Bottom Line: The Spicy Double Down from KFC does not bring much heat, but this over-the-top “sandwich” is more about fast food indulgence.
Dieticians and nutritionists, proceed with caution! You may want to avert your eyes before continuing on with this review because it ventures into the realm of pure fast food decadence! KFC has fired a salvo into the Chicken Sandwich Wars and it is a big one! What better way to top the other guys than taking two fried chicken breast filets and using those instead of the bun to hold everything together?
Yes indeed, the Colonel has brought back the bane of nutritionists and doctors everywhere by putting its Double Down on the menu again. That comprises two of KFC’s Extra Crispy white meat filets, two slices of cheese, and two pieces of crispy, hickory-smoked bacon, with either the Colonel’s real mayo or spicy sauce. I, of course, went with the spicy sauce.
To start off with, this thing is big. I mean really big! It is definitely a monster with those two full-sized breast filets sandwiching together what is inside. And they use the extra crispy crust which is probably necessary as the flimsier original recipe may not hold up too well in the configuration. (Although the original is still my favorite from KFC.) The chicken is good, as you would expect from the Colonel. Plenty tender and cooked through without getting too dry even though these are thick filets. In fact, they are so thick that it is hard to get the full thing into your mouth in one bite.
The cheese adds some creaminess and a bit of a sharp bite. The bacon adds a little more saltiness, but it mostly gets lost in the mix. (A bite of the bacon by itself was actually quite good, though.) The sauce is barely there but it adds some creaminess and tang. The bites with that are the best. Mostly what you taste is the chicken–not a bad thing–but some pickles would have been a good addition to this to give it some pop. And even though it uses the extra crispy crust, each bite causes bits of that to fall off, so this is another one to avoid eating while driving.
As mentioned, my “sandwich” was skimpy on the sauce, but I have had the Colonel’s spicy sauce before and even if they were more generous with it, at best this would get to the Mild level on my scale. If I were to get this again (and my doctor is hoping not), I would ask for the sauce on the side and maybe dipping it would bring more flavor. But I threw on several drops of Melinda’s XXXtra Hot Habanero sauce and that still didn’t kick things up much. I guess the mildness of the chicken breast really acts as a heat deterrent, especially when doubling them up. So if you are looking for something with more heat at KFC, you will want to get their regular spicy chicken sandwich instead. (You can read my review on that here.)
As for the nutrition . . .I don’t think I need to tell you this is not diet food. The online menu actually shows that the Double Down is 610 calories which is not too bad. But from what I have been reading, that is the prior version, and the new one clocks in at a whopping 950 cals. Taking one look at the sandwich, I can easily believe that number. This thing is big and pure indulgence. And don’t think that the lack of a bun makes this Keto-friendly. The breading on the two filets probably turns out to be the same if not worse than the bun. And while KFC does not give the full nutrition breakdown on special menu items, the previous version had 37 grams of fat along with 18 grams of carbs, so this one pushes those even higher. But hey, I got the corn as my side which is only 70 calories and counts as a vegetable. So that made everything okay, right?
Take note that KFC has brought the Double Down back for only a very short time. It returned on March 6th and it is set to go back to Limited-Time-Only-Ville four weeks after that. Probably for the best because if we are consuming these too often we may get too big to fit into our cars to make it back to the drive thru. If you want to get one, plan a visit to the Colonel soon. And then schedule a few extra hours in the gym as penance for your splurge. And a warning that the Double Down is just about double the cost (it is two full chicken breasts, though). The sandwich alone will run you $8.99 and the combo was twelve bucks with tax included. That’s pretty pricey for a fast food joint and starting to get into Five Guys territory!