Anyone else a proud member of the Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel seasoning cult? It’s one of my absolute favorite Trader Joe’s products and I use it so many ways –  mixed in cottage cheese, on top of avocados, scrambled eggs, inside of sandwiches, chicken salad, hummus….and I’m just getting started.

If you haven’t picked up by now, Trader Joe’s is my favorite grocery store.

I love that they care about their products. Did you know that anything labeled with the Trader Joe’s name is free of GMO, artificial flavors  preservatives, MSG and partially hydrogenated oils?

I love that they give out samples and have product demonstration going on while I shop. I’ve learned a few of my favorite recipes from stopping by the demonstration stand, like this Trader Joe’s Bruschetta Chicken.

I especially love that they cater to parents shopping with young children by hiding toys throughout the store for kids to find, having mini shopping carts for shoppers in training and giving out stickers at checkout.

I have so many Trader Joe’s favorites and the Everything but the Bagel seasoning tops the list, for sure. As someone who used to love everything bagels and couldn’t track down a gluten free version, I was so excited when they first debuted the seasoning. (Trader Joe’s and Canyon Bakehouse have both released a gluten free everything bagel since then – yippee!!) A great lightened up version of a traditional everything bagel with cream cheese is a corn thin or rice cake topped with a smear of light cream cheese and a sprinkle of Everything but the Bagel seasoning on top. Delish!! Add some Trader Joe’s smoked salmon, capers and cherry tomatoes for a real treat!

I’m not the only one who loves this stuff! A couple made $30,000 last year selling the seasoning on Amazon to people who don’t live nearby a Trader Joe’s store. That’s a pretty genius concept! You can read more about the family here.

If you’re like me and love love love everything but the bagel seasoning, you’ve got to try these everything but the bagel chicken tenders. They are so flavorful and super easy to whip up. They also hold up well and can be enjoyed as the perfect salad topping, next day.

The first round of these, I coated a plate with the seasoning and actually patted the chicken in the seasoning to fully coat each tender, but the result was too salty. The everything but the bagel seasoning is amazing in the right quantity, but since one of the ingredients is sea salt, it can overpower the dish when too much is used. I prefer using 1 Tablespoon per pound of chicken tenders used. My husband, who is a big fan of salt also thought this was the perfect balance.

Ingredients

• 1lb chicken breast tenders
• 1 T Trader Joe’s Everything but the bagel seaoning
• 1 T avocado oil (or olive oil)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Add chicken tenders to a large mixing bowl. Add one tablespoon avocado oil and toss, coating all sides of tenders.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay tenders on paper.
4. Sprinkle tenders with 1/2 of the seasoning. Flip and sprinkle with remaining seasoning.
5. Bake for 18 minutes.