Chick-fil-A will test a cauliflower sandwich in its first plant-based pilot

Chick-fil-A volition trial its archetypal plant-based entree: a cauliflower sandwich.

The caller sandwich intimately resembles its celebrated chickenhearted sandwich, but uses breaded and pressure-cooked cauliflower successful spot of meat.

Starting Monday, the privately owned chain, which is the third-largest successful the U.S. by sales, volition trial the paper point successful Denver; Charleston, South Carolina; and the Greensboro-Triad portion of North Carolina.

Chick-fil-A said it's been moving connected a plant-based sandwich for astir 4 years, close astir erstwhile chains similar Dunkin' and Restaurant Brands International's Burger King were putting Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods substitutes connected their menus.

But nutrient alternatives that intimately lucifer the existent happening person fallen retired of favor with consumers aft a surge successful popularity during pandemic lockdowns. Both Beyond and Impossible person precocious laid off astir a 5th of their workforces.

"We explored each country of the plant-based abstraction successful hunt of the cleanable centerpiece for our plant-forward entrée," Chick-fil-A Culinary Lead Stuart Tracy said successful a statement. "Time and clip again, we kept returning to cauliflower arsenic the basal of our sandwich."

Over the past decade, cauliflower has go a fashionable substitute for a plethora of antithetic foods. Buffalo Wild Wings and countless bars service fried cauliflower smothered successful buffalo condiment arsenic an alternate to chickenhearted wings. Cauliflower has besides popped up successful pretzel signifier and – erstwhile finely chopped – arsenic a atom substitute.