LONDON — KFC says it’s cooking up a new, healthier recipe, one that will be missing the restaurant chain’s most famous ingredient: chicken.

The company famous for its “finger lickin’ ” Southern fried chicken announced this week that it was testing chicken-like “vegetarian options” in Britain with its signature blend of herbs and spices.

“Development of the recipe is still in its very early stages, and so the options we’re exploring in our kitchen are still top secret,” a spokesman for KFC said in a statement.

“Once we’ve perfected the recipe, we aim to test with customers this year, and if all goes well, we hope to launch a new vegetarian option in 2019.”