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This week on The 'Sader Digest, Brad tackles one of life’s most important—and somehow least questioned—foods: the chicken tender.

Crispy, dippable, and universally loved, chicken tenders feel like they’ve been around forever… but plot twist—they were actually invented in the 1970s at the Puritan Backroom. Yes, New Hampshire quietly gave the world one of its greatest culinary achievements, and no one talks about it nearly enough.

Brad breaks down what a chicken tender actually is (hint: it’s a specific muscle, not just “random chicken strip energy”), why it took modern food processing to even make them practical, and how something so simple became a nationwide obsession.

Along the way, he connects the dots between:

• Why chicken tenders are basically engineered comfort food
• How they took over kids menus, sports bars, and freezers everywhere
• And why they might actually just be a socially acceptable way to consume large amounts of sauce

There’s also a surprisingly passionate dive into dipping sauces (sweet & sour supremacy makes a strong case), the psychological safety of boneless food, and the hard truth that if you’re eating 10 tenders… you’re basically eating five chickens.

The episode wraps with a bigger idea: food doesn’t have to be ancient or fancy to be iconic. Sometimes it just has to be simple, consistent, and ridiculously satisfying.

Chicken tenders didn’t just show up—they quietly took over.

And honestly… no one is mad about it.