HI. I’m happy to be bringing you new content and even happier that you’ve taken the time to read it. Thank you.
For this latest Basket Review, I took matters into my own hands. Well, sort of. I didn’t make the food from scratch or anything. I bought a bag of frozen chicken strips and fries. And then stuck them in my air fryer (an all-time Christmas gift, thank you, mom and dad).
So really all I did was reheat them. Anyways.
I went to the freezer aisle in Target and chose what appealed most to me. I landed on Archer Farms crispy chicken strips and Ore-Ida extra crispy fast food fries. I was certain this would give me better results than Tyson and their problematic tenders.
And I was right.
Though they were better than Tyson’s metal-infused chicken strips, they still weren’t great. It’s not a knock against the store or products on hand, it’s just really hard for the freezer aisle strips to be elevated. It’s a frozen bag of food, it can only be so good.
The breading on the strips was decently crispy. The quality was what you’d expect from a freezer bag; it got the job done, but wasn’t close to the higher-end strips I’ve had. They were also on the dry side.
The fries were actually pretty solid. I’ll say with confidence that they’re close to a top-tier option for store-bought, frozen fries. They did a decent job of mimicking fast food fries.
I switched up the brand of ranch. I’ve pretty much always been loyal to Hidden Valley ranch, but I saw about the same size bottle of Market Pantry for $2 cheaper. And I gotta say, Market Pantry buttermilk ranch is pretty dang tasty. I wouldn’t say it’s quite as good as Hidden Valley, but it’s a more than viable option if you’re bargain shopping.
Ranch paired with ketchup is a beautiful match to eat with chicken strips and fries. I like to get a little wild and mix the two of them together. Not to brag, but I like to live dangerously sometimes.
Overall, I’ll give my store-bought, air-fried chicken strips and fries a 4.7. For buying two bags of frozen food and dropping it in an air fryer for nine minutes at 390 degrees (you’re welcome), it’s not a bad meal. Sure, sitting down and ordering a chicken strip basket off a menu somewhere will net a better result 5 of 7 times, but this is not a bad option.
Have a nice day. Bye. 4.7.
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