Can You Really Buy A Bucket Of Chili At Wendy's? It Depends

Is there anything more satisfying on a cold day than a hot bowl of meaty chili? If you're a big fan of Wendy's chili, the answer to that question is yes. It's a lot more chili. Depending on where you live, if you, or you and a group, are craving Wendy's chili, you don't have to settle for the normal-sized serving the restaurant offers. You can buy a whole bucket of chili. You just need to check your local restaurant to confirm availability.

The easiest way to find out if you can buy a bucket of Wendy's chili, officially called a Family Chili, is to check the Wendy's app. Go to the order page for your local Wendy's and see if it's an option. It seems to be very hit and miss as to where you will find it offered. For instance, the Wendy's in La Grande, Oregon, sells a bucket for $18.99. Another location in Kirkland, Washington, sells it for $10.99. But if you order from the Wendy's on Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, you can't find a bucket at all. The family chili serves four to six people and has been reported at 1.5 quarts. However, a Wendy's employee told us that a small chili is 12 ounces and a family is six of those, making it 72 ounces or 2.25 quarts.

Wendy's chili has a bit of a storied reputation. Some people love it, while others are not its biggest fans. You don't have to look far to find articles online discussing why you should avoid Wendy's chili or how unpleasant it is. Usually, it stems from the fact that Wendy's chili is made from leftover hamburgers that aren't sold, something the company readily admits. However, this is often presented as though the restaurant is using spoiled meat, which is not the case.

The truth is, most Wendy's burgers are cooked to order. During rushes, however, they will cook multiple patties at once and hold them according to timers, which can vary from place to place. Forum posters say this is usually under 15 minutes, but Wendy's doesn't publish official times. Even by USDA standards, hot food can only sit for one hour, so a Wendy's burger would never sit longer than 60 minutes. The unsold burgers are mixed with water, crushed, refrigerated, and then turned into chili. It's not a lot different from using day-old rice in fried rice or your Thanksgiving turkey carcass to make soup.

The family chili at Wendy's has become a bit of a star on TikTok. Many diners who are able to find it have been making mukbang videos. Often, they film themselves eating the chili in the parking lot right after picking it up at the drive-thru. If you're interested, check ahead to be sure it's available and bring a big appetite.