What Are Chicken Tenders?

Late night eats are an essential part of the human diet, don’t let any nutritionist try and tell you otherwise. And chicken tenders are most definitely at the top of the heap. These tasty strips of chicken, deep fried and begging to be dipped in barbecue sauce, honey mustard, or, heck, even ketchup (when no one’s looking) are always there when we need them most. So, today it’s our great honor to give these wonderful friends of fries their due diligence, and discuss all things chicken tender! 

What are chicken tenders made of?

Chicken tenders are made of 100% beef…just kidding (although imagine if someone just stopped reading right there and went on believing that? We really wield a lot of power here, and we really ought to stop abusing it!). Chicken tenders are fried strips of chicken, made from chicken breast meat. 

What part of the chicken are chicken tenders?

As you might surmise, “tender” isn’t an official anatomical term. Chicken tender meat is procured from the pectoralis minor muscles of the chicken, located within the realm of the chicken breast. 

Where were chicken tenders invented?

While other restaurants claim to have invented the tender as well, it is most commonly believed that New Hampshire is the original birthplace of the dish. Specifically, chicken tenders are believed to have been invented in 1974 in The Puritan Backroom in Manchester, New Hampshire. 

According to Taste, though, there is a fairly credible argument that Mussari’s Sun Valley Motel and Restaurant in Hazleton, Pennsylvania was the birthplace of chicken tenders. Apparently, they put out an ad boasting their “French-fried chicken fingers” in 1966. Now, are chicken tenders and chicken fingers the same thing? That’s a question for a different article. 

Who invented chicken tenders?

If you believe that The Puritan Backroom was the birthplace of chicken tenders, then local New Hampshire cook Charlie Pappas (fantastic name) first created the chicken tender when he began marinating and frying pieces of chicken leftover from the primary cuts. The tenders were a huge hit. We and every five-year-old in the country thank Charlie for his work.