Dairy Queen Vs Sonic: Which Chain Makes The Healthier Classic Chicken Tenders

Chicken has taken over fast food, with choices for on-the-go tenders extending far beyond chicken-focused chains to brands like Dairy Queen and Sonic. These chains may be staples for fast food ice cream treats, but the chicken tenders are a fine appetizer before satisfying your sweet tooth. If you're adding some ice cream to the mix, you may be looking to keep your meal a little bit lighter — so, for the healthier chicken tender option between them, stop at Sonic.

This is based on a one-to-one comparison of the listed nutrition facts of three tenders at each chain. However, the three-piece chicken tenders are not available at every DQ, as most meals default to four pieces. Still, this comparison gives you the best idea of which is more nutritious on a per tender basis, though both options are totally fine as part of a balanced diet.

Sonic's three-piece chicken tenders offer a similar amount of protein and fiber as Dairy Queen's three-piece strips, while boasting fewer counts of nutrients that many wish to avoid or limit. Sonic's tenders do contain a little more protein, with 21 grams compared to DQ's 19 grams, but not much. Both offer the exact same modest amount of your daily fiber at 2 grams each.

While the DQ option is close in protein, it's also solidly higher in calories. Its chicken strips boast 430 calories compared to Sonic's 260 total calories. Of course, calories alone are not a great measure of health and nutrition, but some may wish to limit their intake.

When it comes to fat content, Sonic's chicken tenders are lower in nutrients that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns folks to limit: saturated fat and trans fat. The 3-piece tender option contains only 1 gram of saturated fat and zero trans fats. While Dairy Queen's version also boasts zero trans fat, it offers 3.5 grams of saturated fat. Neither is too high, but the USDA recommends less than 20 grams per day, so it could make a difference when factored in with other daily meals.

As far as sugar goes, Sonic's tenders contain zero grams while DQ's have 2 grams. That's not much, but worth noting. The one area to watch out for at both spots is sodium. The maximum daily intake for sodium is 2,300 milligrams. Dairy Queen's 3-piece tenders contain 950 milligrams of sodium by themselves, which is just over 40% of your daily max intake. Meanwhile, Sonic's similar offering contains 730 milligrams.

If you aren't concerned about sodium (or just plan to limit it in other meals), the nutritional differences between Dairy Queen and Sonic's respective chicken tender offerings are not major. They aren't going to bust your diet, and are fine as an occasional meal, with a decent amount of protein to boot. So, although Sonic may be the "healthier" option, go with the fast food chicken tender you prefer, as that will probably be the more important deciding factor here.