The Best-Tasting Chicken Tenders In The Fast Food Universe, Ranked

Without a doubt, the chicken sandwich (I’m aware this is an article about chicken tenders, let me cook!) has come to dominate the fast food space. It’s not hard to see why, the typical chicken filet is breaded in a medley of flavors, it’s fried, and gives a satisfyingly audible crunch with every bite before revealing juicy tender meat. Sandwich that between some bread with the right sauce, pickles, and maybe cheese, and you’ve got a flavor bomb — an addictive culinary creation that can inspire riots.

But don’t forget that the fried chicken tender walked so the fried chicken sandwich could fly. While ia great chicken sandwich is expected on your typical fast food menu in 2023, before the sandwich became a staple (thanks entirely to Popeyes), the premium fast food fried chicken option was the tender. And some days, I feel like a great chicken tender can be even better than a sandwich.

Hear me out here:

Aside from the tender having fewer carbs, calories, and an overall smaller footprint, a great chicken tender has a more focused and pronounced flavor than a chicken sandwich, which can be loaded up with too many distracting elements (this bread sucks, the filet is dry, these pickles are too tangy, etc) and is generally juicier (more… tender). They’re also more dippable than a chicken sandwich, so it’s a lot easier to up the sweet, spicy, or savory notes.

Plus, a chicken tender is the only food that can inspire a person to break out into this song. For that alone, we can’t deny our love for this wonderful finger food.

To celebrate the mighty chicken tender, we’re ranking more chicken tenders than we ever have in the past for the ultimate fast food chicken tender ranking. It’s been a full year since our last chicken tender ranking and a lot has changed — we have new tenders on the scene and (I’m going to go ahead and spoil this for you now) a new number one entry.

Let’s dive in!

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Food Rankings From The Last Month

18. Del Taco — Crispy Chicken Strips

Tenders
Del Taco

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

I’m genuinely surprised that Del Taco’s Crispy Chicken Strips, a recent addition to the menu, are still available. Seeing them on the menu, I assumed that Del Taco was either selling a lot of these strips or that they’d revamped the recipe to taste better, so I tried them again.

I’m sorry to report that it’s definitely not the latter. These are still the worst chicken strips in all of fast food.

It hurts to admit this because I love Del Taco, I think it’s significantly better than Taco Bell, but I visit for a decent approximation of Mexican Food (it’s really Cal-Mex), not for f*cking fried chicken. The issue here is the construction, the breading works as a sort of loose sleeve, if you bite into this chicken tender and pull you can actually separate the meat from the breading. That’s… not great.

The flavor also doesn’t deliver, the meat is rubbery and devoid of flavor, and the breading itself is a simple mix of salt and pepper. Chicken tenders are easy to make well, the fact that Del Taco can’t nail them blows my mind. Especially when they’re so good at everything else they make.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Del Scorcho, the hottest hot sauce on hand at Del Taco, only to drown out the flavor of the chicken. In fact, skip the chicken and just eat a bunch of Del Scorcho sauce packets outside by the dumpster. It’s a better experience.

The Bottom Line:

Skip these, under all circumstances.

Find your nearest Del Taco here.

17. Sonic — Crispy Chicken Tenders

Chicken Tender Ranking
Sonic

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

You’ve had these before, even if you’ve never been to a Sonic. They taste identical to freezer aisle chicken tenders from the grocery store. The chicken is dry, a bit stringy, and the flavor is a mix of neutral flour notes and black pepper.

They also tend to be over-fried. That leads to a nice crunch, but these chicken tenders are impossible to eat without sauce.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Sonic’s Signature Sauce, hands down. The sauce is a golden BBQ, offering smokey sweet notes with a bit of honey mustard tang and brightness.

The Bottom Line:

Sonic has much better sides. Order the mozzarella sticks, onion rings, or chili cheese fries instead.

Find your nearest Sonic here.

16. Arby’s — Chicken Fingers

Tenders
Arby

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

First of all, don’t call your chicken tenders “chicken fingers,” it’s weird. Second, look, Arby’s, I know you want to have a diverse menu, but you shot yourselves in the foot being all “we have the meats,” and now your menu looks limited as a result because you refuse to have interesting vegetable sides.

Just add some sweet potato fries or cheddar-stuffed potato wedges to the menu, because these chicken fingers are not it and only weaken the menu as a whole. That’s going to make some people mad because I know a handful who think these tenders are great and love to add them to their meal. Well,sorry fam, but you’ve got bad taste.

The chicken is dry and sports that familiar flour and black pepper flavor. Give me something Arby’s == garlic, a kiss of onion powder, PAPRIKA — something to make these things edible aside from sauce!

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

BBQ, adds some sweetness and a hint of smokiness.

The Bottom Line:

Arby’s is not for chicken. Period.

Find your nearest Arby’s here.

15. Dairy Queen — Chicken Strips

Tenders
DQ

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

The chicken tender needs its Popeyes Chicken Sandwich moment. A brand needs to drop a chicken tender that is so undeniably good that it forces every other brand to go back to the lab and come up with a better recipe. We’re not there yet, which is why the bottom of this list is populated with so many forgettable chicken tenders.

Dairy Queen’s chicken tenders aren’t too bad, they’ve meatier than the tenders ranked lower on this list, and the chicken isn’t dry and stringy, but it still has a pretty bland flavor that needs sauce in order to be edible.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Get the Country Gravy. It adds a savory element to each bite and turns this otherwise inedible chicken tender into a socially acceptable way to have too much gravy.

The Bottom Line:

Why are you at Dairy Queen eating the food? Get a Blizzard and eat it while you’re in the drive-thru of another fast food restaurant. (Unless you’re at a DQ that still has the deep fried burrito.)

Find your nearest Dairy Queen here.

14. Jack in the Box — Crispy Chicken Tenders

Tenders
Jack in the Box

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

I feel like I’ve brought this up in too many articles, so I’ll just say this — Jack in the Box used to have great chicken tenders and then they changed the recipe during the pandemic and now they’re awful.

The new chicken is meatier than the old flat strips, which is a good thing, but the flavor is all off. The chicken is thick and not too dried out but totally flavorless, it’s all texture and the breading is one note: salty.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Frank’s Red Hot. It’s not technically a dipping sauce, but this hot sauce brings a lot of flavor to this otherwise very bland but meaty chicken.

The Bottom Line:

I’ve accepted that Jack in the Box will never bring back its old chicken tender recipe, but I can’t pretend these are good or worth ordering.

Find your nearest Jack in the Box here.

13. Burger King — Chicken Fries

Chicken Tender Ranking
Burger King

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

You could argue that these aren’t chicken tenders at all, and, fair point, but it’s the closest thing to a chicken tender Burger King has and what other fast food ranking can these things appear in if not a chicken tender ranking? It’s certainly not a nugget!

This is fast food chicken at its worst. The texture of the meat is pretty much just sludge. Having said that, I kind of like the breading. It’s a zesty mix of paprika, black pepper, and onion powder. Dip it in some sauce and I can’t lie, eating chicken fries is an enjoyable experience.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

The smokey sweet flavor of bbq sauce really compliments the zesty slightly spicy flavor of the breading.

The Bottom Line:

If you can get passed the sludge-like meat, the chicken fries are guilty-pleasure-worthy.

Find your nearest Burger King here.

12. Dairy Queen Honey BBQ Sauced & Tossed

Tenders
DQ

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

So it turns out dousing chicken tenders in lots of sauce is all you need to make them delicious. Dairy Queen’s Honey BBQ Sauced & Tossed turns the brand’s barely passable tenders into something legitimately good. Each bite is meaty and satisfying and begins with a sweet peppery flavor and ends with a nice kiss of smoke.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Dip it in ranch and you’ll add a savory slightly tangy note to a medley of smokey and sweet flavors.

The Bottom Line:

Middling but like… in a complimentary way.

Find your Dairy Queen here.

11. Carl’s Jr — Hand-breaded Chicken Tenders

Tenders
Carl

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

Carl’s Jr’s hand-breaded tenders are a significant improvement over all the chicken ranked below this entry. They’re a bit over-battered, but the flavor is great, offering a mix of onion and garlic powder, and black pepper. The breading offers a nice audible crunch but can come across as a bit too dusty and flour-heavy if the tenders aren’t piping out.

Our advice is to eat these as soon as you order them, the longer they sit the drier they taste. While I think Carl’s Jr goes a little too hard on breading these tenders, that craggy surface serves as the perfect sponge for your favorite sauce.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Sweet Bold BBQ, it’s easily Carl Jr’s best sauce offering a slightly spicy flavor with some deep brown sugar sweetness.

The Bottom Line:

Not the best chicken tender you’ll ever have but significantly better than everything ranked lower on this list.

Find your nearest Carl’s Jr here.

10. Long John Silver’s — Chicken Tenders

Tenders
Long John Silvers

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

Light and crispy, Long John Silver’s chicken tenders don’t have the typical heavy batter associated with chicken strips. The breading is very crispy and airy as if it was breaded in corn or potato starch rather than flour. The chicken is a juicy cut of white meat chicken. Unfortunately, I feel like these taste a little fishy and funky.

That makes sense when you consider LJS probably fries this chicken in the same oil as its fish.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Louisiana Hot Sauce to distract from the fishy flavor.

The Bottom Line:

An interesting chicken tender that tastes a little bit too fishy for my liking.

Find your nearest Long John Silvers here.

9. Rally’s — Fry-Seasoned Tenders

Chicken Tender Ranking
Dane Rivera

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

It’s as advertised, these chicken tenders have that same garlic-forward pepper-heavy flavor that makes Rally’s fries a favorite amongst many. The zesty spice mix isn’t quite as strong here though, but that’s probably because the seasoning is encasing a juicy thick piece of white meat chicken rather than a thin julienned potato.

Be warned though, like the fries, these chicken tenders are incredibly greasy, so greasy that you shouldn’t be surprised to find a small puddle of grease in the packaging.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

BBQ is the winner here, but some people swear by Rally’s Honey Mustard. I prefer sweet smokiness over the sharp tang of honey mustard though, so I’m going BBQ all the way.

The Bottom Line:

If you love Rally’s fries it’s safe to assume you’re going to love these.

Find your nearest Rally’s here.

8. Rally’s — Buffalo Fry-Seasoned Tenders

Tenders
Rally

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

A marked improvement over the regular fry-seasoned tenders, the Buffalo version adds sweet and sour elements to the zesty breading with a spicy aftertaste that smolders on the palate. I can’t imagine ordering the non-buffalo version over these unless of course you just don’t like buffalo sauce.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

No sauce is necessary. If your goal is to approximate the experience of eating hot wings, go ahead and dip these in ranch.

The Bottom Line:

Significantly better than the plain Fry-Seasoned Tenders.

Find your nearest Rally’s here.

7. KFC — Extra Crispy Tenders

Chicken Tender Ranking
KFC

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

As the name would suggest, these chicken tenders are incredibly crunchy. While the breading is heavy, it has a sort of light airiness to it that makes each bite crispy. The flavor is a blend of earthy black pepper notes, a bit of salt, and a hint of garlic with a slightly sweet aftertaste.

It’s not quite as complex as KFC’s Original Recipe, but until they make OG recipe tenders, this is the best we’re going to get, and as it stands, it’s pretty damn good.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Dipping sauce? Come on, you’re at KFC, dip these babies in some mashed potatoes and gravy if you want a truly delicious experience.

The Bottom Line:

Great, not a top-tier tender but close and a major step above everything ranked lower.

Find your nearest KFC here.

6. Popeyes — Chicken Tenders

Tenders
Popeyes

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

Crispy and slightly buttery with a pronounced garlic and onion powder flavor. I’ll get more into what I don’t love about these chicken tenders when we talk about the spicy version, but for now, it’s all love! These tenders are wonderfully crispy — admittedly, Popeyes goes a little nuts during the buttermilk and breading process, resulting in a chicken tender that is sometimes more breading than meat, but it’s hard to complain when the flavor is this good.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Honey is the way to go, it emphasizes the buttery flavor with some nice floral sweetness.

The Bottom Line:

Take a look at the chicken behind the cash register, if the non-spicy tenders are piled high, they’re fresh, and that’s a green light to order them. But if the spicy pile is taller, that’s definitely the better move.

Find your nearest Popeyes here.

5. Jolilbee — Chicken Tenders

Chicken Tender Ranking
Dane Rivera

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

Unlike any other chicken tender in the fast food space, Jollibee approaches its seasoning blend differently. Instead of the usual mix of black pepper, garlic, and onion, this chicken tender has a slightly sour and sweet flavor with a nice bit of salt that keeps them addicting. The meat itself is juicy and tender, but not quite top-tier.

The breading is light, airy, and crispy, resulting in a louder crunch than the competition.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Jollibee’s gravy is the obvious choice here. It adds a savory flavor that compliments the buttery notes of the breading.

The Bottom Line:

If you haven’t been to Jollibee yet, let these delicious tenders be an excuse to go.

Find your nearest Jollibee here.

4. Popeyes — Spicy Tenders

Tenders
Dane Rivera

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

People are going to kill me for this one but, bring it on! Look, clearly, I love Popeyes Spicy chicken tenders, they’ve in the top five of fast food chicken tenders, but compared to the top three, the quality of the chicken here is noticeably lacking.

The breading is unbeatable, it’s crunchy and has a nice blend of garlic and onion notes, with some buttery elements and a nice kick of cayenne pepper on the backend. But the meat itself is… well, weird. It has this texture that flakes apart like fish and comes across as slightly processed.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

As with the non-spicy version we’re going to say honey!

The Bottom Line:

Popeyes bone-in chicken and fried chicken filet are of higher quality. The flavor delivers here, but the texture of the chicken leaves something to be desired.

Find your nearest Popeyes here.

3. Chick-fil-A — Chick-n-Strips

Tenders
Chick-fil-A

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

This year we put some of our favorite chicken tenders to the blind taste test and Chick-fil-A came very close to winning that competition. This tender is incredibly juicy and practically melts in the mouth before you even start chewing it. Sure the breading isn’t craggy and crunchy, but it’s full of rich and earthy black pepper notes, a hint of sweetness, and a floral aftertaste.

Unfortunately, as much as I like these chicken tenders, the nuggets are juicier, and the breast filet used for the sandwich is in another league entirely, making this Chick-fil-A’s worst chicken product.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Chick-fil-a sauce is the basic choice, so we say add a little sweet and sour complexity by dipping it into the Polynesian sauce.

The Bottom Line:

When you’ve eaten too much Chick-fil-A and you’re tired of bouncing between the nuggets and sandwich, give these a try — they won’t disappoint.

Find your nearest Chick-fil-A here.

2. Raising Cane’s — Chicken Tenders

Chicken Tender Ranking
Dane Rivera

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

Our original number one choice was knocked back to number two. So, what went wrong? Well, I can’t confirm this through any official channels, but I did speak to a Raising Cane’s manager recently who informed me that a few years ago the chain exclusively used chicken tenders, and now it uses a mix of tenders and breast filets cut into a chicken tender shape. That has led to a lot of inconsistency in both flavor and size.

Raising Cane’s uses never-frozen chicken that is marinated for a full 24 hours before being hand-battered and fried to a perfect golden brown. The chicken is flavorful and juicier than a lot of the competition, but the breading is a bit boring and bland, tasting like a simple mix of salt, garlic, and onion powder with a buttery aftertaste and the slightest hint of lemon.

You can elevate this flavor by peppering the tenders with pepper packets but seasoning always adheres better when it’s part of the breading process. It hurts to see our original number one choice knocked down a peg but it goes to show that once brands get lazy 9or cheap), it shows.

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Cane’s Sauce, but you don’t really have a choice. Luckily, this is some good sauce, it’s a classic come-back style (mayo, ketchup, Worcestershire, spices) that adds a savory umami quality to every bite.

The Bottom Line:

Delicious, but if you’re a Cane’s die-hard and you’ve noticed that these aren’t quite as good as you remember, you’re right.

Find your nearest Raising Cane’s here.

1. Dave’s Hot Chicken — Tender (Spice Level: Hot)

Dave's
Dane Rivera

Tasting Notes & Thoughts:

New restaurant Dave’s Hot Chicken is hands down one of the best Nashville-style hot chicken chains in the country. And before you get all crazy on me because this brand originated in Los Angeles, I hear you but also there isn’t another hot chicken chain that is as widespread as this brand — it’s taking over fast food as one of the fast-growing chains of 2023!

Eating there, it’s easy to see why. The menu is simple and focused, they sell chicken tenders, either by themselves or between bread, with some delicious carb-heavy sides that complement the spices. Dave’s Hot Chicken has seven different spice levels, I think the “Hot” is the best way to go.

As soon as you bite into this chicken tender your salivary glands kick into overdrive as they try to fight against the intense heat. After the initial kick, sweet notes start to take over are finish smokey, taking your tastebuds on a journey of flavors that is addicting and straight-up fun to experience. That’ll pull you back for another bite, even if your spice tolerance is low.

The chicken is also pretty substantial, a single tender is thicker and longer than a baby’s arm. Yes, I’m aware that that is a weird way to measure the size of a chicken tender but the description still stands!

Best Dipping Sauce Available:

Dave’s sauce, it’s your only option.

The Bottom Line:

All hail the new king! If you have a higher spice tolerance, consider going “extra hot,” for a more drool-inducing flavor.

Find your nearest Dave’s Hot Chicken here.

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