
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen fired the first shot in the battle for chicken sandwich supremacy when it launched its groundbreaking crispy chicken sandwich late in 2019. Earlier this month, Popeyes accelerated the battle with its introduction of another potential menu disruptor—the Blackened Chicken Sandwich—challenging competitors to “copy this.”
Director of Culinary Amy Alarcon leads the R&D team at the Atlanta-based chain and is constantly inspired by Popeyes’ culinary legacy and roots, as she relates in a recent episode of the Menu Feed podcast. She shares how that inspiration drives her to continue to explore those roots and offers ideas on successfully innovating the menu no matter what your operation.
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Alarcon continues to be excited about the rich food history the Popeyes brand carries. “It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” she said.
She was raised in a family that “marches on its stomach,” cooking lots of fresh, Southern food and talking about what they would cook and eat next at every meal. Although the South is deeply embedded in Popeyes DNA, the brand has a specific culinary focus on New Orleans and its Cajun and Creole influences. Innovation should draw on a brand’s legacy and represent it across the menu, she believes.
Perfection takes patience.
Alarcon and her team worked for four years on seven different iterations before they were satisfied with the new Blackened Chicken Sandwich. “I call it the Goldilocks project,” she says with a laugh. “The result is my ‘Lucky No. 7.’”
Blackening is a type of seasoning but it’s also a cooking technique that originated in New Orleans with legendary chef Paul Prudhomme. “Blackened does not equate to spicy or Nashville hot,” she says. The trick is to coat a protein with a textured crust, then keep that crust intact while sealing the juices inside.
Once that was perfected, the build was simple; the sandwich uses the same marination process, brioche bun and barrel-cured pickles as the crispy chicken sandwich, with a dollop of mayo as the condiment.
Never walk away from your flagship menu item.
Popeyes built its reputation on bone-in fried chicken, coated with a proprietary seasoned breading. With portability and to-go meals in high demand, the chain has introduced more boneless products of late, including the two chicken sandwiches and new chicken nuggets.
“We spend a lot of time talking about our fried chicken and it’s still our flagship product,” says Alarcon. “It’s not ‘either or’ for us … we released ourselves from the tyranny of the ‘or.’ It’s boneless and bone-in for Popeyes and we need to focus on both so we can continue to develop bold, exciting menu items.”
Put unique spins on past winners.
Indeveloping new items and LTOs, it’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel. An example is the Cajun Flounder Sandwich, introduced earlier this year for Lent—"a season that’s a very big deal for Popeyes,” says Alarcon.
The flounder sandwich rides in on the wave of the crispy chicken sandwich. It features a flounder filet, breaded and coated with Cajun spices, then fried crispy and sandwiched on the same butter toasted brioche, with pickles and tartar sauce instead of mayo. It comes in both spicy and classic versions, just like the chicken sandwich, and needs minimal new SKUs to execute.
The goal with R&D is to “build a bridge back to the state of Louisiana and the cuisine that inspires us, but doing it in a way that’s approachable to everyone,” says Alarcon.
Import and export ideas at the same time.
Turning the world on to New Orleans’ Cajun and Creole flavors is Popeyes mission, but Alarcon and her team acknowledge the evolution of other culinary influences as well and incorporates them into R&D. “New Orleans is a melting pot of cuisines, with Asian, Latin, West African, Italian and Caribbean all playing a part,” she says. Most recently, Vietnamese and Mexican newcomers are having a culinary impact, she adds.
Alarcon also looks to Popeyes’ global locations for ideas. She points out that a version of the blackened chicken sandwich has been on the menu in both Brazil and Switzerland before it launched in the U.S.
“I also scout out TikTok and Instagram for interesting inspirations and creative takes on our menu items,” she says. “Our guests are super engaged with bold, exciting iterations … and I’m always looking for more ways they can get those into their mouths.”