Fried Chicken for a Cause: The Best of #BetterThanChickFilA

This past March, I sent out a quick tweet about a spur-of-the-moment charity-drive idea that came to me late one night: For every person who made our Chick-fil-A fried chicken sandwich clone (or any other fried chicken or fried-vegetable sandwich), posted a photo on Twitter or Instagram, and tagged it with #BetterThanChickFilA, I would donate $10 to Our Family Coalition, an organization that advances equality for LGBTQ families with children.

In the three months that I kept the drive open, I thought that I'd get maybe 100 or so entries and donate about $1,000 to this great cause. Boy, was I wrong. Between Twitter and Instagram, almost 600 sandwich photos in all were posted—an average of nearly seven per day. Not only that, but many generous folks agreed to match my donations, which, along with employer matches, brought our total to just under $52,000!

Of that, we decided to donate around $28K to Our Family and split the remainder between several other great organizations doing essential work on behalf of the LGBTQ community, including the National LGBTQ Task Force, Trans Lifeline, the LYRIC Center for LGBTQQ Youth, Larkin Street Youth Services, Gender Spectrum, the Metro Trans Umbrella Group of St. Louis, and the Transgender Law Center.

I am completely and utterly floored by the number of folks who participated in this drive, and the generosity of so many. Of course, I hope you enjoyed the chicken sandwiches, too.

The drive is over, but feel free to keep using the tag and piling on those delicious chicken sandwiches. It doesn't even have to be the Chick-fil-A clone: My Five-Ingredient Fried Chicken Sandwich is about as simple as it gets, or you can go the complex route with my Kimchi-Brined Fried Chicken Sandwich. Or, try any of our many other fried chicken recipes.

There's even more good news! This drive came with a sweet bonus prize: all those mouthwatering photos. Here are a few of my favorites, but you'll find hundreds more on Twitter and Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

@umbraphiles just made the @kenjilopezalt #betterthanchickfila sandwiches. They live up to their name.

A post shared by Zach Reagh (@gnarmonica) on Jun 29, 2019 at 8:09pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

✨❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🦄. . 🌈 @kenjilopezalt #betterthanchickfila . . [https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/07/homemade-chick-fil-a-sandwiches-recipe.html]. . . . #onthetable #foodandwine #huffposttaste #thekitchn #f52grams #eattheworld #spoonfeed #buzzfeast #foodshare #heresmyfood #feedfeed #foodspotting #forkyeah #homecook #inmykitchen #gloobyfood #friedchicken #friedchickensandwich #cookserious #beautifulcuisines #mycommontable #foodlovers #homecooking #noms #chickensandwich #kenjilopezalt #lightroomplay #dinnerideas #instafood @seriouseats

A post shared by Quyen Weng (@quyenweng) on May 31, 2019 at 8:48am PDT

View this post on Instagram

It’s so hot today we had to cool this hot chicken sandwich off with a little slaw. We’re @secondlinebrew right now slanging these works of art. Come out and support small local business and get some great beer. #chicken #friedchicken #neworleans #popup #betterthanchickfila #beer

A post shared by Anthony Cruz (@southernsfood) on May 30, 2019 at 2:48pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

I made @kenjilopezalt's #betterthanchickfila sandwich!

A post shared by Food I Made (@foodimade) on May 6, 2019 at 6:27am PDT

View this post on Instagram

Spent today crafting the various components of this #betterthanchickfila sandwich inspired by @kenjilopezalt (who's donating $10 to the @ofcoalition in support of LGBTQ equity for every post tagged): buttery brioche bun, refrigerator dill pickles, comeback sauce, and a crunchy, well-seasoned chicken cutlet--then proceeded to hold it halfway up to my mouth for 90 minutes watching the most heart-pounding episode of Game of Thrones ever. I might not have a voice tomorrow from all the screaming. But I did throw some spicy dill pickles in the batter and fry them up alongside soooo

A post shared by Christine Hodinh (@ohchristineho) on Apr 28, 2019 at 11:20pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Just trying to make @kenjilopezalt proud. Used his buttermilk fried chicken recipe (SO good and tender!), a @traderjoes slaw mix and toasted brioche buns. #betterthanchickfila

A post shared by Sophia (@hellosoph_) on Apr 19, 2019 at 12:16pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

The @seriouseats recipe is, as promised, #betterthanchickfila, and has the Ezra Seal of Approval. (If you make this and post it with that hashtag, our dear J Kenji will donate $10 to Our Family Coalition.) 📸: @elliotlevin

A post shared by Lauren Mitchell (@laurenlangston) on Apr 2, 2019 at 9:33pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Another winning Kenji recipe, that's undoubtedly #betterthanchickfila !! Thanks @kenjilopezalt !!

A post shared by Adam Urquhart (@redearth74) on Apr 3, 2019 at 9:52am PDT

A special thanks to Twitter users @hipstersmurf, @awiner, @joshu, @dag16, @andreasgal, @AvidanRoss, @mikesweeney, @lordeagle, and @janeylicious, all of whom generously matched all or part of my donation.