Kentucky Fried Chicken, commonly known as KFC, is an American fast food restaurant. The company’s headquarters is located in Louisville, Kentucky. Although the fast food chain now offers a wide variety of menu items, such as salads, sandwiches, and desserts, the restaurant is still most well-known for its famous, Original Recipe fried chicken. With over 5,200 restaurants in the United States alone, KFC is not only the most popular chicken restaurant in America, it is the most popular chicken restaurant in the world.
The History of Kentucky Fried Chicken
Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, did not begin to franchise his restaurant until 1952, but KFC was a business in the making for over a decade. In 1930, Sanders opened a restaurant called “Sanders Court & Cafe” in the front room of a Kentucky gas station. In 1936, Harland Sanders became an honorary colonel, in recognition of his contributions to Kentucky’s cuisine. The next year, the Colonel’s restaurant expanded, gaining a motel and increasing seating area for an additional 142 patrons. In 1939, Colonel Sanders begin using a pressure cooker to fry the chicken. The pressure cooker allowed Colonel Sanders to cook the chicken more quickly than his previous method of preparing it in an iron skillet. The following year, 1940, saw the introduction of the now-famous Original Recipe fried chicken.
The first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise was opened in Salt Lake City in 1952 by Pete Harman. Harman and Colonel Sanders agreed that Sanders would received five cents for every chicken Harman’s restaurant sold. By 1964, there were over 600 KFC restaurants across the United States and Canada, and one franchise had opened in the United Kingdom. Today, there are over 15,000 Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants located across the globe in 109 countries.
Popular Kentucky Fried Chicken Menu Items
KFC’s Original Recipe fried chicken has been, and continues to be, the most popular selection since its introduction in 1940. The recipe for this delicious chicken has been a closely-guarded secret since its inception seventy years ago. All that the general public knows of the recipe is that it is seasoned with a blend of 11 herbs and spices.
The only full copy of the recipe is kept in a high-security vault at Kentucky Fried Chicken headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. It is stored along with the 11 herbs and spices the recipe calls for. Colonel Sanders wrote the recipe on a sheet of notebook paper in pencil. Within the vault, the recipe is inside of a filing cabinet that is further secured by two locks.
Many people have tried to guess the contents of the secret recipe. Many copycat recipes are available online, and there are even books in which their authors claim to have figured out the recipe. One of the very few Kentucky Friend Chicken executives who have access to the recipe says that no one has ever successfully guessed correct mix of the 11 herbs and spices.
Other popular menu items at KFC are the Extra Crispy chicken and the Kentucky Grilled Chicken. Talk show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey caused a grilled chicken sensation to sweep across the Nation when she teamed up with KFC to offer coupons for free grilled chicken. Chicken sandwiches and Honey BBQ wings are also a favorite among KFC customers.
KFC has something for everyone, including the health-conscious chicken lovers among us. Their salad choices are so delicious you will hardly believe they are also good for you! In addition, all KFC chicken products are free of trans fat.
Kentucky Fried Chicken Promotional Discounts
The first stop for finding Kentucky Fried Chicken coupons & promo codes is the restaurant’s official website, KFC.com. There, you can find printable KFC coupons for restaurants in your area and you also have the choice to join the mailing list in order to receive emails about future discounts and promotional offers. RetailMeNot.com also offers printable coupons for KFC. An example of such a coupon is $3 off a 12-piece meal or 30 Fiery Chicken Wings for only $19.99.
Kentucky Fried Chicken has been around for over 50 years and the chicken is as delicious as always, thanks to the unchanging blend of 11 herbs and spices.
