Buffalo Chicken Casserole is a flavorful, simple meal perfect for any night of the week. Made with chicken, potatoes, bacon, cheese, and perfectly seasoned with classic buffalo flavor, this is one meal your family will beg you to make again and again.
While this Buffalo Chicken Casserole is hearty enough to stand alone as a meal, I love to pair it with Instant Pot Green Beans or a side salad. And whatever you do, don't forget the ranch dressing! It is the perfect way to cool down this spicy casserole.
Not much beats the flavor of buffalo chicken.
From Buffalo Chicken Pizza to Buffalo Chicken Tacos to Buffalo Chicken Salad, to this Buffalo Chicken Casserole, I LOVE the flavor that buffalo sauce imparts to chicken.
But when add in potatoes, cheese, and bacon to the mix--PERFECTION!
Tender potatoes, moist chicken, sharp cheese, and salty bacon are tossed in a combination of seasonings and hot sauce to flavor each bite with the classic notes of Buffalo sauce. This casserole is hearty, flavorful, and delicious!
Not to mention it is extremely easy to make and budget-friendly to boot.
Ingredients Needed
- Chicken: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thighs, or tenders.
- Potatoes: Any variety of starchy potatoes work well, such as red potatoes, russet potatoes, or Yukon Gold potatoes.
- Hot Sauce: I recommend Frank's Red Hot Sauce for the optimum flavor, but any generic brand of cayenne hot sauce works.
- Cheese: Sharp cheddar is my preferred cheese in this easy Buffalo Chicken Bake, but mozzarella, Colby, or provolone all work. Remember freshly shredded cheese will melt best.
Step-By-Step Directions
- Mix together potatoes with oil and seasonings in a large bowl.
- Pour potatoes into a large casserole dish and spread out into an even layer so that potatoes can get crispy, not steam while they bake. Set mixing bowl aside to use for the chicken.
- Bake potatoes until just fork-tender at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. This allows these potatoes to get crispy, like oven fries.
- While the potatoes are baking, add the cubed chicken to the same dish you mixed the potatoes with the seasonings. Add additional spices and hot sauce and toss to coat, incorporating any leftover spices from the potatoes into the chicken.
- Layer the chicken onto the potatoes.
- Sprinkle the chicken evenly with the bacon and the cheese.
- Return to the oven for 15 minutes to cook the chicken and bacon and melt the cheese.
- Serve with blue cheese or homemade ranch dressing.
Recipe FAQs
I would classify this dish as mild-medium spice level. To keep the spice level lower, cut the amount of hot sauce in half. Alternatively, omit the hot sauce and use BBQ sauce instead for a delicious, mild BBQ chicken and potato casserole.
The bacon will cook through, and the fat from the bacon will render into the chicken, adding flavor and keeping the chicken super moist. But the bacon does not get super crispy. If you like really crispy bacon, par-bake the bacon until just cooked before adding the casserole (I recommend doing this while the potatoes bake). Then chop up the bacon and add to the casserole as directed. The results will be crispy bacon.
No! While the bacon adds flavor to this dish, feel free to omit.
This casserole is best served warm with Blue Cheese or Ranch Dressing on the side or drizzled on top of the casserole. The contrast from the hot, spicy casserole, to the creamy, cool dressing is perfection.
Allow the leftover casserole to cool to room temperature and then place into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3 days. To reheat, place leftovers onto a sheet pan and broil until warm or microwave individual servings for 45 seconds to 1 minute. I don't recommend freezing leftovers.
More Buffalo Chicken Recipes
If you enjoyed this Buffalo Chicken Bake, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Buffalo Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 6 medium/large russet potatoes cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cubed
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 tablespoon Frank's Red Hot Sauce
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 slices bacon cut into thin strips
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- ¼ cup chives, for serving optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the potatoes together with oil, 1 tablespoon hot sauce, garlic powder, chili powder, onion powder, and salt.
- Scoop the potatoes from the bowl, leaving behind excess seasoning in the bowl, and spread the potatoes out evenly in a 9x13 pan. Bake for 45 minutes, flipping the potatoes once half-way through cooking.
- In the meantime, place the cubed chicken into the mixing bowl with the remaining seasoning from the potatoes. Add in the remaining tablespoon of hot sauce and toss to coat.
- Once the potatoes have baked, remove them from the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 400 degrees. Top the potatoes with chicken, cheese, and bacon, and return to the oven for 15 minutes.
- Serve with ranch dressing and chopped chives if desired.
Equipment Needed
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in 2015 but was updated in 2021 with new pictures and a new video.
Becky
This is now one of our favorites! We regularly crave this one. Thanks! Also, if there happen to be leftovers, they’re SO good. 😉
Oh, and I do half as the recipe states and the other half dairy-free with daiya shredded cheese and homemade vegan ranch because of dietary restrictions. YUM.
Kristen Chidsey
I love that this is a staple at your house Becky--and that you make it work for dietary restrictions!
Nailla
Made it today. Loved it. Simple recipe. There wasn’t much sauce left after the potatoes were in the oven so I made a little more for the chicken and added juice of a lime and garlic and ginger paste. It was so tasty. Thanks for this recipe
Kristen Chidsey
I am glad you enjoyed Nailla 🙂 The addition of lime juice and ginger are intriguing to me--I never would have put those flavors with buffalo sauce 🙂
Sam
This casserole was delicious! My family loved it!
Jody
This recipe did well at my house full of picky eaters. I am happy to report that it's going into our regular rotation!! Thank you so much for coming up with and taking the time to share this recipe and so many others! ❤❤
Kristen Chidsey
You are so welcome Jody! It brings me great joy to share with others recipes they can enjoy and I love hearing you enjoyed this meal!
Hanna
We are huge buffalo anything fans at our house and the entire family loved it! Thanks for the great recipe!
Meg
Oh my goodness!! This was so yummy !!! My teenage boys LOVED it ! I will be making this a lot !
Samantha
I wasn’t just curious if anyone had tried substituting the dried seasonings with ranch dressing seasoning? I think I’m going to give it a try.
Kristen Chidsey
Oh that is a fabulous idea Samantha and would give this casserole a whole new twist. Let us all know how it goes. And here is my recipe for DIY Ranch Seasoning if needed.
Samantha
I made it with the ranch seasoning mix and even my kids loved it! It took away some of the spice but I used extra hot sauce to compensate. It was delicious.
Kristen Chidsey
Yay!! I am so glad you all enjoyed! Thanks for taking the time to let us know.
Gwen
Looking forward to trying this! Just wondering...are the potatoes peeled?
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Gwen! I do not peel my potatoes (love the added fiber and nutrients) but feel free to peel.
michele
I can't believe id never thought of making a casserole with buffalo chicken! Buffalo seasoning is like my most favorite thing ever! I have this in the oven right now and I can't wait to have it for dinner in a bit! It was so easy and I can already tell its going to be a favorite recipe in our house!!
Kristen Chidsey
Yay!!! You will love this so much Michelle
Julie Evink
This was so easy to make, yet had so much flavor! There wasn't any left at the end of dinner. That's how I know it's a win!
Kristen Chidsey
That's always the sign of a winning dish for sure. So glad you enjoyed Julie.
Theresa
Do you cook the chicken first? or throw the chicken on top of the potatoes raw?
Kristen Chidsey
Throw it on raw 🙂