Texas Roadhouse Chicken Tenders

Texas Roadhouse chicken tenders are listed as Chicken Critters, hand-breaded chicken strips served with your choice of BBQ, honey mustard or ranch. The dinner version runs about $15.99 for roughly 480 calories and includes two sides plus free rolls.

What Texas Roadhouse chicken tenders actually are

They exist, just not under the name most people search for. Texas Roadhouse sells them as Chicken Critters: whole chicken tenderloins, hand-breaded in the kitchen and fried to order, plated with a dipping sauce of your choice. Say “chicken tenders” and any server will ring in the same thing.

The distinction matters in the app, where searching “tenders” often returns nothing. Look under chicken entrees for Critters, and under the kids’ section for the smaller portion.

Chicken Critters price and portion sizes

The dinner portion runs around $15.99 at most locations, the low end of the chicken entree lineup. Regional pricing moves that by roughly 10 to 15 percent, so a metro store may charge two dollars more.

Two caveats. There is no half-size or appetizer-size Critters on the standard menu, so the kids’ portion is the only smaller route and most stores restrict it to guests 12 and under. And lunch pricing at participating locations can shave a couple of dollars off the same plate. Call the store or pull up its page on the official site for the current local figure.

Calories and nutrition

The entree portion lands near 480 calories on its own, and that number covers the tenders only. Sides, sauce and rolls count separately, and that is where the total climbs fast.

A full plate with fries, mac and cheese, ranch and two rolls clears 1,500 calories easily. If you are tracking, the fix is not the tenders; it is green beans, a plain baked potato and one roll. Texas Roadhouse publishes a full nutrition sheet in stores and on its site. Treat that as the authority, since recipes get revised.

Dipping sauces and what to ask for

Three sauces come standard: BBQ, honey mustard and ranch. You pick one at ordering, and most servers bring an extra ramekin free if you ask, though some locations charge for additional cups. That is a store-level call, not a chain policy.

The BBQ is the same sweet, smoky sauce used on the grilled BBQ chicken, closer to a glaze than a tangy vinegar sauce. Honey mustard is the middle ground and the safest pick for kids. Ranch is thick and heavily seasoned, and it doubles as a fry dip. If none of those work, ask what else the kitchen keeps behind the line; the Cajun sauces used for appetizers are often available on request.

How to order them well

Tenders are fried to order, so the most useful request is to ask for them lightly done if you want the breading crisp rather than dark. Say it when you order, not when the plate arrives.

• Use your two sides well. Every entree includes two, worth about $2.99 each a la carte. One starch plus one vegetable keeps the plate from being entirely fried.
• Skip the extra fries. Steak fries next to breaded tenders is a lot of the same texture. A loaded baked potato or seasoned rice breaks it up.
• Rolls are free and unlimited for dine-in, served hot with cinnamon butter. That does not apply to takeout.
• Critters are not sauced by default. If you want them tossed in BBQ rather than dipped, ask, and expect a kitchen-dependent answer. The breading is already seasoned, so taste before salting.

Kids’ tenders and the Critters salad

There are three ways to get tenders on the table. The dinner entree is the standard. Kids’ Chicken Critters is a smaller portion with one side and a drink, roughly six to eight dollars, and most stores limit the kids’ menu by age.

The third is the Chicken Critters Salad, which puts the same breaded tenders over a house salad with cheese, tomato, egg and your dressing. It is the option people forget exists and the closest thing to a lighter tender order if you take dressing on the side. Its availability varies more than the dinner, so check the local menu.

Worth it? How they stack up against other chicken plates

At roughly $15.99 with two sides, Chicken Critters is the cheapest full chicken entree on the menu and the best value if you are feeding someone who wants something familiar. The comparison worth making is against the grilled plates.

Straight comparison: for a dollar more, grilled BBQ chicken gives you a similar plate at well under half the calories. Critters win on texture and kid appeal, not on nutrition. If you want fried chicken to share rather than a plate to yourself, boneless wings are the cheaper entry point at a much higher calorie count.

Ordering tenders to go

Breaded tenders travel better than most fried items, but they still steam inside a closed container. Ask for sauce in separate cups and leave the box vented on a longer drive. Hot sides packed against the tenders soften the breading fastest. Takeout also drops the unlimited rolls arrangement; rolls become a countable item, and whether they are automatic differs by store, so check the itemized ticket.

What this page can and can’t tell you

This is an independent guide, not affiliated with Texas Roadhouse. Every figure above is a typical menu price observed across locations, not a guaranteed one.

Three things genuinely vary and cannot be pinned down from a national page: the exact price at your store, the number of strips on the plate, and whether the salad version and lunch pricing are offered locally. To confirm any of it, look up your location on the official Texas Roadhouse website or call the restaurant. A thirty-second phone call beats any published estimate, including ours.

FAQ

Related guides

• Browse the full Texas Roadhouse menu by category.
• Feeding a table? Compare the family meal bundles and what they include.
• See what’s on the kids’ menu and how age limits work.
• Check Early Dine pricing and hours to cut the bill.