If you’ve been around a while, you’ll know that I’m not exactly a fan of spicy food. It lights my mouth on fire, burns up my tongue, makes me sweat and isn’t easy going out, either. So, it might surprise you that I decided to try something with the words ‘Nashville hot’ in the name voluntarily.
It might also surprise you to hear, I actually liked them!
I first tried these tenders back in January 2023, and have had them a few times since, and I have to say, they’ve been slowly growing on me!
These tenders are slightly longer than the 7 Grain Crispy Tenders, and a little thicker, which might explain why they only come 8 to a bag. But what these tenders lack in quantity, they make up for with flavour!
They’re not overtly spicy like I had assumed they’d be – when you open the bag, there’s no puff of spice to sting your nostrils – and when you’re eating them, you don’t get any heat until the after-burn on the swallow. If we ignore the spice factor, they taste the same as their other faux chicken products and they have a pretty interesting breadcrumb coating.
If they had a non-spicy version of these tenders with the exact same breading, I would definitely add them to my weekly shopping list!
Another thing I appreciated about these tenders is that you can easily cut them up and add them to things like rice or pasta, and they won’t overpower the dish at all. The flavour of the tenders is great at seeping out and permeating the rest of the dish, so if you, for example, add them to pasta, I would recommend not adding additional spices if you want to avoid a tongue-burning-disaster when you go to eat.
If you’re not too big into spice, like I am, but are still curious to try them, I’d recommend eating them on their own, with some kind of dip to cool off your mouth. I chose a fairly easy homemade ranch, but I’d imagine any non-spicy dip would do the trick.
As I said earlier, they only come 8 to a bag, but I actually don’t mind that with these. Between their bigger size and their spice, I think 8 is a good number to get you through the week.
Also, they aren’t any more expensive than Gardein’s other faux chicken products, so the only deciding factor in whether or not you should add them to your grocery haul would be whether or not you feel like getting a new batch of taste buds.
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