Colonel Sanders’ great-great-great-nephew (@realcolonelsanders) went viral after posting a video that revealed what he claimed was the original KFC recipe. He said he chose to do so after Kentucky Fried Chicken blocked him on social media.
In the clip, he explained that his account had long been dedicated to “upholding Colonel Sanders’s legacy and the Kentucky Fried Chicken history.” However, he accused the brand of blocking him after he criticized its advertising team as “weird, disrespectful, and disgusting.”
According to him, KFC had spent the last decade sexualizing his ancestor for its marketing campaigns. Because of that, he stated he could not support the company. Instead, he decided to share his own family’s recipe.
Sharing the family recipe
The video included accusations that KFC’s modern advertising warped the Colonel’s image. “Over the last decade, they have sexualized my uncle for marketing purposes. They have encouraged fans to sexualize him as well,” he said.
He then revealed his response, saying, “Do you want to know how to make their chicken? Truly, genuinely, their chicken? This recipe I put together through facts.”
He added that some details came from family sources, while others were reconstructed from public information. He then shared the full recipe, complete with quantities, on screen while he talked.
According to @realcolonelsanders, the 11 spices in KFC chicken are sage, garlic powder, cardamom, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, coriander, ginger, white pepper, and black pepper.
He specifically credited Lee Cummings, the Colonel’s nephew, for preserving the original recipe. He rejected the idea that the 2016 leak contained the real ingredients. In his view, the measurements he used came from his own grandfather, though anyone could adjust them to taste.
“I have facts and receipts to back up my recipe. Show us what yours is,” he challenged KFC. “The other ingredients on this list that cannot be proven through public information is from my cousins on Lee Cummings’s side. […] Lee Cummings, nephew of Colonel Sanders, the colonel’s sister’s son, knew what the recipe was. This was proven because he was sued in court for knowing the recipe, that he could not use the recipe.”
Later, in a follow-up video, he reiterated his frustration. “Two million people have seen my video calling out Kentucky Fried Chicken for the sexualization of my uncle over the last decade.”
That number has shot up to eight million. He also criticized the company for abandoning quality standards and recalled lawsuits from the 1970s and 1980s that highlighted disagreements over the recipe.
Throughout both videos, he insisted his version was authentic. He pointed to packaging from spice suppliers and family testimony. “Sage is the first ingredient to the original recipe,” he declared.
Social media reacts
Viewers on TikTok quickly weighed in, with many thanking him for posting the instructions. One person wrote, “I need the cooking method, I’m really excited to try the recipe, just sad my gran isn’t around anymore, she loved KFC and would have been so thrilled to try the original!!”
“KFC chicken doesn’t taste the same anymore. Too me it [tastes] different from when I was a kid,” another TikToker said.
“Colonel Sanders’ great-great-great-nephew leaking the 11 secret herbs and spices was not on my bingo card for 2025,” joked one user.
A few people defended the brand, pointing out that “they own the Colonel Sanders name and likeness and therefore can do and use however they see fit.”
@realcolonelsanders did not respond immediately to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via Instagram DM.
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