The recipe wasn’t held under lock and key, as you might expect

KFC has always credited its tasty chicken to a perfect blend of 11 herbs and spices, but Colonel Sanders probably never expected his very own nephew to reveal that recipe to the world.

As fakeaways become almost as common as takeaways there are probably a lot of people who are desperate to know how to recreate the Colonel’s chicken.

The fast food restaurant always promises to be ‘finger lickin’ good’, but obviously staff won’t share its recipe for fear of competitors beating them at their own game. The only hint we’ve ever been given is them following six guys called Herb and every member of the Spice Girls on X.

KFC attracts millions of customers with its chicken. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Since it was founded in 1952, KFC kept its secret for decades, but just a few years ago Joe Ledington; nephew of the Colonel himself, Harland David Sanders, blabbed it to the world.

Sanders has previously been honest with customers that the range of seasonings could be found in their homes, but no matter how many measurings of salt, pepper or garlic people might have attempted to sprinkle in, it never hit quite as nicely as the real thing.

That is, until Jay Jones, a reporter from the Chicago Tribune secured a meeting with Ledington in which he spilled the beans (BBQ flavoured of course). And the fries, and everything else that goes into a good KFC.

Rather than being placed under lock and key, it was revealed that the recipe was placed in a family scrapbook, written on the back of the last will and testament of Ledington’s aunt, Claudia.

Handwritten with blue ink, the list is titled: “11 Spices — Mix With 2 Cups White Fl.”

Ledington casually explained: “That is the original 11 herbs and spices that were supposed to be so secretive.”

The recipe was written on the back of a will. (Chicago Tribune)

Since then, he has seemingly attempted to backtrack, saying: “It could be; I don’t know for sure.”

The main ingredients of the recipe include four tablespoons of paprika, three tablespoons of white pepper and two tablespoons of garlic salt.

“The main ingredient is white pepper,” Ledington revealed. “I call that the secret ingredient. Nobody (in the 1950s) knew what white pepper was. Nobody knew how to use it.”

Other herbs and spices include thyme, basil and oregano, as well as salt – but not just any salt.

According to the handwritten note, the ’11 herbs and spices’ have three separate kinds of salt in them – garlic, regular and surprisingly, celery.

Dried mustard and pepper account for the slightly spicy kick, with ground ginger also thrown in there for good measure.

After getting their hands on the ingredients, the news outlet recreated the recipe following the note and confirmed it was ‘finger lickin’ good’.

Still, sometimes it’s just nice to treat yourself to the real thing, isn’t it?