The New York Times recently wrote about how chicken tenders conquered America in honor of the 50th anniversary of this now dinner-time staple.
It got me thinking about the first time I had chicken tenders, and I honestly couldn’t remember. I recall eating chicken nuggets from McDonald’s as a kid, so I’m pretty sure chicken tenders were in the mix at some point then as well.
What I do know is that as an adult, I’m a big fan. I prefer freshly breaded and fried tenders over the frozen ones (although I’ll admit that we eat those sometimes, too). And I like thinner tenders over huge chunks of chicken breast that are more like patties.
And let’s talk about sauces. I waffle between barbecue and ranch. But I’m not opposed to a good honey mustard or sweet chili sauce from time to time. My latest favorite is a sweet and smokey sauce from Lowes Foods. It’s almost like you mixed barbecue and honey mustard together. I will eat them plain, but it’s pretty rare.