Review: KFC - Boneless Chicken

White meat - left, dark meat- right

KFC's Boneless Chicken is a skinless, boneless take on their bone-in Original Recipe fried chicken. According to their research, a majority of people like boneless chicken and this is their effort to appeal to those folks, notwithstanding the fact that they offer chicken strips and have offered a Boneless Filet in the past.

Boneless Chicken carries a 25-cent-per-piece upcharge over KFC's regular bone-in chicken and can be had in white or dark meat. KFC is also currently promoting a two-piece Boneless Chicken combo (with a side, biscuit, and drink) for $4.99.

The white meat Boneless Chicken looks to be a cut of chicken breast filet, while the dark meat seems to be a cut of the meatiest portion of the thigh. Given the size of the cuts, I would have to guess KFC had to source bigger chicken for these; it feels like you get about just a little less than amount of meat as can be found on KFC's bone-in chicken.

The white meat Boneless Chicken is pretty much the spiritual successor to the Boneless Filet. The breading is not as greasy and noticeably drier than its bone-in counterpart. The lack of fatty skin accounts for the breading's dry aspect. On the plus side, unlike bone-in fried chicken, it's unlikely that you'll have any grease on your face afterwards.

The seasoning is that familiar (and salty) blend of herbs and spices. The chicken within tastes the same as you'd expect. Like all white meat, there's a tendency for it to dry out, but it was moist on this occasion.

Unsurprisingly, the dark meat Boneless Chicken was noticeably juicy and sported more flavor than the white meat. It seems to be cut from chicken thigh. Like the white meat version, the breading is not as oily and drier than the bone-in version.

Basically, if you like KFC's Original Recipe Chicken, you'll probably like the Boneless Chicken as well. If you don't, this isn't going to change your mind. Boneless Chicken is more convenient to eat on-the-go since there are no bones to pick out/gnaw and the drier breading makes it more of a one napkin affair rather than the typical three napkins. If you're careful, you can eat these without any mess at all other than a little finger grease.

Between boneless and bone-in, the price premium and no-fuss eating is not a bad trade-off for the slightly dry breading.

Nutritional Info - Original Recipe Boneless Chicken - white meat (103g)
Calories - 200 (from Fat - 70)
Fat - 8g (Saturated Fat - 1.5g)
Sodium - 610mg
Carbs - 6g (Sugar - 0g)
Protein - 24g

Nutritional Info - Original Recipe Boneless Chicken - dark meat (107g)
Calories - 250 (from Fat - 130)
Fat - 14g (Saturated Fat - 2.5g)
Sodium - 850mg
Carbs - 11g (Sugar - 0g)
Protein - 21g