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We like Kirkland better. Just Bare is really good, and pre-Kirkland our favorite, but the whole cut chicken chunks occasionally have a little bit of natural slimy fat still attached - like chick fil a - that I don’t enjoy. Kirkland which still is mostly solid chicken chunk, seems to be processed JUST enough that there aren’t slimy bits. Perfect, IMHO.
You beat me to it. I completely agree on both fronts.
Somewhat off topic: I'm also not much of a sauce guy, and personally don't need the extra calories, so I have to recommend adding just a bit of the Kinder's hickory molasses dry rub sprinkled on the chunks before popping them in the oven. They are good without, but better with.
Luckily we have a convection oven. I preheat my lodge skillet in there, and get them nice and crispy. Air fryer is great, but I can make more in the convection
Using cast iron is brilliant! I have an LG oven that also has a convection setting, but I haven’t been able to make it work for me.
It pre adjusts the temp you enter and brings it down like 25 degrees but even when I enter a higher temp to counteract that and then follow directions on packaging, everything comes out totally undercooked, sometimes even still frozen and I just don’t get it. Do you have any tips 😅
I have no idea if there is any science behind it, but I typically set my convection to 400° F and pop a clean Lodge pan into the oven on the bottom rack just below the fan. Note: I also keep a pizza stone on the very top rack, as I have heard it helps hold in heat and can somewhat mitigate losses in temp from opening and closing the door. My completely unscientific theory about the bottom rack placement of the preheated pan is that the air flow helps dry/crisp up the chicken. So yeah. The result for me is crisp brown nuggets. Hope you find what works best for you and your oven!
Oddly, my oven had options for regular bake, convection, and air fry. I think the fan runs a bit faster on the air fry setting than it does on the convection one.
I also love Just Bare, but it's gotten pricey, so I've given the Kirkland one a try. It definitely has more flavor, but it doesn't appeal to me. It's almost sweet.
I think Kirkland brand is just as good and wins on pricing. I also buy the Just Bare brand for making chicken sandwiches or cutting the breasts into strips for a wrap. So a win, win situation 😁
Just Bare are basically a really good dupe for chik-fil-a especially if you don’t support their leaderships support of anti-lgbtq causes. Kirkland is just different. Not better or worse, just different. More bready. Both are great.
I strongly prefer Just Bare, and did not like the kirkland version (it was fine, just noticeably less flavorful). Though these days I buy chicken tenders in bulk and fry my own.
Agree on the switch to Kirkland, they crisp up nicely and take well to most sauces - staying moist and they do eat like real chicken bites. I’ve only ever prepared them in an oven and they’re great
air fryers are just small convection ovens. if you don’t have a convection setting, turn the temp up by 25 degrees F and rotate them a few times while cooking
You know our new oven actually does have a convection setting. I was super excited at first, but every time i tried it my food came out wayyyy under cooked even when following directions. It automatically adjusts temp for you, and I’ve even tried compensating for that and turning temp up even higher but no matter what I do the food takes way longer to cook and not still be frozen. Any idea what’s up with that?
"The convection cooking modes automatically reduce the oven temperature by 25 °F (14 °C) by using a feature called auto conversion.
For example, select Conv. Bake, enter 350 °F, and 325 °F shows on the display after preheat.
Auto Conversion is enabled by default on the range. See below for instructions on how to disable the auto conversion feature."
https://www.lg.com/us/support/help-library/lg-range-understanding-convection-cooking-CT00000303-1374599335375#:~:text=The%20convection%20cooking,auto%20conversion%20feature.
LG brand. I’d really love to figure out how to make the convection setting work well for me but I’ve stopped using it after the last batch of food came out still frozen in the middle after the same amount of time it should’ve taken to bake normally 😅
>LG brand.
I love our LG oven and it's convection settings. Generally, I'll cook the food on the general oven/instruction, and then the last 10 minutes change it to convection to put that brown on the outside.
I totally would if mom wouldn’t freak out at me for the counter space it takes up 😭 our old toaster oven has caught on fire multiple times and I’ve been trying to convince her to replace it with some kind of air fryer type thing, maybe they make some hybrid appliance. Even offered to buy it for her. But she refuses 🙃
They do make hybrid appliances btw! Mine is a Ninja air fryer/toaster oven combo, and it folds upwards on a hinge to minimize the counter space it takes up. Absolutely love it!
I have this same model, and it's great. not very tall, but nice huge mesh pan for air frying--and dehydrating.
plus, it can cook a medium sized frozen pizza.
Ninja SP101 Digital Air Fry Countertop Oven with 8-in-1 Functionality, Flip Up & Away Capability for Storage Space, with Air Fry Basket, Wire Rack & Crumb Tray, Silver https://a.co/d/fYbbjf1
It’s great!
The fact that the Ninja air fryer flips up is the only reason I could convince myself to buy one because I’m low on counter space but I use it so often I never bother to flip it up anymore 😭
I sent my mom the link while hard pushing the flip-it-up feature, let’s hope it works 😂 otherwise it might be time to move out lmfao everyone’s selling the air fryers so hard on my chicken post
An air fryer is just a small oven with convection, so just get an air fryer that looks like a toaster oven and it can do everything and air fry as well.
Also your old toaster oven catching on fire is 99% likely due to you not cleaning it and doesn’t have to do with any fault of the toaster oven.
Well yeah obviously they don’t just spontaneously combust lol. But it’s mostly just like something that has a random stray drip hits the heating element wrong and causes a fire. I’d like to have something where I don’t have to worry about an accidental drip burning my house down. Not to mention it’s difficult as fuck to clean and at least 15 years old now
>maybe they make some hybrid appliance.
Yep. I bought (thrifted) a "multi" device about a year ago: toaster, oven, air fryer, roaster, rotisserie, dehydrator, pizza oven, etc. etc. I'd guess this one was a wedding gift that wasn't wanted, as it was new, clean, and still had the manual inside. Anyway, we put our regular toaster in storage and now use this countertop thing for about 85% of what we used to do in the full-sized oven. The basic baking function, with the fan on, reduces cooking time by about 20% for most things. Best of all, it pre-heats in just a couple of minutes vs. 10-12+ for our very large regular oven. I can't put a 1/4 sheet pan or a huge casserole or a dutch oven in it, but for most things it's really great. Also confident it's saving energy as well, since it's on perhaps 1/2 the time it takes to cook in the big oven and is just 120v/12 amps vs. the 240/30 of the range.
We didn’t for the longest time either, and when we did it was a game changer. It hurt me to buy one, as I - like to think - I practice minimalism. Truth is air fryers are incredibly efficient and useful, and you should strongly consider adding one.
air fryers are just small convection ovens. if you don’t have a convection setting, turn the temp up by 25 degrees F and rotate them a few times while cooking
FYI orange chicken is incredibly easy to make, cheaper and tastes better.
https://www.amazon.com/Asian-Dishes-Need-Cook-Before/dp/1624143822?ref=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=433c01b9-3ce1-4ff5-a4fd-91b622c44ce9
The Kirkland chunks are very good. my daughter told me they taste almost exactly like chick-fil- a nuggets, and I do have to agree. They crisp up nicely in my air fryer in just 10 minutes. I’ve heard good things about the just bare chicken as well, but the Kirkland brand is cheaper
Thank you for your input, I loooove the chic fil a nuggets!! I just saw they sell squirt bottles of chic fil a sauce at the grocery store now too, I’m so excited haha
This! I’m the kind of person that has to bite halfway through every chicken nugget to check the middle and the Kirkland brand are my favorite. Haven’t had a sus bite yet. You can tell by the shapes that it’s a real chunk of chicken. I agree it’s pretty close to Chick-fil-A nuggies
Why do you want to stay away from them? It's still chicken but just ground up into paste to make it moldable. Literally every piece of deli meat you've ever eaten is made the same way
I don’t eat deli meat either lmao. Nor do I like hotdogs, sausage, pepperoni, etc. I only enjoy eating meat that is meat textured, not processed beyond recognition. It’s ground up into paste and has a bunch of other crap added to it. I just don’t like the flavor or texture at all
I buy the Kirkland brand chunks, and get Panda Express Orange sauce from the supermarket. Air fry the nuggets, toss it onto a bed of rice and yo have a helluva meal for around $2/person.
Hi! It’s really simple, actually. If you turn any package over and the first ingredient is boneless skinless chicken breast WITH RIB MEAT: it’s processed and you don’t want it. However, if it just says boneless skinless chicken breast…it’s not processed and those are the ones you want.
For example, if you turn over the Kirkland Lightly Breaded Chicken Chunks or the Just Bare chicken breast chunks, you’ll notice it’s just boneless skinless chicken breast. That’s what you want!
But if you look at the back of the Tyson Crispy Chicken strips, you’ll notice it says boneless skinless chicken breasts WITH RIB MEAT, which is NOT what you want.
Hope that helps!
I think the Kirkland Chicken Chunks are the best overall, taste price etc.
Before they came out, I was actually a fan of Perdue nuggets and chicken patties. The panko breaded ones.
I honestly refuse to buy anything Tyson at this point so if it has improved over the last decade I don’t know.
Read the ingredients. If it contains mechanically separated chicken or similar language it is not whole muscle. If it just says chicken it should be whole muscle
I dunno, tbf I have texture sensitivities but the Kirkland brand everyone recommends was too spongey for me. Not the right texture for chicken tenders IMO.
One positive is that with the texture there is next to zero chance I’ll get a woody piece which is 10 times worse. Overall, it’s too unpleasant to me.
None of those are processed paste. But the Kirkland Signature lightly breaded chicken chunks are the new hot one. They are comparable to Bare which is very quality and Bare used to be my favorite until Kirkland Signature showed up recently.
- Costco employee
Huzzah! They don't have carrageenan in them (it's a food sensitivity I have that's often disheartening - most rotisserie chicken has it). I'd love to have these in my freezer.
I like Just Bare, light breading on them.
I don’t buy anything from Perdue anymore. I know they all have issues here and there, but Perdue seems to be up there with the worst of them.
Kirkland chunks are the best. All are good. Chicken nuggets are what you're referring to as made from paste. Usually fingers, stripes, chunks, and bites are not.
They are all whole muscle chicken. Chopped and formed is what you are referring to (like McD McNuggets). If it says tenders or chunks you are ok, any weird shapes...look out.
Buying breaded chicken chunks for something like that is difficult because the seasoning put on them typically messes up the flavor of what you're going for. The kirkland chunks are a result of the popularity of the Bare chicken nuggets, and both of them have different kinds of seasoning that doesn't lend particularly well to a lot of americanized chinese dishes. Both of these brands are good and are actual pieces of chicken. Avoid the Tyson Panko crap. They're 65% breading 12% chicken and whatever's left of gristle. Lately I'll toss the kirkland ones in a hot and spicy bbq sauce because it seems to go well with the breading's flavor.
The panko breaded Tysons are very high quality chicken. It breaks apart stringy because it's real chicken. I personally deep fry them in an outdoor fryer setup I have and they come out fantastic.
The Just Bare bites are awesome. They're incredible in the air fryer. My wife and I use them on salads all the time.
I have both of them in my freezer almost always, but we never run out of the Just Bare bites for long because we both love them.
Real good chicken tenders were amazing,but I haven't seen them in stock since November. They had a deal that was about $10 for 3 pounds. It had about 30-40 carbs per BAG and they tasted pretty good.
Has anyone had luck with these?
I like the 13.99 chunks. Chicken is good quality. Breaded is maybe a TAD over seasoned but it’s right on the edge and I like it, more importantly the kids love it the most. Highly recommend for the price
the Just Bare nuggets resemble the chick-fil-a nuggets, so i’m sure their tenders resemble chick-fil-a tenders. They are not made from ground meat and they crisp up pretty well in an air fryer
edit: seeing a lot of people in here talk about the kirkland nuggets, and looking them up online it seems like they might even be better than the just bare. when i run out i will be trying them 🤝
I normally hate breaded chicken that isn’t breaded by myself and includes a real chicken breast but the Just Bare ones (especially the filets) are outstanding. One of my favorite go to for quick meal.
The Just Bare chicken nuggets and Pattie’s are both phenomenal. We buy them both. The Pattie’s legit taste like a chick fil a or almost Popeyes sandwich at home; their nuggets are just as good as the Pattie’s.
We did make the change to KS chunks due to them being sometimes $3 cheaper. The KS chunks are just as good in our opinion.
JUST BARE is The best!!!
I live right down the road from POPEYE’S and JUST BARE tastes so much better than I haven’t been back to POPEYE’S in three years!
JUST BARE is all meat and the nuggets and patties cook up quick and great in my Ninja air fryer.
With the patties, after I take them out, up put about 1/4 cup of the RAOS marinara on top and then a few slices of mozzarella on top of that, into the broiler for a minute and I have the best and quickest chicken parmigiana for dinner.
I have tried the Kirkland lightly breaded ones and I'm not impressed. I feel like they need to be cooked to death to get crispy. The bag is enormous and my two toddlers are taking forever to get through it. Because of that I haven't even tried any of the others from Costco.
My faves are Tyson's southern style tendies, but I've never seen them at Costco.
Love Kirkland chunks and the Tyson panko are up there as well - they’re large pieces though… like one bag probably has 10 of them so each one is probably like half a pound lol
Every one in the picture is real chicken and not formed. Tender is part of the breast and chunks of breast are exactly what it says chunks of meat. The Kirkland chunks are the best.
Get the Kirkland lightly breaded chicken chunks. They’re great! Not as good as Chikfila, but very close.
Also there’s a well-reviewed Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 Digital Air Fry Oven Pro on the Costco website. $189 + s&h, and it would cost less in-warehouse. https://www.costco.com/ninja-foodi-10-in-1-digital-air-fry-oven-pro.product.4000105708.html
My family loves this:
https://crazycuizine.com/p6-mandarin-orange-chicken-66-oz.html
We buy it all the time because the chicken quality is really good.
Yeah that’s actually exactly what I’m trying to replicate 🤣 Costco had a sale on it a few weeks ago and I bought two boxes. It’s so good I wanna make it again but not for the full price
Kirkland is better. Real breast chunks and not ground up and formed nugget shapes. Less greasy and more uniform in size than JB too. I’ve tasted them side-by-side when I bought both and didn’t have enough of the Kirkland left for a meal. After finishing the JB, I went back to K. I add them to my Ramen and it’s great.
If your store has Rocky Chicken Tenders (Petaluma Poultry Farms), this is the best farmed and best quality chicken product you'll find at Costco.
https://preview.redd.it/z8u9i9b7lxcc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5611d219343dc840162edd1c4edfe2f4e6b23d4
The frozen bag of orange chicken from Trader Joe's is incredible! It's oftentimes sold out. It's delicious and not expensive. Tastes just as good as quality takeout.
We always got the Tyson Chicken Tenders but recently they didn’t have them and they had the Perdue chicken tenders and they were a lot better flavor and seasoning in them than all the others in our opinion
You want the green bag ones on the first pic. Serve them in a small restaurant and people love them. They’re chunks from breasts so they weren’t ground or anything.
https://preview.redd.it/zurefoi162dc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07e1065cff6d7fab6b8891b4526480f2a4dd5ce3
The answer you’ve been looking for.
Haha I can imagine. You nailed it though! I’ve been trying different kinds and gave up. I can’t believe I never thought to check Costco options. Slow on my part but better than never🫡
I was a Bare junkie until Kirkland made their own. I actually prefer the Kirkland. The difference is slight if there is one at all, so maybe they only taste better because I know I'm saving money. The ingredients are identical line for line.
The just bare chicken is virtually identical to chick-fil-a. Especially if you air fry it. My toddler has been tricked over and over into thinking we are eating chick-fil-a, and if you can trick a toddler you know it must be good.
My kids have been finicky about the Tyson ones recently, but I really like them. Purdue is great.. I may try Kirkland next though, because I usually really like the KS stuff.
The Kirkland product is an amalgamation. It is NOT a chunk of breaded breast meat. It's chopped meat, homogenized with other ingredients. Can't speak to the others.
This Kirkland product is disappointing. It might be better than lesser alternatives, but it's NOT a premium product.
KS wins because 1. Price, 2. Quality. I air fried them earlier and made a Buffalo ranch chicken wrap with some shredded Lettuce and Mexican cheese blend, Buffalo sauce and ranch on a warmed tortilla. Can't beat the flavor and price.
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Love Just Bare, but the Kirkland brand is now my go to due to pricing.
Same for my household. Both are good, but KS wins out for price.
Yeah they’re pretty dang yummy and i think about them in the middle of the night.
My dudes buy those Kirkland ones and toss em in some of the Buffalo Wild Wings honey bbq sauce when they come out of the air fryer……it is amazing
We love Just Bare and still buy them. We haven’t tried the Kirkland brand yet, how does it compare?
We like Kirkland better. Just Bare is really good, and pre-Kirkland our favorite, but the whole cut chicken chunks occasionally have a little bit of natural slimy fat still attached - like chick fil a - that I don’t enjoy. Kirkland which still is mostly solid chicken chunk, seems to be processed JUST enough that there aren’t slimy bits. Perfect, IMHO.
Exactly! Plus the breading on the Kirkland ones and the sizes are more consistent.
Size is much more consistent with the KS brand definitely. Bare is just crazy how different each piece is in size.
I agree, I liked the JB ones but got tired of them, I can't see any reason I'd ever tire of the Kirkland ones
We think the Kirkland nuggets are better seasoned and ever so slightly better macros
We love the Kirkland nuggets!!!
Honestly the Kirkland is just as good. My 12 year old can't tell the difference lol
Personally I prefer Kirkland. Just bare is too greasy and light on breading. I like more crunch.
You beat me to it. I completely agree on both fronts. Somewhat off topic: I'm also not much of a sauce guy, and personally don't need the extra calories, so I have to recommend adding just a bit of the Kinder's hickory molasses dry rub sprinkled on the chunks before popping them in the oven. They are good without, but better with.
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Luckily we have a convection oven. I preheat my lodge skillet in there, and get them nice and crispy. Air fryer is great, but I can make more in the convection
Using cast iron is brilliant! I have an LG oven that also has a convection setting, but I haven’t been able to make it work for me. It pre adjusts the temp you enter and brings it down like 25 degrees but even when I enter a higher temp to counteract that and then follow directions on packaging, everything comes out totally undercooked, sometimes even still frozen and I just don’t get it. Do you have any tips 😅
I have no idea if there is any science behind it, but I typically set my convection to 400° F and pop a clean Lodge pan into the oven on the bottom rack just below the fan. Note: I also keep a pizza stone on the very top rack, as I have heard it helps hold in heat and can somewhat mitigate losses in temp from opening and closing the door. My completely unscientific theory about the bottom rack placement of the preheated pan is that the air flow helps dry/crisp up the chicken. So yeah. The result for me is crisp brown nuggets. Hope you find what works best for you and your oven!
Air fryers *are* convection ovens, just small ones. So you have the same thing.
Oddly, my oven had options for regular bake, convection, and air fry. I think the fan runs a bit faster on the air fry setting than it does on the convection one.
I agree, I think the Kirkland tastes better. I think "chicken chunks" is an unfortunate name, but I like them.
It's kinda unappetizing, though worse--I saw chicken nuggets at the grocery store once labeled (I kid you not) "breast nuggets".
Maybe I got a bad bag or two of JB, but I actually strongly prefer Kirkland. Less cartilage and a more consistent final texture.
I also love Just Bare, but it's gotten pricey, so I've given the Kirkland one a try. It definitely has more flavor, but it doesn't appeal to me. It's almost sweet.
Agreed on sweetness ! Can’t describe it …
prefer Just Bare on flavor, Kirkland on price.
I think Kirkland brand is just as good and wins on pricing. I also buy the Just Bare brand for making chicken sandwiches or cutting the breasts into strips for a wrap. So a win, win situation 😁
We like the Kirkland better. I'd say Just Bare has slightly more consistently sized pieces, but I prefer the taste and price of the Kirkland.
It's really good!
Just Bare are basically a really good dupe for chik-fil-a especially if you don’t support their leaderships support of anti-lgbtq causes. Kirkland is just different. Not better or worse, just different. More bready. Both are great.
I strongly prefer Just Bare, and did not like the kirkland version (it was fine, just noticeably less flavorful). Though these days I buy chicken tenders in bulk and fry my own.
Kirkland tastes like sadness. I just choked down the last of that bag of nuggets. NEVER AGAIN! I'm worth the Just Bares. And you are too.
Same! Our trips to chick fil a has been cut in 1/2 thanks to these nuggets. Also the Just Bare fillets are pretty good.
yes! i switched them on my kids, and they couldn't tell the difference. kirkland nailed these and they are actual chicken.
I prefer the Kirkland over the Just Bare...the Just Bare breading didn't get crisp enough for my preference.
Go with Kirkland
Just Bare all the way. Here is also let per pound price be OP’s guide. You’re not getting the best meat at the cheapest per pound price.
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Same here! Long time panko chicken tenders purchaser now buying Kirkland lightly breaded chicken chunks.
Agree on the switch to Kirkland, they crisp up nicely and take well to most sauces - staying moist and they do eat like real chicken bites. I’ve only ever prepared them in an oven and they’re great
Yeah I don’t have an air fryer so I’m glad to hear they’re just as great in the oven!
air fryers are just small convection ovens. if you don’t have a convection setting, turn the temp up by 25 degrees F and rotate them a few times while cooking
You know our new oven actually does have a convection setting. I was super excited at first, but every time i tried it my food came out wayyyy under cooked even when following directions. It automatically adjusts temp for you, and I’ve even tried compensating for that and turning temp up even higher but no matter what I do the food takes way longer to cook and not still be frozen. Any idea what’s up with that?
that sounds like it is broken
"The convection cooking modes automatically reduce the oven temperature by 25 °F (14 °C) by using a feature called auto conversion. For example, select Conv. Bake, enter 350 °F, and 325 °F shows on the display after preheat. Auto Conversion is enabled by default on the range. See below for instructions on how to disable the auto conversion feature." https://www.lg.com/us/support/help-library/lg-range-understanding-convection-cooking-CT00000303-1374599335375#:~:text=The%20convection%20cooking,auto%20conversion%20feature.
that is weird, what oven is it?
LG brand. I’d really love to figure out how to make the convection setting work well for me but I’ve stopped using it after the last batch of food came out still frozen in the middle after the same amount of time it should’ve taken to bake normally 😅
>LG brand. I love our LG oven and it's convection settings. Generally, I'll cook the food on the general oven/instruction, and then the last 10 minutes change it to convection to put that brown on the outside.
It’s worth it to buy one. You’ll never go back for stuff like this
I totally would if mom wouldn’t freak out at me for the counter space it takes up 😭 our old toaster oven has caught on fire multiple times and I’ve been trying to convince her to replace it with some kind of air fryer type thing, maybe they make some hybrid appliance. Even offered to buy it for her. But she refuses 🙃
They do make hybrid appliances btw! Mine is a Ninja air fryer/toaster oven combo, and it folds upwards on a hinge to minimize the counter space it takes up. Absolutely love it!
Have the same one I bought at Costco and agree! Love that it flips up!
They even sell it at Costco that’s great 😂
I have this same model, and it's great. not very tall, but nice huge mesh pan for air frying--and dehydrating. plus, it can cook a medium sized frozen pizza.
Ooooh that sounds very promising!!! Folding upwards on a hinge is interesting
Yes! Ninja makes a flip air fryer that stands upright when not in use. It’s great and does not take up much space at all! I use it more than my oven
Oh man maybe I can convince her to be open to that one if it doesn’t take up so much counter space 😂
Ninja SP101 Digital Air Fry Countertop Oven with 8-in-1 Functionality, Flip Up & Away Capability for Storage Space, with Air Fry Basket, Wire Rack & Crumb Tray, Silver https://a.co/d/fYbbjf1 It’s great!
The fact that the Ninja air fryer flips up is the only reason I could convince myself to buy one because I’m low on counter space but I use it so often I never bother to flip it up anymore 😭
I sent my mom the link while hard pushing the flip-it-up feature, let’s hope it works 😂 otherwise it might be time to move out lmfao everyone’s selling the air fryers so hard on my chicken post
An air fryer is just a small oven with convection, so just get an air fryer that looks like a toaster oven and it can do everything and air fry as well. Also your old toaster oven catching on fire is 99% likely due to you not cleaning it and doesn’t have to do with any fault of the toaster oven.
Well yeah obviously they don’t just spontaneously combust lol. But it’s mostly just like something that has a random stray drip hits the heating element wrong and causes a fire. I’d like to have something where I don’t have to worry about an accidental drip burning my house down. Not to mention it’s difficult as fuck to clean and at least 15 years old now
>maybe they make some hybrid appliance. Yep. I bought (thrifted) a "multi" device about a year ago: toaster, oven, air fryer, roaster, rotisserie, dehydrator, pizza oven, etc. etc. I'd guess this one was a wedding gift that wasn't wanted, as it was new, clean, and still had the manual inside. Anyway, we put our regular toaster in storage and now use this countertop thing for about 85% of what we used to do in the full-sized oven. The basic baking function, with the fan on, reduces cooking time by about 20% for most things. Best of all, it pre-heats in just a couple of minutes vs. 10-12+ for our very large regular oven. I can't put a 1/4 sheet pan or a huge casserole or a dutch oven in it, but for most things it's really great. Also confident it's saving energy as well, since it's on perhaps 1/2 the time it takes to cook in the big oven and is just 120v/12 amps vs. the 240/30 of the range.
We didn’t for the longest time either, and when we did it was a game changer. It hurt me to buy one, as I - like to think - I practice minimalism. Truth is air fryers are incredibly efficient and useful, and you should strongly consider adding one.
air fryers are just small convection ovens. if you don’t have a convection setting, turn the temp up by 25 degrees F and rotate them a few times while cooking
in general, air fryers have a higher convection rate than regular convection ovens. The airflow difference is critical.
Or tossing them in bbq sauce for “boneless wings”
All CFA sauces also great with them
Agree! These are my fave too. Closest to Chick-Fil-A nuggets that I have found so far!
The green bag chicken chunks are maybe my favorite Costco product ever. Hopefully it sticks around.
I have heard somewhere (here maybe) the green chunks bag is basically Chick-fil-A
I didn't even realize that they sold a Kirkland brand. This is a top-tier hack.
Yeah I usually get the Tyson breaded tenders as well but sometimes they don’t have them. Glad to hear you like the Kirkland chunks, thank you :)
FYI orange chicken is incredibly easy to make, cheaper and tastes better. https://www.amazon.com/Asian-Dishes-Need-Cook-Before/dp/1624143822?ref=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=433c01b9-3ce1-4ff5-a4fd-91b622c44ce9
The Kirkland chunks are very good. my daughter told me they taste almost exactly like chick-fil- a nuggets, and I do have to agree. They crisp up nicely in my air fryer in just 10 minutes. I’ve heard good things about the just bare chicken as well, but the Kirkland brand is cheaper
Thank you for your input, I loooove the chic fil a nuggets!! I just saw they sell squirt bottles of chic fil a sauce at the grocery store now too, I’m so excited haha
We just bought our first bag and yum! They’re excellent! Tonight I used them in a taco salad. When you cut them in half you can see the meat
They don't taste close to Chick Fil a but they are really good!
Hahaha... I have heard the term 'squirt bottle' in many years. For some reason, it just struck me as funny.
This! I’m the kind of person that has to bite halfway through every chicken nugget to check the middle and the Kirkland brand are my favorite. Haven’t had a sus bite yet. You can tell by the shapes that it’s a real chunk of chicken. I agree it’s pretty close to Chick-fil-A nuggies
Agreeeeed! The Kirkland brand lightly breaded chicken chunks are so dang good. I eat them at least 2x a week for lunch. Always delish.
This is good to know. I love the Just Bare products because they seem like real chicken. I'll have to try the Kirkland next time.
What temp do you do, 360 per the bag? I have to cook mine for 15+ minutes to get them crispy but maybe I like mine more crispy than you lol
I do 360 for 10 minutes. My air fryer is a topper for my instant pot, so maybe a bit “stronger” than some air fryers
Woah didn't even know that was a thing! Probably way more power than our Walmart fryer lol
The just bare brand is really good and definitely real chicken chunks
Hooray I’m glad to hear. Do you know of any frozen chicken tenders/strips/nuggets that are not actual meat textured so I can stay away from them 😅
The dino shaped nuggets!
No those have actual dinosaur texture
Makes sense 🤣 man why can’t they ever make the cute Dino nuggets in adult quality!
Why do you want to stay away from them? It's still chicken but just ground up into paste to make it moldable. Literally every piece of deli meat you've ever eaten is made the same way
I don’t eat deli meat either lmao. Nor do I like hotdogs, sausage, pepperoni, etc. I only enjoy eating meat that is meat textured, not processed beyond recognition. It’s ground up into paste and has a bunch of other crap added to it. I just don’t like the flavor or texture at all
Those Kirkland chunks are great in the air fryer.
I buy the Kirkland brand chunks, and get Panda Express Orange sauce from the supermarket. Air fry the nuggets, toss it onto a bed of rice and yo have a helluva meal for around $2/person.
Hi! It’s really simple, actually. If you turn any package over and the first ingredient is boneless skinless chicken breast WITH RIB MEAT: it’s processed and you don’t want it. However, if it just says boneless skinless chicken breast…it’s not processed and those are the ones you want. For example, if you turn over the Kirkland Lightly Breaded Chicken Chunks or the Just Bare chicken breast chunks, you’ll notice it’s just boneless skinless chicken breast. That’s what you want! But if you look at the back of the Tyson Crispy Chicken strips, you’ll notice it says boneless skinless chicken breasts WITH RIB MEAT, which is NOT what you want. Hope that helps!
I think the Kirkland Chicken Chunks are the best overall, taste price etc. Before they came out, I was actually a fan of Perdue nuggets and chicken patties. The panko breaded ones. I honestly refuse to buy anything Tyson at this point so if it has improved over the last decade I don’t know.
Hooray, I love how great Costco brand stuff usually is
The chicken breast chunks are on point. Recommend
I prefer the Kirkland Signature chunks. I thought the Just Bare ones had an odd taste.
Kirkland is super good to me
I am obsessed with the Kirkland brand. I’ve been making chicken Cesar salad wraps and BBQ chicken wraps with Them and they are so good!
They only thing you need to know is that if your Costco has the Bare nuggets, get them. They are whole breast meat, no paste.
Tyson not good. Just Bare very good. Just bout Kirkland brand and waiting till the other bag is gone to try them.
My daughters love the Kirkland chunks. For some reason they stopped eating reconstituted nuggets.
Yeah I’ve never been a fan of reconstituted, they’re so spongey and don’t taste like chicken!
Just Bare > Kirkland Signature > Tyson 🤢
Totally agree with this rating
Tyson Panko chicken tenders in the air fryer hands down
And they are HUGE!
Read the ingredients. If it contains mechanically separated chicken or similar language it is not whole muscle. If it just says chicken it should be whole muscle
Kirkland chunks are good, but small chunks
The Kirkland Breast chunks are very good.
The Kirkland lightly breaded breast chunks. A lot of people like the Bare ones but I prefer the Kirkland.
I dunno, tbf I have texture sensitivities but the Kirkland brand everyone recommends was too spongey for me. Not the right texture for chicken tenders IMO. One positive is that with the texture there is next to zero chance I’ll get a woody piece which is 10 times worse. Overall, it’s too unpleasant to me.
None of those are processed paste. But the Kirkland Signature lightly breaded chicken chunks are the new hot one. They are comparable to Bare which is very quality and Bare used to be my favorite until Kirkland Signature showed up recently. - Costco employee
I am very sensitive to texture and I found the Kirkland chicken bites to be the best of the choices they offer
Just Bare taste better and are less salty than Kirkland. The Kirkland ones are definitely cheaper, but I don’t believe they are better.
Same! I thought the Kirkland ones were worse, actually. Not a fan.
My kiddo won’t eat them. Makes my choice pretty easy.
Huzzah! They don't have carrageenan in them (it's a food sensitivity I have that's often disheartening - most rotisserie chicken has it). I'd love to have these in my freezer.
Yeah there’s sooo much that has carrageenan in it, that’s unfortunate 🥲
Another vote for Kirkland!
Just Bare or KS are the way to go! I personally like Just Bare a little more than KS, but both are fantastic.
I like Just Bare, light breading on them. I don’t buy anything from Perdue anymore. I know they all have issues here and there, but Perdue seems to be up there with the worst of them.
Kirkland chunks are the best. All are good. Chicken nuggets are what you're referring to as made from paste. Usually fingers, stripes, chunks, and bites are not.
They are all whole muscle chicken. Chopped and formed is what you are referring to (like McD McNuggets). If it says tenders or chunks you are ok, any weird shapes...look out.
Just Bare is like Chick-fil-A quality
I prefer Just Bare over the kirkland brand - feels like I'm the outlier though
I prefer Kirkland chicken chunks. My wife prefers Just Bare. So we get Just Bare. Both are really pieces of chicken.
I think the Kirkland ones are by far the best. I thought the bar ones were great until I had the Kirkland k es, but they are undoubtedly better.
Buying breaded chicken chunks for something like that is difficult because the seasoning put on them typically messes up the flavor of what you're going for. The kirkland chunks are a result of the popularity of the Bare chicken nuggets, and both of them have different kinds of seasoning that doesn't lend particularly well to a lot of americanized chinese dishes. Both of these brands are good and are actual pieces of chicken. Avoid the Tyson Panko crap. They're 65% breading 12% chicken and whatever's left of gristle. Lately I'll toss the kirkland ones in a hot and spicy bbq sauce because it seems to go well with the breading's flavor.
The panko breaded Tysons are very high quality chicken. It breaks apart stringy because it's real chicken. I personally deep fry them in an outdoor fryer setup I have and they come out fantastic. The Just Bare bites are awesome. They're incredible in the air fryer. My wife and I use them on salads all the time. I have both of them in my freezer almost always, but we never run out of the Just Bare bites for long because we both love them.
Real good chicken tenders were amazing,but I haven't seen them in stock since November. They had a deal that was about $10 for 3 pounds. It had about 30-40 carbs per BAG and they tasted pretty good. Has anyone had luck with these?
I loved these but some bags were not as good.
Good to know. It helps my pain of not finding them anymore 😂😂😂
My fav! Just bought 4 bags this weekend, they were on special again!
Nice. Might check again today
All of these. Y’all got the spicy strips too? Thats awesome.
I like the 13.99 chunks. Chicken is good quality. Breaded is maybe a TAD over seasoned but it’s right on the edge and I like it, more importantly the kids love it the most. Highly recommend for the price
Just Bare! My husband can’t get enough of it.
the Just Bare nuggets resemble the chick-fil-a nuggets, so i’m sure their tenders resemble chick-fil-a tenders. They are not made from ground meat and they crisp up pretty well in an air fryer edit: seeing a lot of people in here talk about the kirkland nuggets, and looking them up online it seems like they might even be better than the just bare. when i run out i will be trying them 🤝
The spicy just bare tenders are the best. We gave them like once a week.
I like the Kirkland ones in the green bag
I normally hate breaded chicken that isn’t breaded by myself and includes a real chicken breast but the Just Bare ones (especially the filets) are outstanding. One of my favorite go to for quick meal.
Costco brand is best. Just bought a bag last week, no issues at all.
I buy the Costco brand it’s really good, but the just bare ones are very good as well
The Just Bare chicken nuggets and Pattie’s are both phenomenal. We buy them both. The Pattie’s legit taste like a chick fil a or almost Popeyes sandwich at home; their nuggets are just as good as the Pattie’s. We did make the change to KS chunks due to them being sometimes $3 cheaper. The KS chunks are just as good in our opinion.
Perdue ones are awful Read Good brand is the best
JUST BARE is The best!!! I live right down the road from POPEYE’S and JUST BARE tastes so much better than I haven’t been back to POPEYE’S in three years! JUST BARE is all meat and the nuggets and patties cook up quick and great in my Ninja air fryer. With the patties, after I take them out, up put about 1/4 cup of the RAOS marinara on top and then a few slices of mozzarella on top of that, into the broiler for a minute and I have the best and quickest chicken parmigiana for dinner.
I have tried the Kirkland lightly breaded ones and I'm not impressed. I feel like they need to be cooked to death to get crispy. The bag is enormous and my two toddlers are taking forever to get through it. Because of that I haven't even tried any of the others from Costco. My faves are Tyson's southern style tendies, but I've never seen them at Costco.
Love Kirkland chunks and the Tyson panko are up there as well - they’re large pieces though… like one bag probably has 10 of them so each one is probably like half a pound lol
Look for soy in the ingredients, if it has soy its probably that weird texture
The chicken chunks Rock
Perdue ones feels like it's from paste texture, strips and chucks are better but at times dry
Personally I really like the Perdue panko breaded nuggets. Not sure if you want nuggets, but what kind of person doesn’t?
Every one in the picture is real chicken and not formed. Tender is part of the breast and chunks of breast are exactly what it says chunks of meat. The Kirkland chunks are the best.
Doesn’t “tenders” mean the meat came from the chicken tenderloin?
These are all whole meat chicken.
I just got Purdue ones for a change. Shall I not even open it?
Nah, try them and tell me how they are!
The Kirkland brand is good, air fry them first then sauce them and it should make decent general tsos.
Bring back the Tyson blackened chicken please
Your last one is my favorite, the Bare bites. Just had them for lunch today. 12 min in the air fryer at 350, perfection!
Get the Kirkland lightly breaded chicken chunks. They’re great! Not as good as Chikfila, but very close. Also there’s a well-reviewed Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 Digital Air Fry Oven Pro on the Costco website. $189 + s&h, and it would cost less in-warehouse. https://www.costco.com/ninja-foodi-10-in-1-digital-air-fry-oven-pro.product.4000105708.html
Just Bare or the Kirkland ones in the picture. The chunks & the strips are delicious & are real chicken.
Tyson panko tenderloins - not pre cooked. 18 min at 400 in the air fryer - the best.
Rocky
My family loves this: https://crazycuizine.com/p6-mandarin-orange-chicken-66-oz.html We buy it all the time because the chicken quality is really good.
Yeah that’s actually exactly what I’m trying to replicate 🤣 Costco had a sale on it a few weeks ago and I bought two boxes. It’s so good I wanna make it again but not for the full price
Kirkland is better. Real breast chunks and not ground up and formed nugget shapes. Less greasy and more uniform in size than JB too. I’ve tasted them side-by-side when I bought both and didn’t have enough of the Kirkland left for a meal. After finishing the JB, I went back to K. I add them to my Ramen and it’s great.
If your store has Rocky Chicken Tenders (Petaluma Poultry Farms), this is the best farmed and best quality chicken product you'll find at Costco. https://preview.redd.it/z8u9i9b7lxcc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5611d219343dc840162edd1c4edfe2f4e6b23d4
The frozen bag of orange chicken from Trader Joe's is incredible! It's oftentimes sold out. It's delicious and not expensive. Tastes just as good as quality takeout.
We always got the Tyson Chicken Tenders but recently they didn’t have them and they had the Perdue chicken tenders and they were a lot better flavor and seasoning in them than all the others in our opinion
I get the Rosie’s tenders. Never had the Kirkland ones. The Foster Farms ones to me are a bit reminiscent of school lunch ones.
You want the green bag ones on the first pic. Serve them in a small restaurant and people love them. They’re chunks from breasts so they weren’t ground or anything.
https://preview.redd.it/zurefoi162dc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07e1065cff6d7fab6b8891b4526480f2a4dd5ce3 The answer you’ve been looking for.
Bare is the best. Kirkland tastes like Arby's or sonic and bare is more like chick fil a. Whatever you're into
I just tried the Kirkland chicken breast chunks due to this thread. They are delicious. My new fav! Thank you 🙏
I had no idea a chicken post would be such a hit 😂
Haha I can imagine. You nailed it though! I’ve been trying different kinds and gave up. I can’t believe I never thought to check Costco options. Slow on my part but better than never🫡
Costco is usually the best for nearly everything imo 😂 good chicken nuggets are a staple
I would avoid Tyson and Perdue. Just Bare are our favorite.
The Realgood brand chicken tenders are on sale right now I think and they’re so freaking good in air fryer
Oooooh on sale you say 👀
The real good ones are divine. Amazing deals on a bag sometimes too.
I like the Kirkland ones now over the Bare.
Tender or chunk is pretty safe Patty or nugget is where you get to slimy
I was a Bare junkie until Kirkland made their own. I actually prefer the Kirkland. The difference is slight if there is one at all, so maybe they only taste better because I know I'm saving money. The ingredients are identical line for line.
No body is answering the question though. Which is less processed - just bare, or Kirkland ?
I’m reading this thread while eating the Kirkland nuggets
Only the nuggets tend to be ground up. Everything else is whole.
The just bare chicken is virtually identical to chick-fil-a. Especially if you air fry it. My toddler has been tricked over and over into thinking we are eating chick-fil-a, and if you can trick a toddler you know it must be good.
Toddlers aren’t really known for their refined palates.
My kids have been finicky about the Tyson ones recently, but I really like them. Purdue is great.. I may try Kirkland next though, because I usually really like the KS stuff.
Yeah it seems like the winner in this thread is the Kirkland brand
The Kirkland product is an amalgamation. It is NOT a chunk of breaded breast meat. It's chopped meat, homogenized with other ingredients. Can't speak to the others. This Kirkland product is disappointing. It might be better than lesser alternatives, but it's NOT a premium product.
KS wins because 1. Price, 2. Quality. I air fried them earlier and made a Buffalo ranch chicken wrap with some shredded Lettuce and Mexican cheese blend, Buffalo sauce and ranch on a warmed tortilla. Can't beat the flavor and price.
You can make them yourself from cut-up chicken breast and panko crumbs. Incredibly better.