KFC's New Signature Grilled Chicken

Fast food chain KFC is well-known in Singapore and around the world for their “Finger Lickin’ Good” Deep Fried Chicken recipes.

The leading fast-food chicken restaurant chain in Singapore, KFC is renowned for serving delicious, complete family meals at affordable prices.

The first KFC eatery in Singapore had been initially opened in 1977 and now, there are 86 restaurants scattered all across the island. So KFC has come a long way since its arrival in Singapore.

But now though, KFC is deviating away from the Deep Fried Chicken that they have become famous for. The latest chicken addition to their menu is, in fact, the KFC Signature Grilled Chicken.

Yes, grilled – you’ve read that correctly.

KFC wants to adapt to the consumers’ changing tastes

Explained Juliana Lim, the Senior Director of Marketing at KFC, “Everyone knows KFC for their fried chicken and we have come out with various flavours of fried chicken recently, with the latest being the GoldSpice Chicken.”

She continued, “But we want to adapt to the changing tastes of customers, to bring in healthier options, and also increase the choices for our customers too.”

Recipe uses a whole chicken leg

Borne of more than a year of research and development and consumer taste testing, the new KFC Grilled Chicken uses a whole quarter leg – which is a Singapore first for fast-food restaurants.

And the secret for the moist and tasty grilled chicken lies in its signature marinade – this is described by the fast food chain as a blend of paprika chilli, pepper, garlic, onion and herbs. Every single piece is freshly onion-grilled in-store to a light, crisped golden-brown deliciousness.

Said Lim, “We have been working on the taste and design of our Grilled Chicken recipe and to find the right combination of flavours that would work out best.”

And of course, according to the KFC promotional materials, the new KFC Signature Grilled Chicken is billed as being “Finger Lickin’ Good” too, just like the restaurant’s fried version.

Tasting the KFC Grilled Chicken

Prior to the launch of their Grilled Chicken into stores on 1st August, KFC Singapore recently invited me to a media tasting session of their new product, at their Kallang outlet.

And at the media tasting, we were each given a whole quarter leg, for our enjoyment.

When I dug into the KFC Signature Grilled Chicken, I was pleasantly surprised and I would say that I quite enjoyed it.

The chicken had a predominantly spicy taste thanks to the paprika chilli and pepper, together with a slightly sweet after-note that hit my taste buds subsequently. This combination of flavours made it quite interesting.

And the more that I’d ate of the Signature Grilled Chicken, I thought that the spicy note became more pronounced but at the same time, the amount of spice that had been used in the chicken had seemed to be just right, as it did not really seem to overwhelm me.

This says something, because I am not typically a fan of most hot and spicy foods.

As well, the chicken meat was really succulent too. In fact, I would say that it was definitely one of the more juicier grilled chickens that I have eaten.

The chicken skin had been quite delicious too. I admit that I usually try not to eat the chicken skin for health reasons, but the skin on the KFC Grilled Chicken was much yummier than I had expected and so I had ended up finishing this up as well.

I thought that the skin had a slight chewy texture which I had thought was quite a good contrast to the softness from the chicken meat. It was also tasty, with the combined paprika and black pepper spices all blended together.

So if I am in the mood for Grilled Chicken again, the KFC Signature Grilled Chicken is definitely an option that I would consider, in the future.

KFC Signature Grilled Chicken Meals

Together with each Grilled Chicken Leg, each guest during the media tasting session had also been served a Whipped Potato, a Regular ColeSlaw and a drink, in order to complete our meal.

The default drink was actually supposed to be Pepsi Black, but I had wanted something fruity so I had my drink changed to the Sjora Mango Peach instead.

Priced at S$8.95, this same Signature Grilled Chicken Meal will be made available for both dine-in and take-away customers.

But for those who have larger appetites, there is also the Signature Grilled Chicken Box, which comes with one grilled quarter leg, two Hot and Crispy Tenders, one Regular Fries, one Regular Whipped Potato and one Regular Pepsi Black.

This option is priced at S$10.95 and is available for both dine-in and take-away.

And to cater to families too, there is also the Grilled Chicken Variety Meal, which includes one Grilled Quarter Leg, two pieces of Fried Chicken (Original Recipe or Hot & Crispy), three Hot and Crispy chicken tenders, one Medium Whipped Potato, one Medium ColeSlaw as well as two regular Pepsi Black.

Available for both dine-in as well as take-away orders, this meal will set you back by S$19.95.

The KFC Garden Salad

Together with the new Signature Grilled Chicken, KFC is also introducing the Garden Salad, which is a mix of mescaline salad served with soy sesame dressing, in order to help their customers to hit their daily fibre quota.

The Garden Salad can be added on to any fried or grilled chicken meal for an additional S$2 and is a refreshing complement to the chicken.

And this had been quite delicious. The salad was definitely fresh, and the soy sesame dressing had a slightly savoury yet tangy flavour which was quite unusual but at the same time, it had complemented the fresh vegetables really well.

Ending the Session