Vegan KFC Famous Bowl
KFC used to be one of my go-to’s for fast food, especially their chicken strips. If I didn’t get the chicken strip meal, I got their Famous Bowl. Filled with all your favorite things like mashed potatoes, sweet corn, bite-sized chicken, shredded cheese, and all covered in gravy. Healthy I know, but no one is really going there for a nutrient dense meal, am I right? I actually stopped going there before I became vegan because a KFC on my way home from work had a customer find a chicken kidney still attached to the piece she got. She didn’t notice it until she started eating it. That was enough for me to decide that Bojangles would be my new fried chicken go-to until becoming vegan. This meal is super easy to make vegan because you can easily replace the milk and butter with vegan options, and there are so many great vegan chicken nuggets. You really can’t go wrong with this quick meal and if you want to have leftovers, just make a larger batch of mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn the first time, and air fry or bake the chicky nuggs to order. This is such a great comfort food meal and is pretty cheap to make while feeding three to four people. It’s a hearty, filling meal that’s a great one for a cold or rainy day. This is the perfect way to end a dumpster fire of a year that 2020 was, by filling our souls and bellies with comforting food. Have you ever had the original famous bowl, and would you try and make the vegan version? If so, let me know what you think in the comments below. Remember to subscribe to the weekly newsletter so you don’t miss out on any recipes or blog posts.
Vegan KFC Famous Bowl
Yield: 3-4
Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 Hour
Ingredients
Garlic Herb Mashed Potato Ingredients
- 4 Large Potatoes (I like Gold potatoes whenever I make mashed potatoes, but any regular potato will work. Gold and red potatoes run small so get enough to make three decent size servings. You can peel or not peel these depending on preference, Keeping the skin on adds additional nutrients, but if the texture isn’t your thing, just peel them)
- 2 TBSP vegan butter
- 5 cloves minced garlic (depending on size but the more the better in my opinion)
- ½ -1 C of plant based milk depending on how thick or creamy you want your potatoes. I like them a little thicker, so I add less.
- 2 TSP Herbes de Provence
- 2 TBSP mixed herbs of your choice or to taste (I like fresh thyme, rosemary, sage, and oregano for mine) Feel free to omit this if you don’t like herbs in your potatoes, they will still be good.
- 2 TSP garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional:
- 1 TSP Savory Spice Blend
- ½ TSP Trader Joe’s Mushroom Umami Seasoning
- ½ TSP TJ’s Onion Salt
- 1 TSP 21 Seasoning Salute
Mushroom Herb Gravy Ingredients
- 3 TBSP vegan butter
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 8 ounces mushrooms, diced (you could slice these, but I like the pieces smaller)
- 3 TBSP all-purpose flour (You could sub out for a GF alternative if needed. I’ve used cornstarch, arrowroot powder, and whole wheat flour instead before. Be mindful with things like tapioca starch or arrowroot powder, I find I need less of those because they seem to have tougher binders over regular flour. You don’t want your gravy to get gummy)
- 1 C vegetable broth
- 1 C non-dairy milk (I use JOIOrganic cashew base to make my milk. You could sub out milk and just use broth, or vice versa. I prefer doing half and half to get a nice thick, creamy gravy)
- 1 TBSP fresh herb mix like the mashed potatoes
- 1 TSP Herbes de Provence
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Optional:
- ½ TSP Savory Spice Blend
- ½ TSP Trader Joe’s Mushroom Umami Seasoning
- 1 TSP 21 Seasoning Salute
Other Main Ingredients
- 1 9 ounce bag of Trader Joe’s Vegan Chicken Tenders (You could sub out for whatever nuggs you have on hand, but these are cheap, tasty, and I’m already at TJ’s so it’s the easiest for me)
- 1 16 ounce bag TJ’s Organic Super Sweet Cut Corn
- 8 ounces of shredded vegan cheddar cheese (I am not a huge fan of the store bought shreds other than TJ’s shredded cashew mozzarella, so I buy Daiya’s Medium Cheddar Style Block and grate it. It’s worth the trouble in my opinion)
- Parsley (for garnish)
Instructions
- Peel, (or not) wash, and cut your potatoes into evenly-sized chunks, about an inch or so thick. Place in a large pot filled with cold water until ready to cook. This can be done in advance while you prep other things. Once you are ready to start your potatoes, make sure they are covered by at least an inch of water. I like to add a tablespoon of salt to the water to season the potatoes like you would pasta, but this is optional if you want to keep the sodium low. Turn stovetop to medium-high to high heat depending on you stove. Mine is quick to get hot, so I start on medium-high heat to get a slow boil going. I like to work up to a decent boil to help with that overflow.
- Pro Tip: Use a wooden spoon to lay across the pot to help keep the potatoes from boiling over. Not sure why, but a thick, long wooden spoon seems to work best at calming the bubbles.
- I find it is most productive and time effective to cut up all like veggies and herbs for each item I’m cooking. For example, I will cut all the fresh herbs and garlic for the potatoes and gravy together, to cut down on time. I also like to prep all the dry bottled herbs at once and will even put together in a little measuring cup, so I just have to drop them in the pan/pot. Do this while your potatoes are cooking, about 10-12 minutes or until the potatoes can be pierced with a fork without much resistance.
- I like to drop the chicken nuggs in the air fryer at 380 degrees once I have the potatoes boiling about five minutes. I like to have the chicken be somewhat cooled before dicing and plating, so I try and time them to be done when the gravy is. They usually cook in about 10-15 minutes depending on how you cook yours and crispy preference.
- Drop the bag of corn into a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil and drain. Set aside on low/simmer heat just to keep warm until you plate the bowl. You could add butter and seasoning, but honestly, I cut that out because this meal has more than enough butter and seasoning as is. I just love the texture and sweet taste of the corn compared to everything else.
- Pro Tip: Corn is one of the vegetables I make a point to always get organic. The way most non-organic corn is farmed and made has high level of toxins and pesticides if you aren’t careful. Even if you can’t always buy organic, do it with corn at least.
- Once the potatoes are done cooking, drop them into a strainer, giving them a good shake. Now drop the potatoes back into the hot pot and sit on the stovetop on low heat. This will help “pan-dry” them by getting the excess moisture out while you drop the remaining ingredients into the pot. I always start low on the milk because I hate watery/runny potatoes and you can’t come back from it if you do too much. Using a potato masher, gently go around the bowl and use the masher to mash all of the potatoes. I like mine a little lumpy but mash them and season to taste and preference. Set aside off heat with a lid on to keep warm while you finish everything else.
- Pro Tip: Potato mashers are something that you shouldn’t go cheap on. They make your life so much easier if you spend a little extra money to get a good one.
- To start the gravy, turn on a large sauté pan to medium heat and add the 3 TBSP of butter. Once melted and started to bubble, add the garlic and stir. Add the mushrooms after a minute or so, making sure not to burn the garlic. Add salt and pepper to season and help the mushrooms lose some of their moisture. After a couple of minutes of cooking and occasionally stirring, I like to add the fresh herbs and Herbes de Provence to the mushrooms so I can make sure they are nicely coated with the herbs. Once the mushrooms are cooked about 5-7 minutes, add the flour of your choice, and use a whisk to mix the flour and mushrooms all together so the flour is nicely blended with everything else. You shouldn’t see any untouched flour in the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes, just to cook the flour. You don’t to taste that in the gravy, this is just to thicken it. You want to keep this moving with the whisk so you can just cook the flour without burning any sides of it. You are looking for a nice, golden brown color all around.
- Slowly whisk in the vegetable broth. Whisk well to make sure that all of the flour has dissolved off the bottom of the skillet and no lumps remain. Next, add the non-dairy milk and slowly whisk until everything is equally incorporated. Add remaining seasonings to taste. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Allow the gravy to simmer for 7 to 10 minutes, whisking often, until it is the desired thickness. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Get all your items out and ready so you can easily build your bowls. If you are using the block of cheese that you shred like I do, just do this when you prep the herbs early on. I like to sit it back in the fridge, so it doesn’t get soft at room temperature. I pull it out right at assembly.
- I like using a big soup bowl I have so I can spread everything out. Spread a decent ladles worth of potatoes out in the bowl and spread it out as the base. I try and imagine each person getting 1 large potato or a couple smaller ones. Add the corn, chicken, and cheese and cover in the gravy. Top with chopped parsley and serve hot.
Notes:
Times may vary based on how you choose to prep and cook everything. I try and prep everything I can while the potatoes cook to cut down on time.
