July 27th is observed annually as Chicken Fingers Day—a holiday that encourages everyone to try these breaded little pieces of chicken meat. This food is one of the more popular options that can be found in fast-food and sit-down restaurants. They are made from the pectoralis minor muscles of the chicken, which are located under the breast meat, and then they’re breaded and usually deep-fried.

They are perfect for dipping with ranch or BBQ sauce and are perfectly paired with an order of golden brown French fries. Now, who’s with us in celebrating this holiday?

The History of Chicken Fingers Day

According to popular belief, chicken tenders were first created during the mid-1970s. Supposedly, they were created at the Puritan Backroom in Manchester, New Hampshire, although several restaurants in Savannah, Georgia, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana have contested this origin story and instead have claimed they invented them.

Since the story of chicken fingers being created at the Puritan Backroom is the most widely circulated story, we’ll just go with that one for our purposes here. In 1983, McDonald’s added Chicken McNuggets to their menu, and this prompted many restaurants to come up with their own versions of this classic fast-food item.

Many restaurants immediately gravitated toward chicken fingers, which is why the popularity of this food grew exponentially throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Now, chicken fingers are one of the most popular food items and are especially popular among children. And why wouldn’t they be? Chicken fingers are easy to pick up, easy to eat, and taste pretty good as well.

In 1996, Todd Graves started the company Raising Cane’s in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It would become a popular fast-food restaurant that is well known for its chicken finger meals and chicken sandwich. In 2019, the holiday Chicken Fingers Day was created to celebrate their chicken fingers. It’s been observed not only at this restaurant ever since but by chicken tender lovers all over the U.S.

Observing Chicken Fingers Day

Anyone wishing to observe this holiday can do so simply by enjoying chicken fingers. The hardest part for anyone celebrating this day is figuring out just where they should pick up their chicken fingers.

KFC (KFC in Canada), Dairy Queen, Burger King, Raising Cane’s, Sonic Drive-In, Jack in the Box, Carl’s Jr., and a wide range of other restaurants all have chicken tenders on their menu. Another option that people have is to make their own.

They aren’t that difficult to make, and all a person really needs is some white breast meat, some breading, and some oil to deep-fry them in. There are some really great recipes on the Internet that people can find for this holiday simply by searching for them. If someone finds a recipe that they especially like, they can use the hashtag #ChickenFingersDay to spread the word about it.