KFC’s regular menu hasn’t changed much in years. Buckets of fried chicken, sides, biscuits, maybe a limited-time sandwich now and then — its familiarity is comforting.
The stranger, riskier menu experiments are typically happening elsewhere.
At the end of 2024, though, KFC decided to break the mold with Saucy, a spin-off built solely around chicken tenders and sauces.
What started out as an elementary idea that involved a stripped-down menu that included just 11 sauces, fries, coleslaw, and little else has now drifted into something closer to a test kitchen that just happens to be open to the public.
The latest update introduces five more items that push the spin-off restaurant even further away from classic KFC territory.
The new lineup includes a Chicken Teriyaki Bowl and a Chicken Caesar Salad, which both lean into the “bowl and greens” space that most fast food brands test at some point. On the snack side, Saucy is rolling out Brussel Bites (Brussels sprouts fried and seasoned) and Puffies (small pastry pieces served with raspberry sauce).
The most over-the-top item is the Late Night Kitchen Sink Grand’ito.
Sold exclusively after 9 p.m., this breakfast-dinner hybrid burrito features chopped chicken tenders, queso, crinkle-cut fries, and egg all crammed into one oversized tortilla. The result is a combination that sounds like it was designed for people who wander in hungry at the end of the night and don’t want to choose between breakfast and fast food.
While these oddities would clash violently with the Colonel’s traditional roster, they fit perfectly into Saucy’s identity as a rule-breaking R&D lab.
By the looks of it, the fast food chain is clearly treating Saucy as more than a one-off experiment. Along with the menu changes, KFC is adding three more Saucy locations in Florida: two in Orlando and one in Winter Park, with openings scheduled between December and January.
For now, Saucy is still small and regional, and the fried chicken icon hasn’t said anything about bringing these items into the core brand. But the pattern is clear: if something odd or new is going to be tried under the KFC umbrella, salads, bowls, Brussels sprouts, pastry bites, late-night wraps, it’s likely to show up at Saucy first, not next to the original recipe chicken.
Sources: Yum Brands, allrecipes