KFC Corporation, operating as KFC (often known by its former name Kentucky Fried Chicken), is a U.S. fast food chain focusing on fried chicken. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, it ranks as the second-largest restaurant chain in the world by sales, following McDonald's, boasting more than 30,000 outlets worldwide across 150 nations as of April 2024. The chain operates as a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, a dining company that additionally owns the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell franchises.

KFC was established by Colonel Harland Sanders (1890–1980), a businessman who started offering fried chicken from his roadside eatery in Corbin, Kentucky, throughout the Great Depression. Sanders recognized the promise of the restaurant-franchising model, and the inaugural "Kentucky Fried Chicken" franchise launched in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1952. KFC brought chicken into the spotlight within the fast-food sector, expanding the market by competing against the prevailing supremacy of the hamburger.

By establishing his identity as "Colonel Sanders," Harland emerged as a notable figure in American cultural history, and his likeness continues to be prominently featured in KFC marketing even today. Nonetheless, the swift growth of the company exhausted the older Sanders, prompting him to sell it to a group of investors headed by John Y. Brown Jr. and Jack C. Massey in 1964.

KFC was among the earliest American fast-food franchises to grow globally, launching locations in Canada, the UK, Mexico, and Jamaica by the mid-1960s. During the 1970s and 1980s, it faced varying success in the domestic market, undergoing multiple shifts in corporate ownership without much experience in the restaurant industry.

In the early 1970s, KFC was acquired by the spirits distributor Heublein, which was later bought by the R. J. Reynolds food and tobacco conglomerate; that firm subsequently sold the chain to PepsiCo. The chain kept growing internationally, and in 1987, it became the first Western dining chain to establish a presence in China. Since then, it has grown swiftly in China, which is currently the company's biggest market. PepsiCo separated its restaurant segment into Tricon Global Restaurants, which subsequently rebranded as Yum! Labels.

KFC's flagship offering is pressure-fried chicken cuts, flavored with Sanders' unique blend of "11 herbs and spices". The ingredients of the recipe are a closely guarded secret. Bigger servings of fried chicken are provided in a cardboard "bucket," a characteristic of the chain that began when franchisee Pete Harman introduced it in 1957. 

Starting in the early 1990s, KFC broadened its menu to include additional chicken items like chicken fillet sandwiches and wraps, along with salads and sides such as French fries and coleslaw, desserts, and soft drinks, commonly provided by PepsiCo. KFC is recognized for its taglines "It's Finger Lickin' Good!", "Nobody does chicken like KFC", "We do chicken right", and "So good".

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