KFC Drumstick: Price & Calories (À La Carte)
A KFC Original Recipe drumstick runs about $2.79 with 130 calories and 12 grams of protein: the lightest piece on the bone-in menu and the one with a handle built in. For salt-watchers it's quietly the standout: 400 mg sodium, a sixth of what the breast carries.
◐ REFERENCE FIGURES · INDEPENDENTLY TRACKED · 31 AUG 2026
Grade = this item's percentile across the whole menu: 40% price-per-calorie + 40% price-per-protein + 20% sodium penalty. Full formula.
KFC Drumstick price
| Option | Price | Calories | Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | $2.79 | 130 | ◐ REF. |
National reference pricing on the audit date. Franchises set final prices; a spread of about a dollar between locations is normal.
The Ledger · price history on recordWhat this item has cost
| Date | Price | Move |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 2026 | $2.79 | opening entry |
Opened on this ledger at $2.79 on the audit date; the row below it gets written the day the price moves, publicly. Bone-in pricing tracks the chicken commodity more closely than anything else on the board; a la carte pieces move first.
Fact checkWhy other sites disagree about this item
The drumstick suffers the web's laziest copy-paste: "drumstick" and "whole wing" figures swap freely on aggregator sites because both sit at 130-ish calories, and "$1.99 drumsticks" headlines from promotion weeks get quoted as standing prices for years. Standing national reference: $2.79. Tuesday's $10 Bucket of the Day (eight drums and thighs at participating restaurants) is a weekday offer, priced on its own page, never a base price.
Full nutrition, per serving
| Nutrient | Per serving | % daily value |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 130 | 7% |
| Protein | 12 g | 24% |
| Carbohydrates | 4 g | 1% |
| Total fat | 8 g | 10% |
| Saturated fat | 2 g | 10% |
| Sodium | 400 mg | 17% |
| Sugars | 0 g | 0% |
| Fibre | 0 g | 0% |
Where the sodium lands
400 mg, 17% of the daily value and the best sodium-per-satisfaction trade on the bone-in menu. Three drums together still undercut one breast. If salt is your binding constraint, this is your piece.
AllergensAllergens
Contains: Wheat, Soy, Milk, Egg. Shared fryers and prep areas mean cross-contact is possible; confirm with the restaurant if you have a severe allergy.
What is in a Chicken Drumstick?
The piece evolution designed for eating: dark meat on a natural handle, sized for one satisfying arc from first bite to bone. It’s the child-order archetype and the adult’s third piece: the one that fits after the meal is technically done.
At 130 calories it’s also the piece that makes portion arithmetic easy: three drumsticks still undercut one breast’s calories while beating it on fun.
How it is made
Drumsticks fry fastest and cycle freshest of all pieces: batch age barely touches them, making them the reliable order at any hour. They’re also the piece most often biased into default mixed buckets, so à la carte drum orders mainly exist for topping up: two more drums onto a bucket extends dinner for pocket change.
Who it suits, and who should skip it
Kids, obviously: the drumstick is the gateway piece and always has been. Beyond them: calorie-budgeters wanting fried chicken at snack scale, sodium-watchers (400 mg is the menu’s gentlest bone-in number), and anyone padding a family order by exactly one child’s appetite.
Grown hunger should size up, at $2.79 for 130 calories the drum is charm-priced, and the thigh‘s extra fifty cents buys double the food.
Is it worth the price?
Priced for delight, not efficiency, and that’s fine.
2.15 cents per calorie is the worst ratio on the bone-in menu; the formula grades it C and the formula isn’t wrong. But the drum was never an efficiency play: it’s a $2.79 unit of happiness with a known calorie cost and a handle. Buy it as topping-up currency or kid-pleasing currency and it’s fairly priced; buy it as dinner and the thigh corrects you for fifty cents.
Order hacks
- Tuesday’s $10 Bucket of the Day is eight drums and thighs at participating restaurants, $1.25 a piece, the one day of the week when dark meat by the bucket beats every à la carte price.
- Top up any bucket with two extra drums: cheapest way to stretch dinner by one child.
- Freshest piece at any hour; no batch-age anxiety applies.
- Three drums = one breast’s calories with more fun and less sodium: legitimate light-meal build.
- Kids meals cost more than a drum plus a small side built à la carte. Do the assembly yourself.
Compare with similar items
KFC 8 pc. Chicken Meal
$29.99
· 2,300 to 4,800 whole meal cal
KFC 12 pc. Chicken Meal
$39.99
· 3,450 to 7,200 whole meal cal
KFC 8 pc. Bucket (Chicken Only)
$18.99
· 1,720 to 3,000 whole bucket cal
KFC 12 pc. Chicken-Only Bucket
$25.99
· 2,580 to 4,500 whole bucket cal
How to order the KFC Drumstick
| Route | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Status | Standing menu item as of 31 Aug 2026; participation can vary by franchise. |
| KFC app & website | The reference price on this page, plus app-only offers and Rewards points. The cleanest way to see your own store’s price before ordering. Official listing. |
| Counter & drive-through | Franchise-set pricing: a spread of about a dollar around the reference is normal. AK, HI and CA run higher on KFC’s own note. |
| Delivery apps | Marked up over counter price and no Rewards earning; the delivery page ranks the routes. |
| Also inside | KFC 2 pc. Drum & Thigh Combo ($8.99): the builds that bundle it. |
| Cheaper routes | the $10 Tuesday bucket is the week’s only standing chicken discount; current deals change without a schedule; the app row is the truth; the standing value board (Taste of KFC, $5 Bowls, Fill Ups) usually beats a promo code. |
KFC Drumstick FAQs
How much is a KFC drumstick?
About $2.79 à la carte. On Tuesday the $10 Bucket of the Day brings drums and thighs to $1.25 a piece by the eight at participating restaurants; the standing à la carte price is $2.79.
How many calories in a KFC drumstick?
130 for Original Recipe with 12 g protein: the lightest bone-in piece. Extra Crispy adds about 40. Watch for sites that swap wing and drum figures; they're near-twins on paper.
Is the drumstick healthy compared to other pieces?
Relatively: 130 calories and 400 mg sodium is the gentlest bone-in combination on the menu. Three drums still beat one breast on both counts.
Why are drumsticks so popular with kids?
The handle, the size, the ritual: it's the piece designed by evolution for small hands. It has anchored children's fried-chicken orders since the bucket was invented.
How many drumsticks equal a meal?
Three for a light adult meal (390 calories, 36 g protein: breast numbers with more fun); two plus a side for the standard build.
Are drumsticks always fresh?
Closest to always of any piece: they fry fastest and cycle most often. The safe order at off-peak hours.
Drumstick or wing?
Near-identical macros; the drum brings more meat and the handle, the wing brings more crust-to-meat ratio. Wing partisans exist; drums outsell them ten to one.
Can I add drumsticks to a bucket?
Yes, à la carte pieces stack onto any order. Two extra drums onto an 8-piece is the classic stretch for feeding five.
Where every number came from
THE KF MENU · SOURCE SLIP
chicken-drumstick · audit 31 AUG 2026
independent guide, not affiliated with KFC Corporation