Easy Copycat KFC Original Honey BBQ Recipe

KFC has quite a few popular menu items, ranging from the tried-and-true original fried chicken to its famous bowl. For those who prefer their chicken a little saucy, however, then KFC's honey BBQ sauce — a condiment that first cropped up in the '90s, was discontinued, and then returned in October 2025 — is the perfect sweet-smoky complement to wings, sandwiches, and thighs alike. 

Of course, you don't necessarily need to go to KFC to enjoy honey BBQ chicken, as you could just follow recipe developer Julianne De Witt's copycat KFC original honey BBQ chicken recipe instead. Featuring brined and fried chicken tossed in a slightly sweet, smoky, and tangy sauce, there's a whole lot to love about this copycat recipe (which just might be better than anything you'd get from KFC anyway). Thanks to a quick brining, "this chicken turns out incredibly juicy and flavorful, even if the recipe requires a little extra effort," De Witt says. "The homemade barbecue sauce is zingy, slightly smoky, and sweet." Though you'd be able to get the honey BBQ sauce with various types of chicken at the KFC drive-thru, ranging from tenders to nuggets to sandwiches, De Witt keeps things nice and classic by pairing her version with classic KFC-style fried legs and thighs for the ultimate at-home feast.

To make the actual fried chicken portion of this recipe, you'll need both chicken legs and thighs along with both the brine and breading ingredients. For the brine, you'll need warm water, kosher salt, granulated sugar, baking soda, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and chicken bouillon powder. For the breading, you'll need flour, kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cornstarch, and water. You'll also want plenty of vegetable oil on hand to fry the chicken.

Of course, that copycat honey BBQ sauce is the real star of the show here. To make that, you'll need brown sugar, ketchup, white vinegar, honey, hickory liquid smoke, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and salt. 

Add the water, salt, sugar, baking soda, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and chicken bouillon to a large bowl. Whisk the ingredients together, then pour the brine over the chicken pieces. Cover and refrigerate the chicken for 45 minutes.

Prepare the breading by adding 1 ½ cups of flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and cornstarch to a large bowl.

Whisk the ingredients until they are blended. Set aside.

Add the brown sugar, ketchup, white vinegar, honey, hickory smoke, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and kosher salt to a small pot and place over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a light boil, then simmer for 3 minutes. Keep warm.

Whisk together the remaining ½ cup flour and 1 cup water.

Remove the chicken from the brine and blot it with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

Working in batches, dip the chicken pieces in the flour and water mixture.

Next, coat each piece of chicken in the flour and spice mixture, pressing firmly so the coating adheres evenly.

Rest the chicken for 15 minutes.

While the chicken is resting, heat the oil to 325 F.

Working in two batches, fry the chicken in the hot oil for 12 to 14 minutes or until it's golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 180 F.

Place the cooked chicken on a rack-lined sheet and keep it warm.

Cook the remaining chicken in the same way.

Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes.

Pour the sauce over the chicken.

Toss the chicken in the sauce until evenly coated. Serve immediately.

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If you find that you're screwing up fried chicken whenever you make it, De Witt has some tips to ensure a more successful outcome with this recipe. For starters, it really is useful to keep a thermometer handy so that you can more easily control the temperature of your oil — even after the chicken goes in, you want to keep that temp around 325 F. Also, tempting as it may be to toss in every piece of chicken all at once, working in batches really is key here. "Too many pieces at once drops the oil temperature drastically potentially causing a greasy and soggy crust," De Witt explains.

Next, you don't want to immediately coat your chicken in sauce the second it leaves the oil. Allow the freshly-fried pieces to drain on a wire rack or over a bed of paper towels, which will help keep the chicken from getting soggy after it's all sauce up. As De Witt explains, "Giving the breading a chance to cool a bit on the outside will ensure the breading stays crisp when sauced. You may also wish to serve the honey BBQ sauce on the side so as to retain as much crispy integrity in your fried chicken as possible.

You shouldn't skip brining for fried chicken, not only because it improves the overall flavor of the finished product, but it also improves the texture of the chicken itself. "The salt in brine draws water into the meat which keeps it juicy during cooking," De Witt explains. "The seasoning in the brine adds flavor to the meat and is a tenderizer." In a given recipe, you'll either come across a wet brine (like in this particular recipe) or a dry brine, which involves salt and other chosen seasonings rubbed directly onto the meat. Both types of brine work well in enhancing the overall quality of your fried chicken (or whatever type of meat you're making) without requiring a whole lot of extra work.

As it turns out, brining may also be the secret to achieving accurate KFC-style chicken. "Although KFC keeps their recipes private, there is some thought that the chicken is quickly brined before frying," De Witt says. So, she followed suit in this recipe, and she calls the final fried chicken result "juicy and tender," so it really is worth sacrificing the extra time for the sake of brining. 

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