KFC Chicken Thigh: Price & Calories (À La Carte)
A KFC Original Recipe thigh runs about $3.29 with 280 calories and 19 grams of protein. Dark meat, deepest flavor in the lineup, and the piece regulars quietly agree is the best eating on the bone-in menu.
◐ 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 Chicken Thigh price
| Option | Price | Calories | Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | $3.29 | 280 | ◐ 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 | $3.29 | opening entry |
Opened on this ledger at $3.29 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
Thigh calorie figures scatter across the web from 240 to 320 because Original Recipe and Extra Crispy get quoted interchangeably: the crispy thigh runs meaningfully heavier. Ours is the Original at 280; the crispy variant adds roughly 90. Price-wise the thigh suffers the same stale-quote problem as every piece: $2.49 numbers from old value menus persist on pages that stopped updating years ago.
Full nutrition, per serving
| Nutrient | Per serving | % daily value |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 280 | 14% |
| Protein | 19 g | 38% |
| Carbohydrates | 9 g | 3% |
| Total fat | 19 g | 24% |
| Saturated fat | 5 g | 25% |
| Sodium | 910 mg | 40% |
| Sugars | 0 g | 0% |
| Fibre | 0 g | 0% |
Where the sodium lands
910 mg, 40% of the daily value, sitting between drumstick and breast exactly as its size suggests. Two thighs pass a sandwich's sodium; the arithmetic of dark-meat devotion.
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 Thigh?
The connoisseur’s piece: dark meat that stays juicy through the pressure fry, in a size between drumstick and breast. Thigh partisans are the most loyal faction in fried chicken, and the Original Recipe thigh is their standard text, more flavor per bite than the breast, more substance than the drumstick.
How it is made
Same batch fryers as every piece; thighs run middle-of-batch reliable, less sensitive to age than breasts. The dark-meat fact worth knowing: mixed buckets skew breast-and-drum by default, so thigh-heavy requests are the one bucket customization that meaningfully upgrades the eating for dark-meat households, and it’s usually free.
Who it suits, and who should skip it
Flavor-first orders and anyone who’s noticed breast meat needs the sauce it comes without. At $3.29 it’s also the cheapest satisfying single piece: the drumstick is smaller money but snack-sized.
Macro trackers should read the label honestly: 19 g protein at 280 calories is respectable, but the breast doubles the protein for under double the price.
Is it worth the price?
The taste-per-dollar champion; the spreadsheet prefers its siblings.
At $1.73 per ten grams of protein it sits between breast and drumstick, winning neither column: the middling value grade is honest arithmetic. What the formula can’t count is that thigh meat is why people love fried chicken, and $3.29 is the cheapest ticket to the good stuff. Order it for dinner, not for the gym log; two thighs plus a biscuit at $7.87 is the insider’s plate.
Order hacks
- Ask any mixed bucket to run thigh-heavy, usually free, always worth it for dark-meat tables.
- Two thighs + a biscuit is the regulars’ $7.87 plate the menu doesn’t advertise.
- Original over Crispy here: dark meat doesn’t need the heavier crust’s help.
- Thighs tolerate the warmer shelf better than breasts: the safer off-peak piece.
- Reheat day-two thighs in a hot oven, never microwave: dark meat rewards the effort most.
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 Chicken Thigh
| 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 | Taste of KFC 2 pc. Deal ($4.99), KFC 2 pc. Chicken Fill Up ($6.99): 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 Chicken Thigh FAQs
How much is a KFC thigh?
About $3.29 à la carte for Original Recipe. Old $2.49 quotes online date from retired value menus; inside buckets the effective per-thigh cost drops below $2.40.
How many calories in a KFC thigh?
280 for Original Recipe with 19 g protein; the Extra Crispy thigh runs about 370 with the heavier breading. Web figures mixing the two cause the usual scatter.
Is the thigh or breast better?
Breast for macros: double the protein. Thigh for eating: juicier meat, deeper flavor, and the piece most regulars actually prefer. The honest answer is what you're optimizing.
Can I get an all-thigh bucket?
Most locations will bias heavily thigh on request, often free; strict all-thigh depends on stock and sometimes carries a small upcharge. Asking works far more often than people assume.
How much sodium is in the KFC Chicken Thigh?
910 mg, 40% of daily value, the middle of the piece lineup. Dark meat brines slightly lighter than breast by weight.
Original Recipe or Extra Crispy thigh?
Original: dark meat carries its own moisture and doesn't need the crispy coat's insurance. Save Extra Crispy preference for the breast, where it earns its calories.
Why do regulars swear by the thigh?
Fat equals flavor, and the thigh's marbling survives pressure-frying better than any piece. It's the cut where the 11 herbs actually get something to cling to.
What's the cheapest way to eat mostly thighs?
A dark-meat-biased 8-piece bucket: effective thigh cost falls under $2.40 against $3.29 solo. The bucket remains the answer to every quantity question.
Where every number came from
THE KF MENU · SOURCE SLIP
chicken-thigh · audit 31 AUG 2026
independent guide, not affiliated with KFC Corporation