Chicken fingers are one of those classic American foods. And honestly, what's not to like? It's chicken, breaded and fried until crispy, and you can dunk it in just about any sauce known to man and it'll taste good. Heck, the tender, a strip of white meat located right below the breast, even looks like it was designed to be fried and eaten with your hands. Chicken fingers are sold at just about every family-style restaurant (and are featured on just about every children's menu), and thankfully they're also sold frozen at every supermarket. We put 10 leading varieties of frozen chicken fingers from six different brands to the test, and came away with a clearwinner , one that no game day party will be complete without.
When it comes to frozen chicken fingers, there's plenty of variety. Some are whole pieces of chicken, breaded and fried, then frozen and sold in a hefty party-sized bag. Others are ground chicken, mixed with fillers like soy protein , shaped into small strips, then fried and boxed. Some are halal, some are gluten-free, some use whole-wheat breading. And some are definitely better than others.
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To conduct our taste test, we heated each of the brands' offerings in the oven according to the instructions on the packaging, but gave them a little more time than specified to make sure they reached the peak of crispiness. This averaged out to about 25 or so minutes at 425 degrees. We then sampled each variety, making sure to note flavor, smell, texture, size, seasoning, whether or not whole chicken strips were used, and overall enjoyment factor. We ate them straight, without any sauce. Some were runaway favorites; others were unanimous duds.
When standing in front of a wide selection of frozen chicken fingers, the options can be overwhelming. But we've done the hard work for you and tried just about all the varieties you'll encounter.
Dan Myers, The Daily Meal
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