Delectable crispy tenders dip perfectly into garlicky cilantro-basil pesto dipping sauce to make an easy, delicious weeknight dinner.
Guys, I have this theory… that if you cut off all her hair she’d look like a British man… just kidding, that’s not my theory. (name that movie) Obviously my real theory is food based, no surprise there. Here it is:
literally any food would taste good with enough pesto
Yup. Let it soak in. Kind of like pesto soaking into a fresh ciabatta roll. Mind you, this theory only works with savory foods, but I think you guys get that. I think I’ve always kind of known this theory all along, I think we’ve all kind of known this theory all along, but it wasn’t really crystalized until the other day when I was making this recipe.
It all started when I was cruisin’ through Target picking up some of Gardein’s crispy tenders for this post. Obviously it had to be delicious, but I also wanted it to be quick and easy. I know I have zero patience when I get home for anything super fancy. Seriously, I can’t make it in less than 30 minutes it’s not happening during the week #endofstory.
I was really torn between a bunch of different ideas. First I wanted to make a quesadilla, then it was a salad, then a sandwich, but nothing felt inspired.
That’s when it hit me. “IT MUST BE A SAUCE.” (I didn’t actually yell that out loud at Target, but in retrospect it might have gotten a laugh or two, or just some very disturbed shoppers). But what kind of sauce? It was then, the pesto gods struck me with divine inspiration. “IT SHALL BE PESTO.” It was perfect. A dip-able, dunk-able, delectable pesto sauce.
When I went to test the recipe, I had a hunch it would be good, I mean as the theory goes: literally any food would taste good with enough pesto, but OH HOT DAMN. (again this was all in my head I don’t typically yell things out loud)
The crispy tenders dunked into the garlicky basil-cilantro pesto sauce… the flavor texture combo is unreal. Seriously. This stuff is the business. I’m thinking about calling it money sauce… no, that sounds pretty dirty, we won’t call it that. But anyway it’s wicked good my friends. Wicked. Good.
Oh, and bonus – the recipe makes a good amount of sauce so you can just whip it up once, then bake up some tenders whenever you’re ready to dip.
[Tweet “Make this pesto dipping sauce that will have you saying “OH HOT DAMN” (maybe even out loud)”]
- 1 Package of Gardein Seven Grain Crispy Tenders (10 tenders)
- For Pesto Dipping Sauce
- 1 Cup (Packed) Basil Leaves
- 1/4 Cup of Cilantro
- 2 Cloves of Garlic
- 1/4 Cup of Pecans
- 2/3 Cups of Olive Oil
- 1/2 tsp of Salt
- For Crispy Tenders: Preheat oven to 450ºF
- Cook tenders for 10 minutes, flip and cook for another 10 minutes or until crispy
- For Dipping Sauce: Place basil, cilantro, garlic, pecans, olive oil and salt into your food processor and blend until smooth.
- Pour sauce into bowl.
- Serve tenders over a bead of arugula and dip away to your heart’s content
Thank you to Gardein who sponsored this post. I’m so excited to work with them again and I really do love adding their products into my normal dinner routine. The crispy tenders might be my favorite to date. I think you’ll enjoy them too. In fact, they’re offering:
$1 off any Gardein Product
Boo. Ya.
Your Turn:
- Favorite quote from Mean Girls?
- Feelings on pesto? Am I overselling it?
DUUDDEEE. I was totally thinking up a pesto recipe this morning! #twinning
And I’ve also had those lovely little chicken-less Gardein tenders and they are pretty freakin tasty. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed 😉
AND PESTO EVERYTHING <3
I really think the pesto gods were out and about recently because it felt like divine inspiration, must be a sign 😉
I am all about pesto! I haven’t gotten really creative with putting it on anything outside of a sandwich or pasta, but I do love Gardein tenders so I just may have to make this asap 🙂
If you love the tenders and love pesto then you’ll LOVE these
I love a good Mean Girls quote. I actually made a Mean Girls reference in my post today too. The classic never dies. If I had to pick a favorite (which is impossible) I would probably go with “You go Glen Coco”. It gets me every time.
And I have to say, this pesto looks incredible! I love a good pesto recipe and will definitely need to give this a try.
Yeeees – one of my other favorites “OMG Danny Devito I love your work”
Yum! These sound SO good!
Thanks Rachel!
those “chicken” tenders are actually so tasty! Love that you kept it simple and made a yummy pesto dip! 🙂
You know me, always keepin it simple 😀
GIRL these photos and graphics!!! So gorg!! That pesto has me drooling!
Thanks girl! Pesto does that to me too 😉
This sounds awesome! I’ve made “crispy tenders” with tempeh + panko before but it was kind of messy so it would be nice to just grab these out of the freezer!
Yum! I’m sure homemade tenders are so good, but yeah for convenience you can’t beat these babies
Well, I’m a HUGE fan of pesto! I normally make it with pinenuts, but I’m really liking the sound of this recipe! I’m also super curious about the chicken-less tenders, so I’ll have to give that a try! YUMMM!
Mmm pine nuts are so good. Unfortunately they’re also wicked expensive so I usually cheap out and do another nut 😛
Pesto da besto! <3 Love all your pics, stunning…as per usual. And I'm convinced theres a mean girls quote applicable to pretty much any situation in life, I have yet to find one that is not. 😉
Right? Pretty much any teenager from that time’s handbook for survival.
LOVE everything about pesto and it is one of those things that I think you can put on anything! DELISH!
Right? Totally one of my food buzzwords at restaurants!