6 Facts Most People Don't Know About KFC Mashed Potatoes

In the fast food world, KFC's menu stands out for a number of reasons, and its beloved side dishes are a major one. There are several different options to pair with your order of Original or Extra Crispy, but one KFC side stands above the rest: mashed potatoes. A trip to the fried chicken chain hardly feels complete without at least a small container of the mash and KFC's signature gravy to go with it.

But there's more than meets the eye with these seemingly simple spuds. Sure, even the best basic mashed potatoes recipe calls for milk and butter — can the same be said for KFC's recipe? Does the chain even use real potatoes? And what's in the famous gravy that tops it all off? The answers to those questions also help to explain why Colonel Sanders found himself in legal disputes with the brand that he'd built from scratch. Without further ado, let's explore some interesting tidbits about KFC's mashed potatoes that even regulars might not be familiar with.

Waiting in line at a KFC, you may notice the staff bustling around the kitchen, preparing buckets of chicken with various accoutrements. What you've likely never seen is an employee hauling in a sack of fresh potatoes to prepare for the chain's mash. Not a big deal — perhaps potato prep is an offsite operation. It turns out that is only partially true, as a since-deleted TikTok video assisted in pulling back the curtain on the chain's reliance on a mix for this side dish.

Snopes documented the social media post where a package labeled KFC One Step Mashed Potato Mix was seen being dumped into a container partially filled with water. Following preparation instructions on the bag, the mix was stirred and, voilà, the mashed potatoes were ready. The video was verified by KFC employees who confirm the use of an instant mix. Though it may appear to some as though the chain is cutting corners, the self-evident benefit in the preparation is the ability to maintain consistency. Use of the mix allows for each batch of mashed potatoes to come out as smooth as customers have grown accustomed.

If the instant mix revelation was a shattered glass moment for you, you may want to brace yourself. While potatoes are the star and main component, they are far from the only ingredient in the side dish. The next most prevalent part is a whey product comprised of whey solids, nonfat milk, sodium caseinate, and calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate. Those latter ingredients are used to help with the consistency of the final product, acting as emulsifiers to keep the mixture together.

The ingredients further lists salt, mono and diglycerides (also emulsifiers), calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate on its own, sodium bisulfate, natural flavors, natural colors, citric acid, and spice. Those in the know about swimming pools may have raised an eyebrow at sodium bisulfate. Yes, NaHSO₄ is used in various industries like for cleaning products, animal feed and agriculture, and as an additive in pool water. That's because the mineral acid reduces pH levels without introducing a sour taste like alternatives. Worth noting, as the milk product ruled out the side dish for vegans, KFC does not list the spuds as a vegetarian option suggesting that the emulsifiers and ambiguous natural flavors may be derived from animal sources.

Those venturing across the pond likely expect spectrum-ranging variations in dining experiences. British chips may be one of the different types of french fries that Americans need explained, but at least the difference in the name for mashed potatoes is a tad subtler. At KFCs across the United Kingdom the side dish is known as creamy mash — and it happens to be made with actual potatoes. That's right, unlike stateside where an instant mix is utilized to whip up the popular pairing for fried chicken, the menu for KFC in the U.K. says it's made with real spuds.

The internationally-known fried chicken chain opened its initial U.K. location in Preston back in 1965, but the creamy mash only made its way onto the menu in 2019. Its midcentury beginnings gave KFC a leg up, but it was eventually surpassed as U.K.'s most popular fast food chicken chain. Despite being founded in Johannesburg more than 20 years after the American chain crossed the Atlantic, Nando's and its peri-peri chicken made it to Ealing Common in 1992 and took the nation by storm before expanding to over 20 countries.

KFC's mashed potatoes aren't alone in boasting a slew of eye-opening facts. As it happens, the gravy has a host of undiscussed details which arguably account for the flavor of the condiment. Particularly popular in Chinese takeout, monosodium glutamate (MSG) also features in the fried chicken chain's gravy. While MSG was once linked to a number of health concerns including diabetes, obesity, and even headaches — myths that are rooted in racism — numerous studies have found this to be anecdotal at best; the United States Food and Drug Administration characterizes the flavor enhancer as "generally safe to eat." 

As to the question "Does KFC use MSG in its fried chicken?" the answer is yes. The chicken flavor also happens to be critical in crafting the gravy. Stateside, chicken fat is listed as one of the ingredients of the warm and salty topping. In the U.K., the BBC One documentary "Billion Dollar Chicken Shop" revealed that staff have their work cut out for them preparing the gravy where chicken cracklings are pulled from the fryer to be incorporated. This is especially trying work at the holidays where, as you'll learn later, gravy sales go through the roof.

Years before being twice honored with a commission as Colonel, U.S. Army veteran Harlan Sanders opened up the first restaurant that would become Kentucky Fried Chicken inside a gas station. More than three decades later in 1964, Sanders sold the brand for $2 million and an annual salary of $40,000. Accompanying the ties to the fried chicken chain he'd spent years building were his grievances with how it was being managed — in particular recipe changes to the mashed potatoes and gravy.

A 1976 article in The New York Times quoted Sanders as describing the concoction made from powdered potatoes as "wallpaper paste" before the addition of gravy earned the description of "sludge." The scathing remarks — which also maligned the coleslaw — earned the founder a libel lawsuit which was ultimately dismissed when a judge ruled he hadn't been calling out a specific restaurant in Bowling Green, Ky. This wasn't Sanders' only legal dispute after selling KFC, as he sought over $122 million from operating company Heublein, Inc. for allegedly stymying development of a new franchise, The Colonel's Lady's Dinner House. The Colonel called out the ongoing use of his likeness on products he'd had no part in developing, and ultimately the dispute was settled for $1 million with the new franchise operating as "Claudia Sanders Dinner House."

Before reading this article, current KFC customers might not have known of the Colonel's issues with the side dish, or the fact that it is crafted with instant mix loaded with emulsifiers and "natural flavors." But what many customers do know is just how much they love these mashed potatoes. According to USA Today's 10Best list, KFC spuds topped with gravy ranked eighth among side dishes in the fast food space in 2025, behind the likes of Culver's cheese curds, Jack in the Box's onion rings, and the top-ranked tempura green beans at Habit Burger & Grill.

Of course, we don't need official rankings to verify love for KFC mashed potatoes. Users across social media are more than happy to speak up about their affinity for the side dish, including some that are aware it's made with a mix rather than fresh potatoes. Edibility plus taste appear to be the most important criteria. Plus, there are plenty of ways to upgrade instant mashed potatoes. The same favor is applied to KFC's gravy, which some consider a must not only for the potatoes, but also for dipping their fried chicken.