- I tried chicken tenders from Popeyes, Chick-fil-A, Whataburger, Raising Cane’s, KFC, Bojangles, Zaxby’s, Wingstop, and Cook Out.
- Chick-fil-A and KFC’s chicken tenders were similar in their breaded texture.
- Raising Cane’s impressed me with its crispy-yet-juicy tenders and delicious signature sauce.
Some fast-food chains have built their entire businesses on chicken tenders.
Todd Graves, for example, turned his idea for a chicken-finger restaurant into a billion-dollar business: Raising Cane’s. Graves is now the richest person in Louisiana, with an estimated net worth of $9.5 billion, and Cane’s is growing rapidly, with more than 800 restaurants in the US and internationally and billions in annual sales, Forbes reported.
But other chains aren’t sleeping on chicken tenders — the chicken tender battle is underway, and practically every chain wants in.
KFC revamped its original recipe in October, and this week, Wingstop released new chicken tenders that the chain said will be “lighter” and “crispier” than its previous tenders.
To see which chain might win the battle, I compared chicken tenders from nine fast-food chains from across the country.
Here’s how the tenders ranked, from worst to best, based on taste and value.
