Isn’t KFC’s ‘Chizza’ Just … Chicken Parm?
The new fried chicken-pizza mashup arrives at U.S. locations this week.
Photo courtesy of KFC
Remember the KFC Double Down? The breadless “sandwich,” which featured two KFC chicken filets in lieu of buns, with cheese, bacon and sauce tucked between them, blew minds when it was initially introduced in 2010. It was a phenomenon — something new and different — and when it went away in 2014, people clamored for it and started petitions begging for its return, prompting KFC to bring it back for a limited time in March 2023.
It is apparently in that spirit — invoking the name of the hallowed Double Down, in fact — that KFC is introducing in the U.S. a new limited-time menu addition: a fried chicken-pizza mashup it’s calling a Chizza (pronounced “cheetza”).
“KFC has done it again – pairing the unexpected to create another mouthwatering meal,” the chain boasts in a press release, noting that its latest offering is “not pizza, it’s Chizza.”
What, exactly is Chizza? Why, it’s two Extra Crispy white-meat fried chicken filets with marinara sauce, melted mozzarella cheese and pepperoni on top. It has also been available in quite a few countries around the world (Korea, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Germany, Spain, Mexico and others) since it was first introduced in the Philippines in 2015.
On Monday, February 26, this “international smash hit” and “global phenomenon,” as KFC has dubbed it, became available at locations in the United States.
“Fried chicken and pizza collaborated to create something even better – the Chizza,” Nick Chavez, CMO KFC U.S., says in a statement. “The fan-favorite mashup is finally available in the U.S. after making its way around the world – try it while you can!”
We decided to take Chavez’s advice and rush right out and try the Chizza (pairing it with KFC’s Blackberry Lemonade, another current limited-time-only menu option). Mostly, we wondered, was this thing different from chicken parmesan? Because it really sounds a lot like chicken parm …
And? Yeah, total chicken parmesan — maybe a little crisper than your average take, but not groundbreaking, unless you consider throwing some pepperoni on top of your chicken parm to be crazy-exciting uncharted territory.
While the Chizza didn’t strike us as terribly innovative and the experience of eating it was notably un-pizzalike — a knife and fork situation, not a hand food — what it lacked in originality, it made up for in taste: The meal was flavorful, not too heavy and very satisfying. We could easily see returning to KFC to order it again.
A chicken parm by any other name would still taste as great …
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