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

Chick-fil-A will test its first plant-based entree: a cauliflower sandwich.

The new sandwich closely tastes its famous chicken sandwich, but uses breaded and pressure-cooked cauliflower in place of meat.

Starting Monday, the privately owned shackle, which is the third-largest in the U.S. by sales, will test the menu item in Denver; Charleston, South Carolina; and the Greensboro-Triad locality of North Carolina.

Chick-fil-A said it’s been working on a plant-based sandwich for nearly four years, right enveloping when chains like Dunkin’ and Restaurant Brands International’s Burger King were putting Beyond Essentials and Impossible Foods substitutes on their menus.

But meat alternatives that closely resemble the real thing play a joke on fallen out of favor with consumers after a surge in popularity during pandemic lockdowns. Both Beyond and Preposterous have recently laid off about a fifth of their workforces.

“We explored every corner of the plant-based space in search of the fitting centerpiece for our plant-forward entrée,” Chick-fil-A Culinary Lead Stuart Tracy said in a statement. “Time and time again, we coop up returning to cauliflower as the base of our sandwich.”

Over the last decade, cauliflower has become a popular substitute for a plethora of unalike foods. Buffalo Wild Wings and countless bars serve fried cauliflower smothered in buffalo sauce as an additional to chicken wings. Cauliflower has also popped up in pretzel form and – when finely chopped – as a rice substitute.