Kentucky Fried Chicken will be offering its new plant-based menu item from Beyond Meat next week at restaurants across the U.S.

Beyond Fried Chicken, which "looks and tastes like KFC's world-famous fried chicken," was developed specifically for the fast food chain by the California-based company producing plant-based meat substitutes.

"The new recipe is designed to deliver on the taste and texture of whole muscle chicken," the chain said in a statement last year.

KFC is the first national U.S. QSR (quick service restaurant) to introduce a plant-based chicken in partnership with Beyond Meat, according to the restaurant chain.

KFC joins several other chains (including Burger King and Starbucks, which both offer plant-based breakfast sandwiches using meat substitutes from the Impossible brand) that have been responding to a rise in consumer demand for plant-based, more sustainable food options.

"It's time," the president of KFC U.S., Kevin Hochman, told CNN, noting that the chicken chain's customers want to "eat less animal protein but don't want to give up comfort food."

U.S. sales of meat substitutes were expected to rise 78 percent to $2.5 billion between 2018 and 2023, according to Euromonitor, the Associated Press reported in late August 2019.

When Is KFC's Beyond Fried Chicken Available?

Beyond Fried Chicken will be available at KFC locations nationwide from January 10 for a limited time.

According to a regulatory filing, there were nearly 4,000 KFC restaurants in the U.S. by the end of 2020, Reuters reported Tuesday.

The restaurant chain began a test launch of the first version of the new plant-based item at a restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia back in August 2019, which sold out in less than five hours at the time, KFC said.

The successful launch in Atlanta saw the chain do an expanded trial run in 2020 at select KFC restaurants in Los Angeles as well as Charlotte (North Carolina), Nashville (Tennessee) and surrounding areas.

"The response in Atlanta continues to underscore the growing consumer demand for high-quality, delicious plant-based meats. Together with KFC's team, we have created a plant-based chicken that looks, tastes and pulls apart like a chicken breast," Ethan Brown, the founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, stated last year.

How Much Is the Plant-Based Meal?

KFC's Beyond Fried Chicken will be priced from $6.99 (for six pieces) at most venues but prices will vary by location.

The new plant-based item can also be purchased in a combo meal, which includes a medium drink and fries or as a single à la carte option in six or 12-piece portions.

A KFC sign in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Signage seen at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in September 2016. KFC's Beyond Fried Chicken, the chain's new plant-based menu item, will be available nationwide from January 10.