NEW YORK CITY – What is the hottest menu item for quick-service restaurants these days? Fried chicken. Crispy poultry has been showing up in new menu items at Taco Bell (Naked Chicken Chalupa), McDonald’s (testing a Chicken McGriddle breakfast sandwich) and Arby’s (a relaunch of its fried chicken), Business Insider reports.

Of the 100 largest U.S. restaurant chains, three of the five fastest-growing are chicken related. Chicken is the No. 1 category in fast food since April 2016, when it zipped past burgers. The popularity of fried chicken has been rising partly because chicken prices have been lower than beef lately and partly because it has morphed into something viewed as a quality ingredient.

Helping reform fried chicken’s reputation has been Shake Shack’s Chick'n Shack sandwich and celebrity chef David Chang's Fuku fried chicken restaurant. And don’t forget Chick-fil-A, which is now the No. 1 chicken chain by sales in the United States.

The success of fried chicken has fast-food chains salivating to get into the action. Last week, KFC launched its new Georgia Gold Chicken. Taco Bell has been pleased with initial reactions to its Naked Chicken Chalupa.

Last fall, consumers were more interested in fast-food chicken chains than in burgers, Mexican and pizza restaurants. Even filmmaker Morgan Spurlock embraced chicken when he opened his mock restaurant, Holy Chicken!, for a short time in November.