mary browns

I may not have my own cooking show, a Michelin star, or a byline in a food magazine, but my passion for great fried chicken runs deep. One might even consider me an amateur aficionado! And who among us doesn't love a great chicken tender? Landing somewhere between a snackable nugget and a full-on chicken burger, these delicious strips of meat are pretty much everywhere — but after doing some taste-testing myself, I've realized that they are most certainly NOT all created equal.

Between the ratio of meat-to-breading, flavour intensity, quality, and the debate on dipping sauces (do we love? Do we hate? Which ones are best??), there are plenty of things I was looking for when selecting the top tender. So obviously, I had to check out some of the biggest names in the fast-food industry to get a good lay of the land and finally find the best one.