Homemade vs. Fast Food

Can we be fooled by a fast food dupe? Let's talk about that. Good mythical morning. A wise man once said, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me a third time it's back to being your fault. Which brings us to dupes. The internet is full of copycat recipes for iconic fast food menu items, AKA dupes.

Dupes. Allowing you to skip the drive through and make your fast foods at home if they're your favorite. But are these recipes really good enough to fool two wise men like us? It is time for Call of Dupe-y Snack ops. As you can see, we can't. Our first dupe was made using a recipe posted on copycat.com for KFC, fried chicken. Oh KFC. Let's taste both and see if you can figure out which is the dupe KFC, and as usual, the.

winner will receive a very special prize. Hmm. And so just so I understand, this isn't like the Mythical Kitchen said let's do this exactly the way we would do it. It's like, is this recipe that you found online, unchanged, actually a good dupe. Yeah, they found, we found, uh, dupe recipes online and they followed those to a T. All right. Fried chicken. That's a good little leg and oh.

Hmm. Do we have thigh? Yeah, I got one. We got thighs and legs. Thighs and calves. Thighs and calves. Thighs and calves. You're gonna eat that thigh 'cause the thigh goes above the calf and the calf is on the leg. Is a chicken thigh a chicken calf? No. Is a chicken leg a chicken calf? I don't think so. You going to the other side now? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Other side of the thighs and calves. I think a chicken leg is a chicken calf.

Huh? That was a weird leg I got there. Is this a breast? Mm-hmm. Just legs and thighs gentlemen. Just thighs and calves. Thighs and calves. If you're gonna answer that question, you gotta sing thighs and calves. Thighs and calves. Again, again. Thighs and calves. Yeah. Alright, I'm ready. I, I just wanna enjoy the food for a little bit more.

All right. You ready to guess? Absolutely. Which one is the dupe? You're gonna place your hand over the dupe in 3, 2, 1. 100%. So obv. No way we're wrong about this. Oh my gosh. The KFC dupe was on Link's side. Yep, we knew that. Mm-hmm. Oh, the recipe was posted on copycat.com and it contains the once secret blend of 11 herbs and spices. that was leaked by the Chicago Tribune in 2016. Those spices are thyme, basil, oregano, celery salt, black pepper, ground yellow mustard, paprika,

garlic salt, ginger, white pepper, and MSG. Not good enough. So what did they, they're, they're, they did something wrong. Nicole, what did you do that you knew you shouldn't be doing. Whenever I saw this recipe I saw for two cups of flour, they added four tablespoons of paprika. And I was like, that's entirely too much paprika. It is crazy. Yeah. You can even see it's tinged red. It's overpowered in a certain way. It tastes so strong. Yeah, and there's I think three tablespoons of white pepper, which is crazy.

That's a lot of pepper. So you're asserting is all the same the right things in the recipe? Yes, it's all the right spices. I think the quantities were just hella off. When I tasted this one, I thought to myself, if that is a dupe, this is going to be an incredible. Amazing, I was so, I was so hopeful. And then I tasted that one and I was like, ah-ah. I mean, do we, do I even like it at all? I mean, that's a good question. Another thing to note is, um, the dupe did say to cook it in shortening, which I did,

while in KFC, they pressure cook in oil. Yeah. But you think it's achievable to dupe it even without a pressure cooker? I, I don't, I think it can get very close, but I don't think it would be an exact replica. No. Well, it didn't happen today, friends. Nope. For our next round, we have Pizza Hut Pan Pizza. Ooh. One is a dupe made according to a copycat recipe posted by Todd Wilber on topsecretrecipes.com. Okay. All right.

Ah ah ah. Don't touch it. Okay. Are these recipes rated because they're user generated? Well, you don't, you don't want us to touch it 'cause we can identify it? Exactly. Okay. Open up. And is Todd's rated as the best? Okay. Oh man. Well, are you spraying something? I think she's doing this. It does sound like a spray though.

Are you spraying? No, I'm not spraying. She's rubbing her hands together, man. Yes. You rubbed your hands together, it sounded like spray. Yeah. How do you do that? Oh, okay. Uh oh. Hmm. Hmm. And that was the one that was in front of the Link? Correct. Hmm. Okay. This one's not nearly as obvious as round one. For one very specific reason.

I think it is obvious, and maybe, I, maybe I'm wrong. But the taste, let's just talk about the taste. No, no, no. The taste, it's not, it, it's not, it's not the texture. I think it's a texture thing that might be different. I know the texture's different, so different that we're not allowed to touch it, but that's not what I noted. I noted a very particular taste thing. Even the one I'm voting for I can, if I was eating it blindfolded without the other one, I, and you. told me it was Pizza Hut I would believe you. I'll put it to you that way. Okay.

Well, I, maybe if it wasn't, um, yeah, yeah, if it wasn't side by side, maybe I would agree. Let's place your hand over the pizza you think Is the dupe in 3, 2, 1. Yep. Yeah. What, what, what's your reason, Rhett. Oregano. There, there was a, um, a very specific oregano, like in the face on this one that I didn't get on this one. The Pizza Hut dupe was on Link's side. Yeah. Yeah. It was made according to a copycat recipe posted on topsecretrecipes by Todd Wilbur.

So the other pizza came from Pizza Hut. And it's really, I mean, you can't get that crust, this crust, like it's what. is the, how do they do this at Pizza Hut? That's the texture difference. You know what it is? I think at Pizza Hut they use a specific kind of grate with the little holes in the bottom. Mm-hmm. For more airflow to get that, get that really intense, like crunchy, crispy pan pizza-y flavor. And I also noticed in the sauce, there's a lot of, it's not only oregano, there's a lot of rosemary.

Oh, rosemary in that sauce. That's it. It's rosemary. The second I tasted, I was like, oh my God, this is so similar to Pizza Hut, but it. is quite a smack in the face of rosemary. That's what it is. It's rosemary, not oregano. So you're saying there's too much rosemary? Yes, and I, and I'm sensitive to rosemary. I thought it was oregano. I'm not that sensitive to it, but I'm sensitive to that taste. But if Todd invited me over to his house, I'm not. Pretty impressive. Don't invite me. But if he did, um, and you were like, hey man, I make this Pizza Hut dupe and I had this, I would be like, this is pretty dang good. But when you got the real thing.

He might charge you 'cause uh, we had to pay 79 cents for this recipe. It's that top secret. It was behind a paywall. 79 cents? For a PDF? Well, apparently, I mean, Nicole 79 cents. Guess, I mean, I guess it kind of makes sense. Well, I'd like about 20 cent back for all that extra rosemary. Next up the Taco Bell Crunch wrap Supreme. Ooh. Okay. Okay. I hope we can touch these. 'cause here I am touching it. Wow, that, wow, now that's a crunch wrap.

That's a crunch wrap feeling. Mm-hmm. Hopefully fully wrapped up. Mm-hmm. This is one that. Hmm. I would think is very dupeable. People want to be able to do the wrap. Hmm. Huh. It's so interesting. Hmm. Yet achievable. Wow. What are you wowing about over there? I'm wowing about the layers of flavor and all of them seeming like Taco Bell. But if it is Taco Bell, there's not really much to wow about, right?

Correct. So you're, you're prematurely wowing. Okay. I've noticed something. In the handling, but just a little bit. Hmm. The same, but different. Mm-hmm. Okay. There's only one little difference to me. Mm-hmm. Wow. How deep are you going? How big are your bites? I think it's pretty big.

Oh. I just dribbled on myself. Hmm. Okay. All right. Place your hand over the crunch wrap dupreme in 3, 2, 1. Oh, he's gone. Where is he? What? I'm over here. It's the beef that's different. I believe I was right. The crunch wrap dupe. I believe you were. Was Rhett's side. Now let me just say, um, I, this had a more Taco Bell taste in the end.

This dupe. Mm-hmm. Better. Better. And I would say. Yeah. 50% better. Like it is so good. That's crazy. What, I mean, what did you notice about this as you were making it? The one thing I noticed is they added masa harina to the ground beef mixture while. Taco Bell adds oats to give it more body. Interesting. Yeah. So they both use a thickener of sorts, but I don't know what you called it, but I think it's better. Masa what? Masa harina? It's what's used to make, like, make like tacos and stuff.

Masa harina. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Oh yeah. Masa. Well, it's really good. The, the meat is what I thought was the difference. Mm-hmm. Yes. There is a major difference. I mean, when you think about it, they're delivering bags of beef and like, to like. people and it's like all mashed up and stuff. But this was like actual like 80 20 that I used. The recipe's great for a one up of a dupe. Yeah. It was the same flavor profile, but more intense, fresher, better. You didn't get the darkness on the on the wrap seer though.

User error. Sorry, boss. Okay. And this one was by Stephanie Manley and it came from copycat.com. Wait to go Stephanie. You're good Stephanie. We can't currently see this mug or Link's, uh, shirt. Mm-hmm. Or his hoodie, but both of those are from the Make it a More Mythical World collection. Let me look at this mug. This thing is like a planter. Look at that. I didn't know you could get a mug like that, but there it is. I mean, it has a handle, which kind of, it tips it off that it's drinkable, so you could maybe plant a little.

plant in it after you've used it as a mug for a while. Plant your drink. Interchange. That's right. And listen. A portion of the proceeds from these are going to the Center for Plant Conservation to help them keep plants around y'all. because plants go extinct too, and we gotta keep 'em around. They're kind of important. Thank you for your work and thank you for helping by buying this stuff to support their. cause, which is all of our causes really. We care about plants, don't we?

And we care about the planet as well. And that's why this is made with some recycled materials. Lower carbon footprint. This is made with a lower carbon footprint. That's correct. Only available for a week. So jump on this before they are gone. Mythical.com. What've we got Chase? Next up is Cinnabon. Ooh. And also a dupe. Oh, oh, oh. I'm trying to. Oh. It's just a big cinnamon roll. Or is there? I think there's two.

Yeah and I'm guarding you from mine. You're about to ruin it for me. Yeah, I want. Did you get it? I, I, I got mine, but I would just want the middle. Oh God. Of course. Mm-hmm. Nothing. Oh, oh, you choking on yourself. How, how do I get, there we go. I got the middle. Hmm. Okay. Okay. That's good. No complaints.

Mm-hmm. Let's move over here. Go into this one. Try to get out the middle. I feel like I'm at the mall, okay? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I'm getting information. What information are you getting? Secret information. Secret to you? Hmm. Mm-hmm. Interesting, interesting. Let me go back here and touch my entire role. Okay.

I feel like if I'm wrong about this. Okay. I'm gonna question everything. Hmm. All right. Interesting. Huh? Okay. Place your hand over the cinnamon roll dupe, the Cinnabon dupe in 3, 2, 1. Are we, are we agreeing? Gotta be right. The Cinnabon dupe was on Rhett's side. Yeah. There's a distinct. The sugar. Um. For me, I think it's the cream cheese. That's the, that was the giveaway for me.

And um. Good God. Look at what we did. I mean, these are useless now. There was something about the cream cheese. I liked this one better. Oh, I did. It had more, it had more of a sugary icing thing than the cream cheesiness. Yeah. There's no cream cheese in the dupe. It's just cream sugar and butter. That's why I tasted no cream cheese, but there's cream cheese in the original. Mm-hmm. We have to say. Yeah. We have to say so. Well, there was such a, there was a tanginess to this one in the cream cheese.

I just thought they had bad cream cheese on this. They had no cream cheese. Why are you gonna make a dupe or something that's got cream cheese in it and not put cream cheese in it? Maybe you're like me and you don't really like Cinnabon. Hmm. Well this is better. The dupe was from foodnetwork.com, and it was a recipe for an almost famous cinnamon bun. Yep. One user commented just like Cinnabon, but not as easy. Just like it, but no cream cheese. Not, not like it. Maybe better if you don't like this.

Last but not least, Chicken McNuggets with sweet and sour sauce. Now it's crazy you're letting us touch these. I just got some sauce. That means that whoever's making these thinks that they're making ones that feel like a McNugget. I mean, don't, don't, don't go. That feels. Don't go feeling too hard. I picked one up. You know, just pick it up and don't, let's use our mouths, not our hands. Where's your sauce? Where's the sauce? Is it on it? Okay. It was on the left edge.

In a ramekin. Yeah, my finger was in it earlier. Hmm. Sweet and sour. I've learned some things. I've learned some things. One is I like having a little chicken nugget after my Cinnabon. Yeah. You know, go for dessert and then come back for savory. Balance it out. Chicken nuggets are very crunch forward.

Ooh, this feels, are you, what are you on the new one? Yeah, I'm over here now. Hmm. hmm. Are you confused? I'm confused. Yeah.Especially if I isolate. Just taste. There are differences. Hmm.

Huh? Oh, huh. Keep putting my hand in the, in the dip, but that's part of it, I guess. Huh. All right. I have to get new nuggets every time because- I'm holding, I'm holding the nuggets. Okay. Huh? You ready? No. Yes. And. Definitely.

Okay. The dupe. Place your hand over the nuggets you think Are the McNuggets dupe in 3, 2, 1. Oh yeah. Ah, we okay. That, that means I can't win. Gotta be, right? Oh yeah. These were so much crunchier. Crispy. But the taste was pretty spot on. Yeah. I don't, and I don't know what that would be. Uh, we're right, right? You are right. The McNugget dupe was on Link's side. Uh, it's actually two different websites. The nuggets were made according to a copycat recipe posted by Todd Wilber, again on.

topsecretrecipes.com for 79 cents that we paid. I mean, they look so convincing. I mean, Todd, you're doing a good job. Todd, cites the addition of Chicken bouillon powder as his secret ingredient. And then the dipping sauce was, uh, from a recipe for copycat McDonald's sweet and sour. sauce posted on tasteofhome.com and made from a base of pureed apricot preserves. Interesting. I believe that the sweet and sour sauce was a pretty, was pretty spot on to me. It was the texture, ultimately that was the giveaway, the texture, and the crispiness.

That bouillon cube, you think that's the, the key to it? Um, I think McDonald's tastes like McDonald's, tastes like McDonald's. You know what I mean? It's so, you don't, you don't, you're not- I don't think the, the chicken bouillon is like the secret sauce. Yeah. You gotta, you gotta be a food scientist. Yeah. I'm impressed though. There is something in the taste of it that is very reminiscent and if you're not doing what we're doing. Yeah. I think you'd be impressed.

I think that's the lesson is that this might be worth doing so long as you're not doing a side by side. But if you're like- Don't do it in the parking lot. Maybe you're stranded. You can't get to a McDonald's or something like that. The world's shutting down, but you really want McDonald's for some reason. Oh. Or any one of these other things. Little bleak. I think that there are times where maybe this is worth it if you've got all the ingredients and you've got, still. got internet access, 'cause apparently that's important, 'cause you gotta get these recipes from someplace. Um. And 79 cents in some cases. Speaking of doing things at home, cooking at home, would you believe that the Linkster is.

going to make a smash burger dupe at his house? I'm gonna make one as well. Uh, we don't know exactly where we're gonna do it, but we have done it by the time you. watch this and you can go and watch us do it. Yes, we made smash burgers that we tasted each other's smash burgers over on the Mythical Society. So go check that out, and meanwhile, I- We're trying to dupe our favorite smash burger. I think I need my cape. Yeah, that means that with a score of five, Rhett is today's winner.

I refuse to put it on. I'm like James Brown. You get to put on this cape and strike a heroic pose while Link reads what's on a show card. Look, everyone. It's Duper Man! Here to protect and serve.

Nope, that's not your line. Dupes, haha. Nope, that's not your line. Thanks for commenting and sharing this video. That's your line. You know what time it is. Hi, I'm Kenna. And I'm Zach. And we're from Kent, Ohio. We're at the top of Jay's Peak Mountain in Vermont. And it's time to spin the Wheel of Mythicality. I mean, I couldn't hear the wind at all, but I know it was blowing. That is why- Noise canceling. You've got Cinnabon on your cheek. Do I? Uh-huh. I do. You didn't see that, did you?

No. We're gonna donate $1,000 to Earth Justice to aid in their mission to use the courts to protect clean. air, clean water, wildlife, and public health. Woo. With more than 200 lawyers representing communities free of charge and major environmental cases nationwide. Great cause, help 'em out at the link below. Click the top link to watch us. Guess how old the oldest brands are.

The 2026 Make it a More Mythical World hoodie and planter mug are available now at Mythical.com.