe that\u2019s encased in two feet of concrete and monitored 24 hours a day by a video and motion detection surveillance system,\u201d The Associated Press once reported.<\/p>\n

Social media forums are filled with conversations about how people can presumably recreate KFC\u2019s famous chicken, but a\u00a02019 post on its website<\/a>\u00a0revealed Sanders\u2019 \u201c7-10-7\u201d breading technique.<\/p>\n

Chicken pieces\u00a0are rolled seven times in a basket after being cleaned and rinsed to remove any excess moisture. They\u2019re then tossed in the breading flour 10 times using a \u201cscoop and lift\u201d motion before being pressed into the breading flour seven times to ensure the ideal flour-to-chicken coating ratio on each piece, according to the post.<\/p>\n

A 2020 episode of Food Network\u2019s \u201cUnwrapped\u201d said the original handwritten Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe is so secret that it\u2019s \u201clocked in a vault along with vials containing samples of all 11 herbs and spices.\u201d \u00bf\u00bf\u00bf\u00bf\u00bf\u00bf\u00bf\u00bf \u00bf\u00bf\u00bf\u00bf\u00bf \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

\u201cEach piece of chicken is then placed onto layers of stainless steel clamshell baskets in a planned layout before being pressure-cooked to golden perfection,\u201d KFC said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The \u201cracking\u201d layout was designed by Sanders for frying a perfectly cooked KFC chicken. This ensures that there\u2019s no overlapping of chicken pieces \u2014 allowing different parts such as the breast and the drumstick to be cooked evenly at the same time, the post revealed.<\/p>\n

The first KFC franchise opened in Utah in 1952.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are now more than 31,000 KFC locations in 150 countries and territories worldwide, according to its website. dvoevnore \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Sanders died in 1980 at the age of 90, but his legacy lives on through his original\u00a0chicken recipe\u00a0and his image, which has remained at the forefront of the logo\u2019s design through the years.<\/p>\n

There are now more than 31,000 KFC locations<\/a> in 150 countries and territories worldwide, according to its website.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to KFC for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are many theories about what makes KFC\u2019s signature fried-chicken menu item so \u201cfinger lickin\u2019 good\u201d \u2014 from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28,27092,17788,3286,86900,149],"class_list":["post-759164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-chicken","tag-fast-food","tag-food-drink","tag-kfc","tag-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}