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A Closer Look at KFC Popular Mashed Potatoes

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Mashed Potatoes

Last Updated on February 27, 2024 by Nasir Hanif

KFC’s mashed potatoes are served either in small containers or large family sized buckets. It’s delicious. It’s simple. And it may seem like a very straightforward dish but there’s more to it than meets the eye.

Colonel Harland Sanders himself was very critical of the new recipes for KFC’s mashed potatoes and gravy. But regardless of his opinions of the updated recipe, KFC still sold more than 200 million pounds of mashed potatoes annually as of 2012.

So what makes this dish so irresistibly good? Let’s find out.

KFC’s mashed potato is made from a powdered mix.

You probably thought KFC boils and mashes their potatoes, didn’t you? After all, they’re well-known for their fresh-never-frozen chicken and handmade breads and fries. But they have

It’s not the healthiest item on the menu.

While it’s clearly not the biggest offender, the KFC mashed potato and gravy contains 130 calories and 520mg of sodium. We recommend skipping the gravy and go with the plain mash so you’ll only have 330mg of sodium and 110 calories.

It has lots of additives and preservatives.

If it’s just an occasional treat you’ll be fine. But if you’re eating this dish a few times a week, you’ll need to really think about whether it’s worth all the chemicals you’re putting in your body. Moreover those with soy allergies should avoid the gravy since it has soy.

The KFC gravy is “partly homemade.”

Just like their mashed potatoes, KFC uses a powdered gravy mix, but they also add in some drippings and chicken bits from the leftovers in the fryer.

Back in 2011, KFC employees published a Reddit post explaining that they only use the powder mix and water for the gravy when they run out of cracklings. This probably explains why sometimes KFC’s gravy is a bit watery and less tasty, hm?

Just recently however, there’s a Quora thread with posters claiming they saw KFC gravy arrive at the store in ready-made tubs so perhaps they have changed their process of making the gravy. KFC has claimed though that they still add chicken fat into the mix.

Colonel Sanders did not like the modern KFC mashed potatoes

Colonel Sanders was very vocal about his dislike for the changes in KFC including the incorrectly prepared slaw. He also said the new mashed potatoes recipe tasted like “wallpaper paste” and the gravy was “horrible.”

He was very proud of the original KFC cracklin’ gravy which was made in special fryers. A 1970 feature in The New Yorker shows Col. Sanders and his devotion to the original gravy. Unfortunately, the whole process was not sustainable due to the quantity they need to fulfill every day – it was labor-intensive and expensive to make.

KFC has thousands of stores around the world.

In 1965 the very first KFC in England opened and they didn’t have mashed potatoes back then. In fact, it wasn’t until 2019 that they finally included mashed potatoes on their menu. They introduced the Gravy Mashies back in 2017 and it was basically breaded and fried mashed potato balls with lots of gravy. In Japan, KFC brought bacon mashed potato fritters in 2012 and it had sour cream and herbs.

That’s not exactly a bad thing though. I mean, fried chicken with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy is a match made in heaven.

What sets KFC apart from the rest is not only the convenience and affordable prices (see entire menu here) but they offer but also how crispy and delicious their chicken is.

And if you want something even better than the Original Recipe, there’s the Extra Crispy chicken which is browner, bolder and bigger. The spices and the flavor in the chicken is the perfect complement for the mashed potatoes.

Apart from this if you are interested to know more about Foods that increase body strength then visit our food category.