KFC has today launched a trial of its first-ever plant-based chicken option in Australia.
With our friends in the U.S. having access to some Beyond not-quite-chicken chicken at the Colonel’s American stores since January, this is an addition we’ve been hoping for down under.
Taking a leaf out of the success of Popcorn Chicken, Wicked Popcorn takes the spice of KFC’s Wicked Wings, slathers it onto a meat-free chicken alternative (made from pea-protein), and serves it up in tiny tasty morsels. The plant-based menu item is also being served with some Lime Ranch dipping sauce. Bougie.
The plant-based chicken is featured only as Wicked Popcorn, for now.
We had the pleasure of tasting some of the Wicked Popcorn this afternoon and I know your first question is probably: Does it taste like real chicken? The consensus around the office was no. It has a similar texture to a Popcorn Chicken or a chicken nugget, and the KFC spices in the batter obviously add to the experience, but the meat-eaters all said it was obviously not. I haven’t eaten at the Colonel’s joint in years, but everything about the experience instantly lit up a long-dormant neural pathway. It may have been the box that the Wicked Popcorn came in, with its oil-stained exterior clearing the underbrush in my brain.
There is something of a catch, though. The new KFC plant-based Wicked Popcorn is only available as a trial at 14 KFC restaurants across the NSW South Coast. The trial kicks off on August 9 and will run through until September 5. This whole deal is almost the exact same as that of Macca’s and its McPlant Burger. A snack-sized box will set you back $2.95.
I live in fear that I’ll order Wicked Popcorn and someone will think it’s funny to swap it out for popcorn chicken. But aside from that, it’s a good move in the right direction (the right direction is of course a plant-based lifestyle).