Give Frozen Chicken Tenders 10x The Flavor With An Italian Twist

If you're anything like me, you get a craving for frozen chicken tenders every now and again. While they can be fantastic on their own, I like to add a little bit of a flavor kick to mine. One of the best ways to take frozen chicken tenders to the next level: toss them in a bit of garlic butter. The flavor is similar to what you get when you bite into a toasty, crunchy piece of garlic bread at your favorite Italian restaurant. It sounds super simple (and it is), but there's something about adding that extra flavor to the super-crunchy breading that makes an everyday meal feel like a treat.

Creating your own flavored butter is super-simple. To get started, melt your butter in a pan or pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds or so. Next, add some garlic (and some fresh herbs if you're feeling extra fancy); you can scoop your garlic out of a jar or use fresh garlic — whatever floats your boat. Heat up your favorite chicken tenders in the deep fryer or air fryer (we're partial to the Tyson panko-breaded chicken you can find in Costco's frozen section), toss them into a bowl with your melted garlic butter, give it a shake, and you're good to go. If you want to go the extra mile, you can serve garlic butter chicken tenders alongside an unexpected-yet-complementary dip, such as pesto ranch or black garlic mayonnaise.

There are a ton of ways you can enjoy garlic butter chicken tenders. Of course they're delicious on their own, or hit with a shake of parmesan, but you also have options if you'd like to build a more substantial meal. The garlic flavor works well with Caesar dressing, making your chicken tenders perfect for topping off a Caesar salad or wrap. They're also delicious with any kind of pasta; try slicing them up to top off a bowl of fettuccine Alfredo, or slicing them over pasta with red sauce and topping with a bit of mozzarella to create a quick-and-easy chicken parmesan.

One more thing: when you get to work making garlic butter to toss your chicken tenders in, feel free to go big and make more to use next time, or to toss on something else (compound butter is a great secret for adding more flavor to corn on the cob). Pop your garlic-infused butter into the fridge for up to a week, or freeze it in the fridge for up to six months. Whenever you want to add some flavor to a batch of chicken tenders, melt some of your saved-up butter, drizzle it over the breading, and enjoy every flavor-loaded bite.