I love BBQ chicken when it’s chopped and shredded up, mixed thick with sauce, then slapped between a couple pieces of bread. It’s one of my favorite all-time sandwiches. There aren’t many fast food versions, but KFC certainly has a fine offering.

Tender white and dark meat chicken (Hooray, dark meat) blended with tangy honey barbecue sauce. No cheese, lettuce or veggies, just BBQ chicken and bread. Simple and delicious. It’s the Sloppy Joe of chicken sandwiches, but less messy. The two biggest problems facing this sandwich are availability and price confusion. Availability because some KFC stores don’t have it, and those who do are limited in quantity and frequently run out. Price confusion because their are two sizes of Honey BBQ. The standard sandwich is $2.39 but the smaller Snacker version is only $0.99.

I can’t do anything about availability, but I can help determine which sandwich is a better value. This stems from a conversation I overheard standing in line at KFC where a lady instructed her kids to get 2 snackers instead of 1 normal sandwich. She told them it was a better deal, and said they would get more BBQ chicken that way.

Hearing that claim got me thinking (always dangerous), and I knew this called for some further investigation. After enjoying several examples of each type sandwich recently, from three different KFC locations, I can report the amount of filling was consistent, and the sandwiches I’m using today are accurate representations. The task for me now is simple and straight forward — Carefully remove the BBQ chicken mixture from 2 Snacker versions and 1 Regular version, and see which is greater.

Not quite as easy as it sounds, since the barbecue mixture has a way of sticking to the bread. Once the bulk had been removed, I used a spoon to gently scrape the buns clean of any remaining chicken and sauce. I was able to remove 99%.

The results are clear — 2 Honey BBQ Snackers for 99 cents each are more food for less money, compared to buying the full-size Honey BBQ Sandwich, and it’s the exact same BBQ chicken mixture. Never doubt a Mom with hungry kids to feed.

Now I have two big piles of BBQ chicken and a bunch of empty buns. You might think I’m going to re-assemble them. Not exactly. Instead I’ve piled as much as possible onto a single Snacker bun, and created my own personal SUPER Snacker.

The Honey BBQ Chicken from KFC is delicious, whatever size sandwich you choose. However, after seeing with my own eyes that 2 Snackers is a better bargain and more food then the full-size version, I will be adjusting my future orders. For about 40 cents less, you get more BBQ chicken. There’s also extra bread; two small buns instead of one large one, which makes it even more filling. And if that’s too much bread, just combine them into one sandwich. You can build a SUPER Snacker too!

Price: $.99 / $2.39 — Website: KFC.com

Fast Food Critic Score: A

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Nutrition Facts - KFC, Honey BBQ Snacker.

Calories - 210
Calories from Fat - N/A
Total Fat - 3 grams
Carbs - 32 grams
Saturated Fat - 0.5 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 40 milligrams
Sodium - 530 milligrams
Protein - 14 grams

Nutrition Facts - KFC, Honey BBQ Sandwich.

Calories - 280
Calories from Fat - N/A
Total Fat - 3.5 grams
Carbs - 40 grams
Saturated Fat - 1.0 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 60 milligrams
Sodium - 780 milligrams
Protein - 22 grams

I continue my tour of KFC side dishes, moving on to the BBQ Baked Beans. Of all the items I’ve covered so far, these are my least favorite because of inconsistency. On a good day, they are delicious, but those days aren’t nearly frequent enough.

The beans themselves are never the problem. They are always plump and tender, good hearty navy beans. The problem is the sauce and seasoning. One day the beans will be swimming in a thin liquid pool of sauce, without much flavor or kick. The next day it’s a thick and rich mixture with hardly any excess liquid. Back and forth.

On those days when the sauce is thick, it has plenty of brown sugar and barbecue flavor, and the beans really do taste “baked”. On the days where the sauce is thin, it feels and tastes like somebody heated up a can of beans on the stove top.

Why the difference? My understanding is that KFC purchases a high quality canned bean, then each store adds a custom sauce and mixture of spices before cooking. When relying on human beings to recreate an exact recipe at hundreds of restaurant locations, I suppose there’s a decent size margin of error. Times like this remind me how difficult it can be to review food produced on such a large wide scale.

The BBQ Baked Beans at KFC are hit and miss. When they’re done right, they taste wonderful. When they’re thin and soupy, the flavor is weak and the overall experience is bland. I’m not sure why this item is less consistent than other KFC sides.

Price: $1.39 — Website: KFC.com

Fast Food Critic Score: C+

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Nutrition Facts - KFC, BBQ Baked Beans.

Calories - 220
Calories from Fat - N/A
Total Fat - 1 grams
Carbs - 45 grams
Saturated Fat - 0 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 0 milligrams
Sodium - 730 milligrams
Protein - 8 grams

There’s not too much to say about simple side dishes — either they’re good or not. Things like mashed potatoes and green beans have only one main ingredient, along with whatever seasoning is added. The quality of that main ingredient is important. As long as you have that, seasoning is then a matter of personal taste.

After much prodding from yours truly, KFC admitted they use canned green beans, and their mashed potatoes are made from the ‘instant’ type. These are not the type of facts that companies are eager to share, but I was not trying to start trouble, I was just doing research. That being said, there is nothing inherently wrong with frozen, canned, dehydrated or freeze dried products in my opinion. Everybody in the industry uses them in some form or another. No, of course it’s not as good as farmers delivering fresh vegetables to the stores each day, but packaging and delivery methods have advanced over the years, and we’ve got better choices than ever before.

Like anything else, there is difference in Quality among these type of products, and I’ve found the foods that KFC uses to be on the higher side of the quality scale. The green beans, and to a slightly lesser extent, these mashed potatoes, or “whipped” as they are called, are good examples. They are light and airy, with a good solid potato flavor, a smooth texture and a small buttery kick. As with the other sides on their menu, KFC adds their own special seasoning to improve the taste. The potatoes are whipped fresh in the store several times a day, using instant potato flakes. That might seem like an oxymoron, “fresh” and “instant” used together. The point is huge batches of potatoes are not sitting around; fresh batches are made throughout the day.

They are topped with a thick brown gravy. I say thick, but depending on the store, and who’s working, the gravy does tend to vary. When it’s right, it’s good gravy. It doesn’t have a particularly strong flavor, but it does add a little something extra. A faint, light, not quite, but almost smokey beef presence. But despite the dark color, there are no beef products involved. There are two recipes for the gravy, depending on what part of the country you live. Wheat flour, corn/food starch, soybean oil and spices top the list, with the alternate recipe adding chicken fat and dehydrated cooked chicken.

Together they make a great dipping source for KFC’s buttermilk biscuits. I must admit, I’ve been a fan of the starchy combination of biscuits and bread dipped into potatoes and gravy since I was a kid, so your satisfaction and enjoyment may differ.

The Whipped Potatoes from KFC are good, and definitely a worthy side to go with your next chicken dinner, but they fall a bit short of the biscuits and green beans. I want to mention the side dishes at KFC have been very enjoyable overall, and a person could easily make a meal out of them alone, without even having any chicken.

Price: $1.39 — Website: KFC.com

Fast Food Critic Score: B-

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Nutrition Facts - KFC, Whipped Potatoes with Gravy.

Calories - 140
Calories from Fat - N/A
Total Fat - 5 grams
Carbs - 20 grams
Saturated Fat - 1 grams
Trans Fat - 0.5 grams
Cholesterol - 0 milligrams
Sodium - 560 milligrams

Let’s get right to this — The buttermilk biscuits at KFC are excellent assuming they haven’t been sitting around too long. KFC bakes them fresh at each store. Contrary to some posts I’ve seen on the web, the popularity of these biscuits has NOT caused KFC to start shipping frozen, fully cooked biscuits, to be microwaved or reheated. It’s true the dough itself is frozen after being mixed, then shipped to the stores, but the biscuits are still baked fresh, from that dough, in each store, in a real oven.

Light and fluffy, yet they still have a certain heft to them, so in addition to great gravy dunking, they also have the strength to scoop out a nice amount of mashed potatoes to come along for the ride. They crumble and break apart just like a home-made biscuit. There is a thin, slightly-hard outer layer, which leads to warm and fluffy inner layers, and a moist inside. They have a nice, ‘lite’ buttery taste, that’s good enough to eat on it’s own, but truly shines when dipped in KFC’s brown gravy.

Each store bakes the biscuits several times throughout the day, as needed. When you get them fresh and hot, they are delicious, and they dip, dunk and crumble almost perfectly. There are times when I’ve received stale, cold biscuits, and that’s the one caveat. When you have 1000’s of locations, with 1000’s of employees each doing things a little different, it’s impossible to have fresh hot biscuits at all hours of the day and night. But overall they do a good job, and I would say 80% of the time I’m quite satisfied, and I get them every-time I visit a KFC location.

I’ve always liked the Buttermilk Biscuits from KFC, and that hasn’t changed after many years. They are a must-have item if you are eating there. Whether you are having a plated meal or a bucket of chicken, it wouldn’t be complete without them. The 3.5 grams of Trans Fat is a bit of a worrisome issue, but hopefully they will find a way to bring that down, or eliminate it altogether. To their credit, many of KFC’s items are now much lower in trans-fat, and they are moving in the right direction.

Price: $0.69 each / 4 for $2.19 — Website: KFC.com

Fast Food Critic Score: A

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Nutrition Facts - Buttermilk Biscuit from KFC. 1 biscuit serving.

Calories - 220
Calories from Fat - N/A
Total Fat - 11 grams
Carbs - 24 grams
Saturated Fat - 2.5 grams
Trans Fat - 3.5 grams
Cholesterol - 0 milligrams
Sodium - 640 milligrams

In my opinion, there are not nearly enough vegetable side dishes served at fast food restaurants. I suppose the demand is not there. People want fried and flavor-packed food, and the simple subtle tastes of things like green beans and corn are just too boring. KFC is one place that offers a decent selection of veggie sides. Among the best, at least in my region of the country, are the fancy cut green beans. They taste great, and have a hearty wholesome quality. A healthy choice with only 50 calories.

There’s not too much to say about them, but I wanted to give my readers some type of background on the product if possible. Such as whether they were frozen, canned, or made fresh. I knew they were unlikely to be fresh, but I wanted to be certain. I called two different stores, and found the regular employees could not, or would not tell me. When trying the 3rd location, closest to my home, and the source of the beans in these photos, I requested the “Store Manager”. I was greeted by a friendly enough person, but unfortunately she was not familiar with the product she was serving, even insisting the green beans had no red peppers in them, despite the obvious facts.

No red peppers. — She said.

I eat at your store all the time. They always have red peppers. — I said.

No red peppers. We could never have those in our regular menu items. Too many problems with people’s allergies. — She replied with absolute certainty.

I’m looking at red peppers right now. I’m picking them out and holding them. They are nice sized chunks. — I told her.

There are No Red Peppers in the green beans. There are none when they come from the can, and we don’t add any. We add some spices, but it’s just a small packet of powder. — She says.

I guess these chunks of red pepper are dried, and part of the seasoning packet you add. — I remarked.

There are no red peppers of any kind. — She said.

I’m telling you, there are red peppers. And I’m not trying to hassle you. It’s a GOOD thing. They add flavor. For that matter, there are little chunks of Onion in there too, and the green beans are delicious. — I added.

There are No Onions. — She said.

Ha! At that point, I decided we had talked enough about the green beans.

She was a nice lady, and I’m not here to make her day confusing. As for the green beans, at least she did confirm they come from a can, albeit a very large restaurant sized can. There’s nothing wrong with that. I also confirmed the following from the green bean’s ingredient list on KFC’s website. Dehydrated Vegetables (Onion, Red Bell Pepper). It also lists an alternative ingredient list that does NOT contain the dehydrated vegetables, with a note explaining that it depends on current “regional suppliers”. This indicates there are some locations where the green beans will not contain the red peppers or onions. Maybe the manager of the store I spoke to had just transferred in from somewhere else in the country, and had not looked at the green beans at her new store? I don’t know, but I can tell you ALL the stores in my area, including hers, have been serving the same recipe for a couple years.

The Green Beans from KFC are delicious, assuming you get the version with the onions and red peppers. My research outside of KFC tells me they are Blue Lake Fancy Cut Green Beans in super sized cans like these examples at Sam’s Club. Don’t ask any more questions, just skip the greasy fries next time and try a vegetable. Or as my Mother would have said — Be quiet, sit still, and eat your green beans.

Price: $1.39 — Website: KFC.com

Fast Food Critic Score: A-

Click here for rating system details.

Nutrition Facts - KFC, Green Beans, Individual Side Order.

Calories - 50
Calories from Fat - N/A
Total Fat - 1.5 grams
Carbs - 7 grams
Saturated Fat - 0 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 5 milligrams
Sodium - 570 milligrams

I have nothing to say about this story. The video from TheOnion.com speaks for itself. Besides, it’s difficult to type when I’m laughing this hard. Watch and see what I mean.

New Wearable Feedbags Let Americans Eat More, Move Less

I eat beef and chicken. I also love animals, and care about their welfare. They are not worthless inanimate objects. They are living, breathing creatures, and they experience pain and suffering. I don’t like the idea of animals being mistreated. Of course, it can be a confusing subject, caring about something that will ultimately be killed to provide food on your plate. It’s easy to just ignore it. Not think about it. Assume that somebody else will handle it. Or just hope that it goes away or somehow resolves itself. But if EVERYBODY did nothing, then NOTHING would ever change.

PETA is a group that does something. And while folks may not always agree with their tactics, in my opinion there is no doubting their motives. Their hearts and minds are in the right place. And this is an UGLY subject. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to maintain composure and self-control when dealing with such an issue. So before you cast stones at them, and call them crazy over-the-top activists, think about it.

[ End of FFC Editor’s Statement ]

Now, for the news directly from PETA headquarters.

For more than five years, PETA has been pressuring fast-food chain KFC to stop the worst abuses of chickens, like scalding birds to death, slitting their throats while they’re still conscious, and drugging and breeding them to grow so large that they cripple beneath their own weight. Now PETA has scored a major victory and is ending its Kentucky Fried Cruelty boycott in Canada. The boycott will continue in other countries where KFC has restaurants, including the United States, until they follow KFC Canada’s lead.

Following months of closed-door negotiations between PETA and KFC Canada (which is owned by a different company than KFC restaurants in other countries), we are thrilled to announce that KFC Canada has agreed to a historic new animal welfare plan that will dramatically improve the lives and deaths of millions of chickens killed for KFC Canada. The company will take the following action.

– Phase in purchases of 100 percent of its chickens from suppliers that use controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK)- the least cruel form of poultry slaughter ever developed. KFC Canada is the first major restaurant chain to commit to phasing in the exclusive purchasing of chicken meat from CAK slaughterhouses.

– Add a vegan faux-chicken item to the menu of all 461 Priszm-owned KFC restaurants (more than half of all the KFCs in Canada).

– Improve its animal welfare audit criteria to reduce the number of broken bones and other injuries suffered by birds.

– Urge its suppliers to adopt better practices, including improved lighting, lower stocking density and ammonia levels, and a phaseout of growth-promoting drugs and breeding practices that painfully cripple chickens.

– Form an animal welfare advisory panel to monitor the changes and recommend further advancements.

This is an enormous victory for PETA and our supporters. However, outside Canada, KFC has not acted to stop the worst abuses of chickens. Please contact KFC and demand that the company adopt the same animal welfare plan as KFC Canada - tell the company that until it does, you will boycott the chain. You can contact KFC by using this online form or calling 1-800-225-5532. Please also sign our petition.

Source: PETA

Congratulations to Philip Given, winner of the KFC contest. Philip entered the fast food world today with a hunger for new recipe chicken, and he bravely went where no man has gone before. For being the first, and for sending in pics from his adventure, he will receive $50 cash via PayPal.com, plus reimbursement for the meal, and his name up in lights on the FFC website. Ok, there aren’t any “lights” but here’s some bold text.

Congratulations to Mr. Philip Given, of York, Pennsylvania.

UPDATE: 5/29, 10:39 A.M.(CST) We have a winner - details to follow.

To celebrate KFC’s new Chipotle Crispy Chicken recipe, and because I want to do something nice for one of my readers, I’m running the following, quick, mini-contest.

The first person who sends me their photograph (or friends, family, kids, etc.) trying the new recipe chicken, will receive the following:

– $50 cash, instantly via PayPal.
– Reimbursement for your meal. I pay for the food. (receipt required, 1 bucket)
– Your smiling face on FFC. (optional, your choice)
– Your website link posted, or any site you want to promote. (optional)

This post is being made at 5:25 P.M. (CST)
Please send photo to: editor@fastfoodcritic.com

I would like to see a photo of the chicken, packaging, and preferably somebody eating. The receipt can be supplied separately. The first photo I receive that meets the criteria will be declared the winner, and will be posted ASAP.

Please note: I will be offline after 10 P.M. but will update this tomorrow morning. In the event that multiple photos are received over-night, the winner will be decided by the time-stamp of the email message.

Proof once again, that chipotle flavored foods and sauces are taking over the world. In 65 years, Kentucky Fried Chicken has only used 2 main recipes. Original and Extra Crispy. Today that changed. This information just in from the KFC newsroom. LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, May 28 — In 1940, Colonel Harland Sanders revolutionized fried chicken by introducing his now famous Original Recipe(R). Today, more than 65 years later, KFC is adding just its third fried chicken flavor to the menu — Smoky Chipotle Crispy. The new flavor joins Colonel Sanders’ Original Recipe, featuring a secret blend of 11 herbs and spices, as well as Extra Crispy(TM), which was introduced more than two decades ago.

A Secret Slow-Smoked Recipe.

“The new recipe receives its signature flavor from a secret recipe of slow-smoked chipotle peppers and other spices,” said Doug Hasselo, Chief Food Innovation Officer at KFC. “Our new Smoky Chipotle Crispy is designed to be the perfect combination of robust flavors with just the right kick,” Hasselo added. “We’re confident Colonel Sanders would have approved this new secret recipe. It truly is finger lickin’ good.”

KFC’s new Smoky Chipotle Crispy chicken is currently available in a bucket or as a plated meal for a limited time only. Visit KFC.com for specific details about the new Smoky Chipotle Crispy chicken and additional information on Kentucky Fried Chicken.