When I was growing up, my family used to go to this neighborhood icehouse (an indoor-outdoor dive bar and restaurant popular in Texas) and my go-to order was a salad they called “chicken on the green.” It had a lot going on, but the key components were fried popcorn chicken and some crunchy vegetables over lettuce with cheddar cheese. It was so good that I was ordering it by choice—as a child.
Perhaps that’s why when I saw TikTok after TikTok about Winger’s copycat sticky (chicken) finger salad, it really struck a chord with me. The salad is very similar to my childhood favorite, but topped with saucy chopped chicken tenders. I just had to create my own version.
