14 Discontinued KFC Items We Really Want Back

KFC is best known for its craveable chicken, homestyle sides, catchy marketing strategies like "finger-lickin' good," and the white-bearded, kindly Colonel. His real name was Harland Sanders, and he first served his chicken from a Kentucky motel that he owned. The unique recipe with all those herbs and spices was developed in 1939, and the ingredients have never been formally publicized. The Colonel sold KFC to investors in 1964, and like other fast food chains, this fast food giant frequently changes its menu to mirror evolving customer demands and industry trends. Its menus in other countries are also different from those in the U.S.

No one doubts that KFC's menu will always feature tasty, salty Original Recipe and Extra Crispy chicken. But while some new menu items connect with consumers, others fall flat. Certain ones made people wonder what the heck KFC corporate was thinking and were pulled quickly. And then there's the Double Down chicken sandwich that had twice as much of everything: chicken filets, slices of cheese, and bacon — but no bun. KFC introduced it in 2010, pulled it, and has brought it back for limited times since then. This novelty sammy is a real teaser, drawing old and new fans into the restaurant and putting the brand in the spotlight. But the ones shared below seem to be gone for good in the U.S., and we really want them back.

Are pickles and chicken a match made in heaven? KFC thought so back in 2018 and packaged it with a green pickle cartoon in the logo and green-and-white checkerboard paper. The recipe used Extra Crispy chicken pieces and added a thick, creamy sauce that had a pickle juice base enhanced with buttermilk, vinegar, garlic, onion, and seasonings, and the final touch was a few pickle slices. At the time, KFC may have introduced it to compete with Chick-fil-A, which uses pickle brine in its recipes.

KFC didn't soak this chicken in brine but rather used the pickle sauce to top the fried chicken in meals and sandwiches. Pickles are an acquired taste, and consumers likely thought that this was overkill because of the super-sour flavor. The company upgraded its regular chicken sandwich a year later by adding crinkle-cut pickle slices, but Pickle Fried Chicken was eventually pulled. It seems as though most consumers prefer just a slice or two pickle-wise, but the discontinued version had a strong kick to it.

Back in the '80s, when KFC was still called Kentucky Fried Chicken, it had small chicken sandwiches that were about the same size as White Castle Burgers. It was everything basic — the same kind of small, square, dinner bun, but with a slim fried chicken patty, a slice of dill pickle, and mayo. The price for a single sandwich was $0.39, or three for $1, and as you can imagine, they could be eaten in one bite. The original Chicken Little has been discontinued for decades, but fans got into an uproar at the time. One of them was actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who once admitted that he wrote a letter of complaint about the discontinuation to KFC when he was a child.

KFC introduced another small sandwich, the KFC Snacker, in 2005, but that was different. It used a sesame seed bun that held one strip of Extra Crispy, lettuce, and mayo. 

Things have continued to change; the KFC Snacker was replaced in 2012 with a smaller sandwich called ... the Chicken Little. However, if you check out KFC's menu, you'll see it still looks like the Snacker. Even though the name is back in circulation, KFC's current palm-sized sandwich is a far cry from the first incarnation, which we want to see back — for the same price.

Nashville, Tennessee, is known for the Grand Ole Opry, The Hermitage, and hot chicken. The latter is usually fried chicken slathered with melt-your-eyeballs hot red sauce, served with pickle slices and white bread. KFC presented its version in 2016, and it was sold boneless or on the bone, with biscuits and sides. The chicken had a marginally sweet, smoky taste, but wasn't as spicy as the authentic versions. It had the pickles, too, but was missing the bread.

Purists complained about KFC's Nashville Hot Chicken on social media, and KFC itself admitted that the biscuits were a substitute for the bread. Even though some reviewers liked this newfangled chicken, it wasn't spicy enough for others. KFC debuted Nashville Hot Chicken and Waffles in 2019, but Nashville Hot Chicken in general was eventually discontinued, though the chain continued to sell Nashville Hot Sauce afterward. The latter was discontinued in 2023 along with several other items. That's a shame because that Nashville Extra Crispy had just the right spiciness.

KFC's venture into plant-based chicken started out strong, through a partnership with Beyond Meat. This was a significant investment as both companies worked to create a soy- and wheat-based product that mimicked the taste and texture of the Colonel's chicken. The first version was introduced at an Atlanta KFC in 2019 and quickly sold out.

But once the smoke cleared and the nuggets went nationwide in 2022, a few issues came to light. Some consumers weren't on board with the taste or claimed that the plant-based chicken was too dense. Besides that, there were worries about cross-contamination since Beyond Meat's Fried Chicken was fried in the same oil as the regular chicken — the Beyond product prices were also higher than regular chicken. Beyond Chicken is no longer a permanent KFC menu item, but the first try garnered a lot of media attention. It may be brought back again, once KFC and Beyond Meat fine-tune the recipe, preparation, and presentation. We think it's a good option for people who won't or can't eat poultry, and we think it needs to come back.

A close cousin to the Double Down chicken sandwich, KFC's Double Down Hot Dog was a second example of how chicken patties can replace bread in sandwiches. In this case, a chicken patty was formed into the shape of a hot dog bun and had you-know-what inside; mayo, mustard, ketchup, and cheese were optional. It was introduced in 2015 in the Philippines, to some rather choice words. Business Insider called it "ridiculous," while People deemed it both "absurd" and the "Frankenstein of Meats." This was a very limited release, with comparatively small numbers of DD Dogs offered for only two days.

So why didn't this menu item make it to the U.S.? It might have incited controversy because of its basic outrageousness, but so what? This bunless, cheese-covered hot dog is small in size and can't be much worse for you than cheese-stuffed pizza crust topped with pepperoni and sausage or a filled tostada wrapped in a tortilla. We want the Double Down Hot Dog back, even if it wasn't here in the U.S. to begin with.

Think about this: If you go on a picnic and take fried chicken, what dessert goes with it best? Yep, apple pie. And if you didn't want to have an entire one with your KFC order, the perfect choice was on the menu — the beloved Apple Turnover. KFC wasn't the only one that had a dessert like this, and McDonald's still does.

KFC's turnover had a sweet apple-cinnamon filling wrapped up in a flaky crust, and boy, was it a great way to end the meal. So what does KFC have for dessert these days? Not much, as it turns out. There's a chocolate chip cookie and a medium-sized chocolate cake made with chocolate chips in the batter and drizzled with a vanilla glaze. This looks like a Bundt cake that you might find in a grocery store and can satisfy sweet tooth cravings. But it can't compare to a warm apple turnover, and we're hoping KFC will bring that back someday.

This dessert was doomed from the start because the name itself just doesn't sound that appealing. KFC has played around with ice cream desserts from time to time and currently offers soft-serve ice cream in the U.K. But what about in the U.S.? Fans were treated to the oddly named but strangely delicious Kentucky-Chicken Flavored Ice Cream for a short while, and it needs to come back.

It had a limited release in the summer of 2019, and since then, it's been crickets. The treat featured soft-serve vanilla ice cream in a unique cone flavored with cornbread and gravy, and as the final touch, the ice cream was dotted with ... are you ready for this? Candied chicken skin bits. Don't turn your nose up, because everyone knows that chicken and waffles topped with ice cream is awesome. With a few tweaks (including a new name), this ice cream dessert could be the bomb.

Static Media owns and operates Daily Meal and Tasting Table.