Drive-thru Gourmet
KFC goes sweet and spicy with new Nashville Hot Chicken & Waffles Sandwich
This week, I reached out for a Nashville Hot Chicken & Waffles Sandwich, new for a limited time only, at America's top chicken plucker, KFC, with 12,400 restaurants dotting every state in the union. Here we have KFC mashing up its Extra Crispy Fried Chicken, waffles, and Nashville Hot Sauce. Stop me when you hear something that's not finger-licking (and other body parts) good.
Here's the Nashville Hot Chicken & Waffles Sandwich breakdown: an all-white meat breast filet, battered senseless and deep-fried, plastered with Nashville Hot Sauce and served between two Belgian Liege-style waffles — with a side packet of Mrs. Butterworth's syrup. Yummy in your tummy.
Total calories: 1,100. Fat grams: 52. Sodium: 1,510 mg. Carbs: 122 g. Dietary fiber: 0 g. Protein: 33 g. Manufacturer's suggested retail price: $5.99.
KFC introduced its version of chicken and waffles earlier this year, and it was a chart-busting hit. Now the poultry powerhouse is back with the same dish — plus Nashville Hot Sauce. This is like going online to buy Taylor Swift concert tickets and finding out the co-headliner is Beyoncé.
(True story: A few years ago, I asked George Foreman if he would donate an autographed boxing glove for a Little League charity auction. A week later, the glove arrived in the mail with a note from Big George: "I hope you don't mind, but I sent a glove with Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier's autographs, too.")
Same deal with Chicken & Waffles plus Nashville Hot Sauce — one of them would just fine, together just tremendous. These days you can find Nashville Hot Sauce on plenty of things in loads of restaurants. Nashville Hot Sauce has been around since the 1930s, made famous at Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Music City. It's true, up there Nashville Hot Sauce is … just hot sauce, The smoky, spicy sauce was simply a local favorite until 2016 when KFC introduced it nationally. Boom, the rest is fast food sauce history.
In case you missed KFC's Chicken & Waffles first time around, the waffles are Belgian Liege-style, meaning they're sweet and airy. When you pour on Mrs. Butterworth's syrup, the waffles enter a sugar shocker zone. The ultra sweetness meets its match with the spicy, crispy chicken filet.
If you can overlook the massive number of calories, fat and everything else, this sandwich packs a ton of flavor and texture. It's different, I think better, than Popeyes sandwich, the one inspiring rave reviews and gunplay.
Only one word of warning about KFC's new entry: between the two waffles and thick slab of chicken filet, good luck wrapping your flappers around this monster.
Nashville Hot Chicken & Waffles also are available as a meal (one breast, or two dark pieces, or three tenders, plus one waffle and syrup) for $6.49, and a basket (two white pieces, or three dark pieces, or four tenders, two waffles, and two syrups) for $8.49.
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Ken Hoffman reviews a new fast food restaurant item every Wednesday. Have a suggestion or a drive-thru favorite? Let Ken know on Twitter.