House Passes Bill to Make Hot Rotisserie Chicken SNAP-Eligible

The House of Representatives moved one step closer to putting a chicken in every SNAP beneficiary's pot on Thursday.

Published: 4/30/2026, 11:54:25 PM EDT

House Passes Bill to Make Hot Rotisserie Chicken SNAP-Eligible — Rotisserie chicken on the spit at a restaurant in Calella, Spain, on Aug. 16, 2008. (Cate Gillon/Getty Images)

The House of Representatives moved one step closer to putting a chicken in every SNAP beneficiary's pot on Thursday.

The House passed a bill to include hot rotisserie chickens as an eligible item that could be purchased with SNAP benefits; it was included as an amendment in the 2026 Farm Bill. The bill had previously been introduced in both the Senate and the House as bipartisan, standalone bills.

“This morning, I was proud to join my colleagues in passing the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, which included two of my own amendments," Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) said in a press release after the Farm Bill passed the House on Thursday. "I am especially proud that my [amendment], which would ... make hot rotisserie chickens SNAP eligible, [was] included in this Farm Bill."

The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support, passing an amendment vote by a margin of 384-35.

The bill was cosponsored by a bipartisan list of members, including Reps. Jim Costa (D-Calif.); Gabe Evans (R-Colo.), Shomari Figures (D-Ala.), Andy Harris (R-Md.), Mark Harris (R-N.C.), Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), Sarah McBride (D-Del.), Kristen McDonald-Rivet (D-Mich.), Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.), Barry Moore (R-Ala.), Blake Moore (R-Utah), Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas), Eric Sorenson (D-Ill.), Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Tony Wied (R-Wis.), and Steve Womack (R-Ark.).

“It is just plain common sense to allow SNAP participants to purchase a rotisserie chicken with their benefits,” Crawford said in a press release after introducing the bill. “Hot rotisserie chicken is healthy, widely available, popular in grocery stores, and aligned with the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans."

The release notes that rotisserie chickens are affordable—between $5 and $7—and nutritious. But current SNAP rules only allow beneficiaries to purchase cold rotisserie chickens. The bill also had the support of the National Chicken Council (NCC).

“The HOT Rotisserie Chicken Act is a commonsense solution to an unnecessary problem," NCC President Harrison Kircher said in Crawford's release. "Right now, a SNAP family can buy a cold rotisserie chicken—but the moment it's hot, it's off limits. There is no nutritional difference. There is no logical difference. There is only an outdated technicality that forces grocery stores to heat chickens and cool them back down just to comply, wasting energy, degrading quality, and adding cost ... I want to thank Rep. Crawford, and Sens. Justice, Bennett, Fetterman, and Capito for their leadership on this no-cost, commonsense, and long overdue legislation."

It was also introduced in the Senate by Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Jim Justice (R-W. Va.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). Fetterman celebrated the bill passing in a post on X.

"SNAP to include HOT ROTISSERIE CHICKEN, 384-35!" he wrote on Thursday. "Doesn’t only include my crew’s favorite + affordable $4.99 Costco rotisserie— but ANY hot rotisserie. Feeding families: a (rotisserie) chicken in every pot."

Originally introduced as the Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act, the bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to add “hot rotisserie chicken” to the definition of food within the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. It is limited just to hot rotisserie chickens, and does not increase funding or eligibility for SNAP. It also only applies to eligible retailers.