Why Do Aussies Love Chicken Salt?
There are some things about Australia that just make sense…
A meat pie at the footy. Tomato sauce on almost everything. And a generous shake of CHICKEN SALT on your hot chips!
But here's the funny part…
CHICKEN SALT WASN’T INVENTED FOR CHIPS!
Its story takes us back to Gawler, South Australia, in the early 1970s.
Peter Brinkworth was running Brinkworth Poultry, Game and Seafood, a wholesale food business with a small chicken shop attached.
He was looking for an easier way to season the chickens he was roasting.
Rather than reaching for a collection of different seasonings, Peter decided to combine them into one mixture that could be sprinkled over the chickens in one go.
And according to Peter himself, that's how chicken salt was born.
His original mixture included salt, chicken stock, MSG, paprika, garlic, onion, celery, herbs and spices.
The seasoning proved popular with customers and was soon being supplied to other takeaway businesses.
But then something rather important happened…
According to Peter, one takeaway operator in Salisbury put it on chips — and discovered just how good it was!
As Peter later recalled:
“There was one guy in Salisbury, he was the one who put it on chips.”
And from there, chicken salt began spreading through South Australian takeaway shops before becoming a familiar flavour on hot chips across Australia.
Then came another important chapter.
In 1979, Peter sold his business to the Mitani family, and his chicken-salt recipe was part of the deal.
Mitani went on to commercialise the product, helping take chicken salt well beyond its South Australian beginnings.
Mitani's current chicken salt contains sea salt, rice flour, onion, garlic, paprika and herbs and spices. It's suitable for vegetarians and contains no added MSG.
So how did Australians come to love it so much?
There's the salty hit, the savoury flavour, the aroma, the bright colour and, of course, the fact that it gets sprinkled over one of Australia's favourites:
HOT CHIPS!
For many Australians, chicken salt isn't just a flavour.
It's the smell of the local takeaway shop.
It's Friday-night fish and chips.
It's the paper-wrapped parcel sitting on your lap in the car.
It's opening the bag and immediately stealing “just one chip”… …and somehow eating half of them before you get home!
So next time someone asks:
“Chicken salt?”
There's really only one Australian answer…
“YES — AND DON'T BE STINGY!”
What do you reckon - chicken salt or plain salt?
SOURCES: ABC News — Chicken salt inventor Peter Brinkworth the main ingredient in a short film with a sprinkle of glamour, SBS Food — The real story behind the invention of chicken salt, The Guardian — Chicken salt: we find the creator of an Australian classic, Mitani — Why we're loved
A note on our visuals: To help bring this story to life, we've included a computer-generated illustration. While we've aimed for historical accuracy, they may contain minor errors or artistic interpretation. They are used solely for educational, non-commercial history storytelling.
