Takeaway Truth: KFC’s Big Cheese Burger

Takeaway Truth is an occasional Lifehacker feature where we compare marketing images to what you actually get served. Today: KFC’s Big Cheese Burger. (Plus taste test!)

KFC is big on chicken ‘n’ cheese. Following in the footsteps (talon-steps?) of the Zinger Mozzarella Burger comes the similarly themed Big Cheese Burger.

Unusually, the Big Cheese Burger actually only comes with a single slice of cheese. However, it manages to be extremely cheesy in other ways. Here’s the spiel from KFC’s website:

Succulent Original Recipe Fillet, crunchy coated Original Recipe seasoned cheese patty (Tasty cheese and mozzarella), a cheese slice, lettuce, tomato, and cheddar cheese sauce, all in a warm bun.

And here’s the likeably bizzare YouTube advert:

As you’d expect from a cheese-heavy fast food item, the KFC’s Big Cheese Burger packs in a fair amount of kilojoules. The standalone product contains a whopping 3165kJ of energy, 42.5g of fat, 53.8g of carbs, 8.9g of sugars and 1866mg of sodium.

This puts the Big Cheese at the naughtier end of the fast food burger scale. (By contrast, a Zinger burger contains 1779kJ.) Terrifyingly, KFC also offers a combo meal with chips, soft drink, a tub of potato and gravy and a piece of original recipe chicken.

As you can see from the lead image above, KFC seems pretty chuffed with the look of this burger: all marketing images depict the product sliced in half so you can see exactly what’s inside. But how does the real thing compare to KFC’s promise?

Here’s a side by side comparison of the advert and reality:

Personally, we reckon KFC acquitted itself pretty well here. The chicken patty isn’t quite as plump or juicy looking and the lettuce isn’t vibrantly green – but otherwise everything appears reasonably faithful.

They even got the ingredients in the right order which is a rarity. (Incidentally, the lack of stringiness in the cheese probably has more to do with our cutting method than the quality of the ingredients.)

Unfortunately, the Big Cheese Burger disappointed our taste buds. The sauce on our burger was off-puttingly cold and the overall flavour lacks punch. The cheddar cheese sauce and patty also made it hard to appreciate the cheese-infused buns: KFC might as well be using regular bread here.

This burger really needs a rasher of bacon or spicy condiment to help tie everything together. As it stands, it’s just too bland to justify all those calories.

The KFC Big Cheese Burger will set you back $8.95 in most states and territories. Get a Zinger instead.

Truth Rating: 7/10

Taste Verdict: 5/10

Which fast food franchise or menu item would you like us to tackle next? Let us know in the comments section below.