49 Fun Facts About Fried Chicken

Which people were the first recorded to deep-fry chicken with breadcrumbs and seasonings, in a 1747 cookbook?

Hannah Glasse's cookbook has the recipe, and a 1773 diary describes fried chicken being eaten on the Isle of Skye.

Southern fried chicken traces its origins to European deep-frying and the palm-oil-fried chicken of which region?

West African cooks battered and fried chicken in palm oil with their own seasonings, techniques enslaved people brought to the American South.

In which decade was the expression "fried chicken" first recorded?

It became a regular feature of American cookbooks in the 1860s and 1870s.

Which fat is traditionally used to fry Southern fried chicken?

Corn, peanut, canola and soybean oils are common substitutes today, and buttermilk is often used first to tenderise the meat.

Which cut of a fried chicken contains the most fat per 100 grams?

Wings carry almost 40 grams of fat per 100 grams, though a whole fried chicken averages only about 12 percent fat.

Which Virginia town bills itself as the "Fried Chicken Capital of the World"?

Its rail junction made it a hub where fried chicken was sold to passing train passengers in the 19th century.

Which Ohio town gives its name to a style of fried chicken created by Serbian immigrants?

Barberton chicken is served with hot sauce, vinegar slaw and fries in the same restaurants that have made it since the 1930s.

How many herbs and spices are in KFC's Original Recipe, according to its marketing?

Sanders said the ingredients included salt and pepper and that the rest stand on everybody's shelf; the recipe remains a trade secret.

In which state is North Corbin, where Sanders first sold fried chicken from a filling station?

Shell gave him the North Corbin station rent-free in 1930, and he first served travellers at his own dining table.

In which state was Colonel Sanders actually born?

He was born near Henryville in 1890 and was cooking for his siblings by the age of seven after his father died.

What cooking method did Sanders patent for his chicken, which cooked it faster than a skillet?

He finalised the method in July 1940 at age 50; the Broaster Company later marketed the same idea as broasting.

Sanders received his honorary colonel's commission in 1935 from which governor?

He was recommissioned in 1950 by Governor Wetherby and only then began dressing the part with the goatee, string tie and white suit.

Where did the first franchise of Sanders' chicken recipe open in 1952?

The franchisee ran one of the city's biggest restaurants, and his sign painter Don Anderson coined the name Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Which franchisee introduced KFC's bucket in 1957 and trademarked "It's finger lickin' good"?

The original bucket held 14 pieces of chicken, five bread rolls and a pint of gravy.

For how much did Sanders sell his chicken company to John Y. Brown Jr. and Jack Massey in 1964?

Brown sold it on to Heublein seven years later for $285 million; Sanders kept the Canadian operations and a lifetime salary.

Sanders publicly described KFC's later gravy as "sludge" with a "wallpaper taste", prompting what?

Heublein lost the 1975 case; Sanders had also been known to push disappointing food onto the floor during surprise restaurant visits.

In what year did the chain officially adopt the shorter name KFC?

Its US president admitted the change was meant to distance the chain from the unhealthy connotations of the word fried.

Which company bought KFC from R. J. Reynolds in 1986 and later spun it off into Yum! Brands?

PepsiCo already owned Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, and the three chains still share a parent in Yum! Brands.

KFC opened its first outlet in China in November 1987, in which city?

China is now KFC's biggest market, and the chain has more than 30,000 restaurants in 150 countries.

In Japan, KFC is famously eaten on which holiday, thanks to a long-running 1974 advertising campaign?

The first Japanese store manager, Takeshi Okawara, began selling party barrels as a stand-in for turkey in 1970, and Christmas sales are now about five percent of annual revenue.

Fans of which Japanese baseball team threw a Colonel Sanders statue in a river in 1985?

The Curse of the Colonel held that the Tigers would not win the Japan Series again until the statue was recovered; it was pulled from the Dotonbori canal in 2009.

Popeyes opened in 1972 in a suburb of which city?

Al Copeland's first attempt, called Chicken on the Run, failed within months; he reopened four days later as Popeyes Mighty Good Chicken.

Founder Al Copeland claimed Popeyes was named after which character?

The chain nonetheless leaned into the cartoon sailor for years, sponsoring a local Popeye & Pals children's show.

Which owner of Tim Hortons and a big burger chain bought Popeyes for $1.8 billion in 2017?

The deal valued the chain at $79 a share; Popeyes now has more than 5,000 restaurants.

Why are all Chick-fil-A restaurants closed on Sundays?

Cathy, a devout Southern Baptist, said closing on Sunday was a way of honouring God; the stores also shut on two other holidays each year.

Where did the first dedicated Chick-fil-A restaurant open in 1967?

Before that the sandwich had been licensed to more than 50 outlets, including Waffle House and the Astrodome's concession stands.

Which animals hold the misspelled "Eat Mor Chikin" signs in Chick-fil-A's advertising?

The Richards Group created the campaign in 1995, and it was paused briefly in 2004 during a mad cow disease scare.

Nashville hot chicken is traditionally served on top of what?

Three parts pepper to one part lard is typical, and it is served on white bread with pickle chips.

According to legend, hot chicken was invented when Thornton Prince's girlfriend did what?

Prince liked it so much he and his brothers opened the Bar-B-Que Chicken Shack in the 1930s; his great-niece still runs Prince's today.

Which conflict's aftermath introduced deep-fried chicken to South Korea via the US military?

Modern Korean fried chicken took off in the 1970s once cooking oil was widely available, and chimaek pairs it with beer.

In which city did Yun Jonggye create yangnyeom chicken in 1982?

Yun Jonggye noticed customers scraping their palates on the hard crust and softened it with a sweet-spicy glaze.

What does the Japanese word karaage literally mean?

The kara can also be written with the character for empty, which is why it is often taken to mean dry frying without batter.

Which Japanese prefecture, home to the cities of Usa and Nakatsu, is the heartland of chicken karaage?

Nakatsu's annual Karaage Festival draws more than 60 shops, each with its own version.

Buffalo wings are usually said to have been invented in 1964 at which bar?

Teressa Bellissimo fried up wings, then a throwaway cut, as a late-night snack and tossed them in cayenne hot sauce.

Besides hot sauce, what is the other main ingredient of classic Buffalo wing sauce?

They are served with celery and carrot sticks and a blue cheese or ranch dip.

The soul food version of chicken and waffles took off after which restaurant opened in Harlem in 1938?

The dish's older Pennsylvania Dutch version uses stewed, pulled chicken and gravy rather than fried chicken.

Which Cornell University professor developed the chicken nugget in the 1950s?

He called them Chicken Crispies and published the work without a patent, decades before McDonald's McNuggets.

Which Texas town claims to be the birthplace of chicken-fried steak?

The dish is usually credited to German and Austrian immigrants adapting Wiener schnitzel, and Lamesa holds an annual celebration.

Which Filipino chain, famous for Chickenjoy chicken, began as an ice cream parlour in 1975?

Tony Tan Caktiong's family found their hot meals outsold the ice cream and converted the shop in 1978.

Raising Cane's is named after what?

The first restaurant, nicknamed the Mothership, opened by the north gate of LSU in 1996, and yellow Labs still serve as mascots.

Church's Chicken was founded in 1952 across the street from which landmark?

George W. Church Sr. was a retired chicken incubator salesman when he opened Church's Fried Chicken To-Go in San Antonio.

Which New Hampshire restaurant is credited with inventing chicken tenders in 1974?

Charlie Pappas marinated trimmed-off scraps in pineapple juice and fried them, and Manchester was declared Chicken Tender Capital of the World in 2023.

Which fast food chain was the first major one to sell a grilled chicken sandwich, in 1990?

Chick-fil-A's fried version dates to 1964, and by 2024 more restaurant menus carried fried chicken sandwiches than burgers.

Which fast-growing chicken wing chain was founded in Garland, Texas in 1994?

Antonio Swad and Bernadette Fiaschetti started it, and by 2026 it had more than 3,000 restaurants.

Chicken Kiev is a chicken fillet rolled around what before being breaded and fried?

Cut into it and the melted butter runs out, which is why some restaurants warn diners before the first bite.

Which 1736 English cookbook by Nathan Bailey mentions fried chicken as 'a marinade of chickens'?

Hannah Glasse's 1747 recipe and a 1773 diary entry from the Isle of Skye are the earliest records of Scots deep-frying breaded chicken.

Roughly what share of an average whole fried chicken is fat, by weight?

That works out to about 12 grams per 100 grams and roughly 240 calories, though wings alone approach 40 grams of fat per 100 grams.

Why does dipping chicken in buttermilk before frying help tenderise the meat?

Marination or a buttermilk dip usually precedes the flour dredge; the flour then browns with the chicken's juices into a flavourful crust.

Which two foods traditionally join fried chicken at Southern Jewish Shabbat dinners?

Southern Jews blended regional and Jewish foodways; the dish also remains a top choice for Sunday dinner across the South.