Kirkwood Panko Chicken Breast Tenders

When my kids are home during summer vacation, lunch in our house tends to be what we call “scrounge.” In other words, everyone makes their own lunches based on what they want and what food we have in the house. While everyone eats the same meal for dinner in the evening, the kids like having autonomy and being able to prepare their lunches with a variety of foods they particularly enjoy. It might be PB&J and fresh fruit, a salad, or a sandwich made with leftover roasted chicken. I also keep some convenience foods around, including frozen pizza and chicken nuggets.

On the chicken nugget front, I’ve bought regular nuggets and dino-shaped nuggets from Aldi over the years. They’re fine.

What I really like, though, are some panko-breaded chicken tenders that the grocer occasionally sells as a limited-time special. They’re nice for lunch, but they’re also good enough that I can serve them as a dinner entree with salad.

Kirkwood Panko Chicken Breast Tenders are an Aldi Find. That means they’re only in stores for a short time. Each store gets one shipment, and they’re gone after that sells out. Aldi does not offer online ordering for these if they’re out of stock at your local store.

We paid $9.99 for a 48-ounce box in 2025. That comes out to about 21 cents per ounce. There are about 19 two-piece servings per box, which comes out to about 53 cents per serving.

These are a product of Canada.

They’re sold under the Kirkwood brand. That’s not a company. Instead, it’s the name Aldi puts on all of the chicken products it sells, including both fresh chicken and processed nuggets and tenders, which it sources from various suppliers. Aldi uses the Kirkwood name to give its chicken packaging a uniform look.

These tenders are fully cooked and made with white meat chicken. The box also advertises that they contain 500 mg of omega-3 fatty acids from canola oil and flax in the breading.

If you’re looking out for allergens, these contain soy and wheat.

The full ingredients list is boneless skinless chicken breast with rib meat, water, wheat flour, isolated soy protein, yellow corn flour, sea salt, corn starch, distilled vinegar, natural chicken flavor, spices, leavening (sodium bicarbonate), yeast, canola oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, natural flavor, guar gum, extractive of paprika (color), and flaxseed meal.

One 2-piece serving (which isn’t all that large, honestly) has 150 calories, 9 grams of total fat (12% DV), 1.5 grams of saturated fat (8% DV), 320 mg of sodium (14% DV), 9 grams of total carbohydrates (3% DV), no dietary fiber, no sugars, and 9 grams of protein.

The box has directions for air frying these (preferred), baking them in a conventional oven, microwaving them, or deep frying them.

To air fry, place frozen pieces in the basket. No need to preheat. Heat at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes per four pieces, or 8-9 minutes per eight pieces.

To bake, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place a single layer of tenders on a baking sheet. Heat in the center of the oven for 12-14 minutes. Turn tenders over halfway through heating time.

To microwave, place a single layer of tenders on a microwave-safe plate. Heat on high power for 1 minute per two pieces. Turn tenders over halfway through heating time. Let stand 1 minute before serving.

To deep fry, preheat oil to 350 degrees. Fry for 3-4 minutes.

These are very good. I air fried them, and they come out nice and crispy. They’re also fine baked in the oven. The breading is satisfyingly crunchy, and the chicken is flavorful. We like dipping these in everything from barbecue sauce to honey mustard to ranch.

The Verdict:

Kirkwood Panko Chicken Breast Tenders are a step up from regular frozen chicken nuggets. We like the crispy panko breading, and these are perfect served with a variety of dipping sauces and a side salad.