KFC Australia Now Has Eleven Sauces. Britain Got the Same Idea in June.
Bigger tenders, a Dip'd range and eleven permanent sauces, from Chimichurri Ranch to Liquid Gold. Which are new, which Britain had first, and which two are filler.
Here's the take, up front: KFC Australia didn't invent anything on Tuesday. It ran the same play KFC UK ran in June, bigger tenders and a wall of sauces, and it added two more sauces to make the number eleven. Eleven, from the company built on eleven herbs and spices. KFC hasn't said that's deliberate. I don't believe it's an accident.
That's not a complaint. It's a good play. Tenders are a dipping food, and a chicken shop with a short sauce list was leaving that on the table. But it means the interesting question isn't whether eleven sauces is a good idea. It's which of the eleven actually earn their pot.
What Changed on 29 September
Three things, all nationwide and all permanent.
Original Tenders got bigger. KFC's words are "bigger, juicier, crispier", which is a claim worth testing rather than repeating.
A Dip'd range built around tenders and sauce rather than burgers, topping out with a Saucy Tenders Dip'd Feast of ten tenders, share pack chips and five sauces.
And the eleven sauces, every one in a 25 mL pot with its own coloured lid. Here they are.
The Three That Are Actually New
Chimichurri Ranch is the strangest thing on the board. American buttermilk ranch crossed with Argentine chimichurri, the parsley, garlic and vinegar sauce that goes on grilled steak. Two sauces from opposite ends of the Americas that have no business meeting. It's either the cleverest pot in the range or the one that quietly vanishes by Easter, and I genuinely can't call it.
Korean BBQ is the most pointed choice. Korean fried chicken has spread through Australian cities over the last decade, and a Korean-style barbecue sauce is KFC reaching straight for that crowd instead of pretending it isn't there.
Smoky Maple is chicken and waffles in a pot: maple sweetness with smoke behind it. Nothing on KFC UK's June list goes anywhere near maple, so this is one of the places Australia went its own way.
Add Creamy Garlic to that list if you count it. Garlic sauce is everywhere in Australia, from kebab shops to the chicken shop down the road, so it's less an invention than KFC finally catching up.
The Four Britain Had First
Here's the overlap. When KFC UK put Original Recipe Tenders on its permanent menu in June, it launched nine dips with them. Four of Australia's eleven share a name with that list.
| Australia, 29 September | UK, June |
|---|---|
| Hot Honey Habanero | Hot Honey Habanero |
| Honey Mustard | Honey Mustard |
| Texas BBQ | Texas BBQ |
| Supercharged | Supercharger |
Same idea, same names, three months apart. Hot Honey Habanero is the one riding a trend: hot honey spread from American pizza menus across fast food in a couple of years, and habanero is a hotter, fruitier chilli than the usual dried flakes.
Supercharged is the odd one in this group, because it isn't new at all. It was already inside the Original Supercharged Slider. Putting it in a pot just means regulars can finally have it with everything.
Liquid Gold Went From Stunt to Staple
Six months ago Liquid Gold launched as a world first, with KFC handing it to people named Duncan a day early and holding a Duncan meet-up on George Street in Sydney. Dunkin', Duncan. It was a joke with a sauce attached.
It came back in June, and now it's permanent. KFC's own description was "rich, creamy with a subtle peppery kick", and its marketing chief called it "our most dunkable sauce yet". Three runs in six months is the closest thing in this range to a result that's already in.
The Two That Are Filler
Tomato and Sweet & Sour. That's not an insult. Tomato sauce is the default for chips in this country and a chicken shop without it would be a weird place. But nobody's queuing for either, and counting the two most basic sauces in fast food is how a range gets to a number that sounds like a heritage reference.
Every Sauce
| Sauce | Lid | Where It Comes From |
|---|---|---|
| Chimichurri Ranch | Green | New |
| Korean BBQ | Purple | New |
| Smoky Maple | Burgundy | New |
| Creamy Garlic | Blue | New |
| Hot Honey Habanero | Red | Also in the UK |
| Honey Mustard | Orange | Also in the UK |
| Texas BBQ | Dark red | Also in the UK |
| Supercharged | Orange | Was in the Supercharged Slider |
| Liquid Gold | Yellow | March launch, now permanent |
| Sweet & Sour | Pink | The classic |
| Tomato | Red | The classic |
Meanwhile, Breakfast
Separately, KFC started serving breakfast from 6am at 29 restaurants on the Gold Coast and in the Melbourne CBD on 8 September, after a trial at Sydney Airport. The lead item is the Brekkie Tower, an Original Crispy fillet with bacon, egg, cheese, tomato relish and a hash brown. The Ultimate Brekkie Wrap puts much the same in a toasted tortilla.
A trial at 29 stores is a trial. If you're near one, it's worth getting a verdict in while it's still running, because a trial that nobody talks about doesn't usually go national.
Settle the Order
None of these sauces is going anywhere, so there's no clock on this one. There's just an argument: eleven pots, one of them is the best, and the rest are ranked behind it.
The cards above write straight to the Australian fast food ranking, decided by people who actually dipped something in them. My money is on Chimichurri Ranch being either first or last, with nothing in between.
