KFC Announces New Hand-Breaded Chicken Nuggets & More

McDonald's and Chick-fil-A may have stolen the hearts (and business) of many consumers with their beloved chicken nuggets, but starting next week, they will have some fresh competition straight from the kitchens of Colonel Sanders.

On March 27, KFC is launching its new Kentucky Fried Chicken Nuggets at participating restaurants nationwide. The national debut follows a successful, but limited, test run of the nuggets last year. The premium nuggets are made with 100% white meat chicken and hand-breaded with KFC's Original Recipe, bringing the famous flavors found in the chain's bone-in chicken to the new nuggets.

"As the original fried chicken experts, we're introducing a chicken nugget made the way only KFC can—hand-breaded with our distinctive Original Recipe of 11 herbs and spices," Nick Chavez, chief marketing officer of KFC United States, said in a statement. "Simply put, you've never had chicken nuggets like these —they're the chicken nugget America deserves, and worth the wait."

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In more good news, the fried chicken chain is also bringing back another popular menu item, the Mac & Cheese Bowls, for a limited time starting on April 3. Fans can also look forward to a limited-time return of KFC's Nashville Hot sauce for the spicy version of the Mac & Cheese Bowls.

KFC first debuted the popular bowls in 2019, and then encored them about three years later in 2022. In those earlier limited launches, the Mac & Cheese Bowls featured the chain's creamy mac & cheese topped with crispy popcorn chicken chunks and sprinkled with even more cheese. This time around, KFC is using its brand new chicken nuggets to top the bowl instead of the popcorn chicken, and making the same switch in the KFC Famous Bowls.

This will mark a more definitive end for the fan-favorite popcorn chicken after a KFC executive told USA TODAY last month that the popcorn chicken combo was being discontinued. But up until the approaching debut of the chicken nuggets, KFC customers could still find the popcorn chicken in its Famous Bowls.

The Mac & Cheese Bowls will sell for a suggested price of $5, while the new nuggets will start at a suggested price of $3.49. Prices may vary depending on location and the number of nuggets, since KFC is offering five-piece, eight-piece, 12-piece, and 36-piece order sizes.

While customers await the imminent launch of the nuggets and Mac & Cheese Bowls, they can also sample the divisive Double Down sandwich that returned to menus for a four-week period starting on March 6.