Fried chicken has become the darling of the fast-food industry, and with good reason. 

“It's because fried chicken is easily accessible, easily made, much more cheaply made,” said Yosef Haiem, who runs a TikTok account, Yoeats23, where he reviews and ranks food for his 118.7K followers.

And he’s right. Chicken is typically more affordable than other protein options that appear on fast food menus. And while burgers may have that all-American, drive-through, classic fast-food flair — the meat is getting more expensive. 

The average price for a pound of ground beef is up nearly 18% from a year ago. That’s because the U.S. cattle supply is running low, partially due to droughts. Herds have thinned — to the lowest level since 1951. 

The beef supply cycle is slow-moving. It takes around three years to raise a cow for slaughter. But the chicken cycle is much quicker, lasting only about 90 days, according to BTIG analyst Peter Saleh. 

“When you're in short supply of chicken, you can recover faster. So those prices tend to be less volatile. And I think on a per pound basis, much cheaper,” said Saleh.

Fast food chains, battered by higher beef prices, have made a strategic calculation. They’re doubling down on fried chicken. 

“Broadly speaking, most operators who sell beef as their primary protein are seeing challenges right now,” said Andrew Charles, a senior research analyst at TD Cowen. Fried chicken, on the other hand, is the fastest growing category in the restaurant industry and its popularity has risen precipitously since 2019. 

That was the year of the so-called chicken war.

In August 2019, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen launched a chicken sandwich. It wasn’t fancy: just a buttered bun, pickles and a fried cutlet. But it sparked a battle that began with a tweet, fired off by Chick-fil-A, claiming that their chicken sandwich was the original. Popeyes led a counterattack, and the two faced off. 

The online clash went viral, and the chicken sandwich became a sensation. Fans lined up, desperate to try the famed filet. But this wasn’t a two-sided duel. Other fast-food chains clambered to join the fight. 

Although the battle began on social media — it was really fought in boardrooms where CEOs and strategists weighed the economic payoff of the great chicken sandwich. While beef prices spiked during the pandemic, due to supply chain slow downs, fried chicken seemed to have this knack for going viral. It was marketing gold. 

McDonald’s, KFC and Burger King all introduced new chicken sandwiches in the years that followed. Some put a spin on the classics. Shake Shack released a Korean-style fried chicken sandwich with gochujang glaze and kimchi slaw. BurgerFi also went spicy, with jalapeno-infused pickles and hot honey. 

Six years later, the frenzy has cooled, but the fight is far from over. Chicken is more popular than ever — probably “at all-time highs,” said Charles.

But the focus has shifted. It’s not just about sandwiches anymore. As the chicken war enters a new era — restaurants are expanding fried chicken offerings across their menus. 

McDonald’s just launched McCrispy Strips and relaunched the snack wrap, a fan favorite. There are also new competitors. Fast food chains that typically don’t sell fried chicken, now see the market appeal. 

El Pollo Loco, famous for their healthier, grilled chicken, announced it will be adding fried chicken tenders to the menu next year. Taco Bell, which usually offers quesadillas, burritos and tacos, launched chicken nuggets back in April. It’s part of their “journey to become a go-to destination for crispy chicken.” 

Customers have noticed the menu changes. At a Chick-fil-A near Times Square, customer Kimisha Stephens rattled off some new menu offerings she’s seen, “I do feel like they're kind of trying to push chicken.” 

Another customer at Chick-fil-A, Clement Fason, says chicken is his favorite food, so he’s pretty attuned to the changing market. He also noticed a shift, “Like, Burger King, they got chicken fries now. What even is that? They got to promote chicken.”

But as more chains pile into the fried chicken space, legacy players are feeling the squeeze. Popeyes’ U.S. same-store sales fell 0.9% year-over-year in the second quarter. KFC’s domestic sales dropped 5% in the same period.

Analysts caution against blaming the chicken wars entirely. There are bigger problems in the Quick Service Restaurant sector. “The industry is definitely going through a period of weakness right now, with the lower income consumer pulling back,” said Saleh.

It’s difficult to untangle the cause of that slowdown, said Charles. But he pointed to “competitive intrusion” as one of the factors, “there’s just so much chicken being sold.” The market is saturated, and it could be pushing those established chicken stalwarts out of the game. 

Just weeks before reporting its disappointing sales, KFC issued a press release declaring a “comeback era”:

“As fierce competition continues in the fried chicken wars, KFC—with 75 years of fried chicken legacy—is entering its comeback era and making KFC impossible to resist.”

And so, the chicken war rages on.