Fried chicken is serious business. Crispy, juicy, spicy, or mild, everyone has a favorite. But when professional chefs speak, you listen. We asked four top culinary pros which fast food fried chicken reigns supreme—and they didn’t hold back.
Forget fancy plates or farm-to-table fluff. These chefs go for flavor, crunch, and that craveable factor that keeps you coming back. Here is what they chose and why.
BBQ Chicken
As the founder of Fly By Jing and author of “The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp,” she knows what makes a flavor unforgettable. Her pick? BBQ Chicken. And it is not a soft choice.
Lucas / Unsplash / Fried chicken at B.B.Q Chicken is double-fried for that signature Korean crunch. Gao says it is the texture that hooks you, but the flavors keep you loyal.
Think golden skin, a garlic-soy glaze, and heat that builds with every bite. She is all in on the spicy Galbi and Secret Sauced wings. “It’s bold, balanced, and addictive,” she says. That is high praise from someone who literally wrote the book on bold flavors.
BonChon
Dina Deleasa Gonsar knows comfort food. She built her Dish It Girl brand around real-deal home cooking, and her fast food fried chicken go-to is BonChon. Born in South Korea and now a global hit, BonChon takes fried chicken seriously, and it shows.
For Gonsar, BonChon’s soy garlic wings are the gold standard. The skin? Thin, glassy, and shatteringly crisp. The sauce? Salty-sweet with a slow garlic kick. She loves how every piece is cooked to order, not sitting under heat lamps.
KFC
Sometimes you stick with a classic for a reason. For Dominic Iannarelli, chef-owner of Prime & Providence in Iowa, the answer is easy. “KFC is still the one,” he says.
That original recipe fried chicken still delivers: eleven herbs, secret seasoning, and juicy meat under crisp, flaky skin. It is comfort food at its most dependable. Iannarelli respects the consistency.
Food Corner / KFC fried chicken are damn good, chefs say!
Why Chefs Still Crave Fast Food Fried Chicken
Fried chicken doesn’t need a white tablecloth to shine. Even chefs who cook five-star meals can’t resist a box of drumsticks. And when they want that fried chicken fix, they go where the crunch is guaranteed.
Kelly Jaggers, cookbook author from Texas, backs that up. Her top choice? She is all about BonChon’s spicy wings, but says KFC’s mashed potato combo still hits the spot after a long day.
Fast food fried chicken works because it delivers what people actually want: crispy skin, juicy meat, and no surprises. The chefs agree that it is not about gourmet. It is about getting it right every single time.
The Crunch That Sticks
What ties all these picks together? That crunch. You can’t fake it. Be it the double-fried Korean style at b.b.q Chicken, the lacquered glaze of BonChon, or the old-school breading of KFC, texture is everything. You bite in, you hear it, you feel it. And that is when you know it is real.
Great fried chicken is not fancy. It is comfort, crave, and crunch all in one bite. And these chefs? They know exactly where to find it.
