Review: Cheesy Bacon Bowl from KFC

Posted October 17th, 2011 | 3:23pm by Ryan

I think people are shocked by the Cheesy Bacon Bowl from KFC because it might make us think of animals and troughs. You know, like one of those pig troughs where the swine stuff their snouts into a big mess of everything? When you take out the individual parts from the Cheesy Bacon Bowl, it doesn’t really seem so horrific. Or does it? Well, that’s for you to decide. I found the power animal inside and summoned my inner pig and purchased the Cheesy Bacon Bowl for this GrubGrade review.

The name “Cheesy Bacon Bowl” itself does have some impact. The thought of a bowl filled with bacon and cheese really does sound like a chest-clutching heart attack waiting to happen. The Cheesy Bacon Bowl from KFC really isn’t as scary as you might imagine. Think about it… when you mix everything from last nights dinner and stuff it into a bowl, you’re sure to come up with some odd concoctions. If we’re speaking bowls of food then I could say I recently had a “Macaroni and Cheese Meatloaf Corn Bread Bowl”. Yum! The point is, when you take out the fact that the food is conveniently packaged together and you’re given a fork to dig in, the idea of it isn’t too bad. You’ve got mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, a three-cheese blend, bacon and fried morsels of boneless chicken. All spread out on a plate you might think it’s a decently balanced meal. Mashed potatoes, cheese and bacon together would in itself provide a loaded-mashed potatoes of sorts…. then some sweet corn and chicken to round it out. Not too bad.

So did I like the Cheesy Bacon Bowl? I thought it was mediocre, but I’d recommend throwing in a biscuit for good measure. Hmmm… a Cheesy Bacon Biscuit Bowl sounds more like it. But where does the KFC coleslaw fit in? I felt everything in my Cheesy Bacon Bowl was layered together nicely but seemed to consist mostly of mashed potatoes and a fair serving of popcorn chicken. Adding bacon to provide an even more salty meal was a sodium-laden touch that I could’ve done without. The bowl smells of bacon as soon as you peel back the plastic resealable lid. I wish KFC would come out with a chunkier style of mashed potatoes. Maybe with the skins still on and a thicker texture I’d feel the main component of the Cheesy Bacon Bowl would’ve been more my style.

The Cheesy Bacon Bowl is not really my thing. Like Taco Bell, it’s just familiar ingredients packaged in a new way with a new name. I’ll admit a little embarrassment from ordering the bowl and shuffling away to my cave like Gollum and his Precious. If someone asked me what I had for lunch today, I’d most likely feel ashamed to say the KFC Cheesy Bacon Bowl.