ATLANTA — Eat more veggies? For the first time ever, Chick-fil-A is testing a plant-forward entrée -- from the ground up.
On Thursday, the Atlanta-based restaurant said they will start serving a cauliflower sandwich in three markets starting next week.
Looking at the sandwich, you might do a double-take as it is nearly identical to the original chicken sandwich.
It is prepared the same way -- marinated, breaded with their signature seasoning, pressure-cooked, and served on a toasted buttery bun with two dill pickle chips.
The idea dates back to 2018 when Chick-fil-A chef Stuart Tracy was tasked with coming up with a plant-based item at their Atlanta test kitchen.
"After months and months of customer research and further development of other concepts - leveraging literally any vegetable under the sun - we just kept coming back to the cauliflower sandwich because it was just - it was unique - clearly unique," Tracy said. "But also it was really delicious and just felt like it had a home on the menu."
Tracy credits Atlanta-based chef Ford Fry for giving it the stamp of approval.
The sandwich is made with a tender filet cut from a whole, real cauliflower and embraces the plant-forward style that places vegetables at the center of the entrée, they said.
Chick-fil-A noted that they do not consider this a vegetarian item due to its cooking environment.
It will be tested in Denver, Colo., Charleston, S.C., and North Carolina's Greensboro-Triad area for a limited time.
Leslie Neslage, director of menu and packaging for Chick-fil-A, said they will take customer feedback for several months and evaluate the data before making any decisions about taking it nationwide.
"We want to make sure our team members and operators can execute it with excellence and that it works within our kitchens and within our footprint and our environment," Neslage said.
So when will we see this here? She said if all goes as planned, it could be about a year from now.