If you’re a longtime fan of KFC’s Famous Bowl—the popular hodgepodge of mashed potatoes, gravy, chicken nuggets, corn, and cheese—prepare yourself for some big news. The chicken chain is introducing an exciting new spin on the classic menu item for the first time in years, and it’s absolutely loaded with potatoes and cheese.
KFC just announced that its brand-new Smash’d Potato Bowls are hitting menus starting today, Jan. 29. The chain previously tested the bowls in Pittsburgh, Pa., in the fall of 2023, but this is the first time that they’ll be available to customers nationwide. This is a big development in the KFC world because the brand hasn’t introduced a new Famous Bowl iteration since it launched its Mac & Cheese Bowls more than three years ago in August 2019.
The new Smash’d Potato Bowls are pretty much tailor-made for potato fanatics. They feature mashed potatoes topped with crispy fries, warm cheese sauce, bacon crumbles, and a three-cheese blend. The item will sell for a suggested price of $3.49, but like at any other fast-food chain, prices could vary by location. Customers who want extra protein can also add five of KFC’s hand-breaded chicken nuggets for $2 extra.
“Now you can smash your hunger with our new Smash’d Potato Bowls, which take comfort to an 11 with a unique twist on all your favorite KFC flavors smashed together. If you like our Famous Bowls, you’re going to love this new bowl,” Nick Chavez, chief marketing officer of KFC U.S., said in a statement.
Alongside the new spin on its Famous Bowls, KFC is also offering a new $20 Taste of KFC meal that gives customers “all your favorites in one,” the announcement said. The combo comes with six pieces of KFC’s Original Recipe bone-in chicken, four biscuits, and individual sides of mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw, corn, and macaroni and cheese. It’s available at restaurants nationwide starting today.
KFC teased the launch with a post on Instagram, inviting users to guess what the new product drop might be.
The debut of the Smash’d Potato Bowls came just a few weeks after KFC expanded its line of Kentucky Fried Chicken Wraps with two brand-new flavors: a Spicy Mac & Cheese Chicken Wrap and a Honey BBQ Chicken Wrap. The new options joined the Classic Chicken Wrap, Spicy Slaw Chicken Wrap, and Mac & Cheese Chicken Wrap that were already available. The limited-edition wraps are no longer on the menu right now, but fans can keep their fingers crossed that KFC will bring them back again in the future.
Zoe Strozewski
Zoe Strozewski is a News Writer for Eat This, Not That! A Chicago native who now lives in New Jersey, she graduated from Kean University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Read more about Zoe
