KFC Copycat
Mid-80s I worked at a KFC in Illinois and some in St. Louis, MO. If you’ve ever worked for a franchise in the foodservice industry, you know you’ll be called to fill in for staff shortages in other locations. KFC. Hardees (goddamn those iced cinnamon buns were the shit!). Pizza Hut. Some ma and pop diner known for their paper-thin burgers and shakes. Disney World (Epcot Center). Lots of experience in the food industry. Not to mention KP-duty in the Army, back when that was thing.
KFC was where I developed my taste for some chicken. I’m not real big on chicken but breasts are OK. And the occasional thighs for my gyro meat. Today’s KFC slop tastes nothing like it did back then. Much like Pizza Hut’s flavors – nothing like the 70s-80s flavor they were known for. I’ve already written about that.
Hours of internet sleuthing led me to the closest flavor that resembles the original KFC flavor – Marion-Kay’s Chicken Seasoning 99-X. Some argue this *is* the original, created by the Colonel himself revealed after he was bought out and changed the recipe a bit. Some say if you deep fry in peanut oil with citric acid in a pressure cooker you get the exact flavor. Alas, I have no pressure cooker capable of deep frying in. In fact, mine specifically warns against deep frying under pressure. Back to the seasoning, this is a bigger batch that has you adding salt to the mix and you either add it to your flour for breading or season you chicken with if not breading. I don’t really do breading – just once with this spice just to sample. I’ll do it again soon to deep fry some chicken tenders. A smaller version of the seasoning that has the extra salt already included is called Chicken Seasoning Plus and is readily available on Amazon if you want to try it out. No, this aint no affiliation link. I get no kickback if you buy. This smaller version is what I’m currently using. Very close to that original KFC flavor. The small difference in taste can be attributed to not being cooked under pressure in oil. The makes a world of difference.
Having been satisfied with my seasoning, I set out to replicate that delicious gravy. Oh my god how I loved that gravy. I still remember Sunday afternoons as a teen, heading over to the restaurant and getting my order with employee discount. A bucket of chicken, large side of mashed potatoes, large gravy, and large baked beans.
KFC’s baked beans back then were really a restaurant specific item. By that I mean it didn’t come as a KFC brand that we just open and heated. It was made at the discretion of the cook for the day and when it was gone, it was gone for the day.
The gravy was made by mixing water, a packet, and a healthy scoop of chicken catchings out of the grease filters from the pressure cooker’s oil following the cook. Which is why my recipe here will not be quite up to par or appear the darker brown color. I ain’t pressure cooking any chicken in oil (save that for the social media challenges) so I don’t have any grease filter droppings to add to the mix. Next best thing I have would be some standard chicken broth. Assuming you already know how to make a basic gravy, here’s my recipe.
30 g flour (1/4 cup)
1.5 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp Marion-Kay Chicken Seasoning Plus
This made enough to produce 10 (almost 2oz) servings. Looking at the featured picture above, that is one full ladle over a serving of mashed potatoes. Same amount as I poured into each 2 oz container. Freezes/thaws/reheats well.
