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Add a spicy kick to taco night with these Easy Buffalo Chicken Tacos! Made with saucy buffalo chicken and a crisp ranch slaw, these flavorful tacos come together in under 15 minutes thanks to a few smart shortcuts.
Love buffalo chicken? Don't miss Boneless Buffalo Chicken Wings, Instant Pot Buffalo Wings, Buffalo Chicken Salad, and Buffalo Chicken Casserole.
Kristen's Keys for Buffalo Chicken Tacos
This easy recipe is hard to mess up, but I do have two tips to keep in mind to keep dinner fast and flavorful.
- Start with cooked chicken. This recipe is built for speed, so starting with rotisserie chicken (or any leftover chicken) is what keeps it a true 15-minute dinner.
- Don't skip the slaw! Adding a slaw made with cabbage (or iceberg lettuce), carrots, ranch dressing (or bleu cheese) adds a fresh, creamy element that is the perfect balance to the spicy buffalo chicken.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Let me walk you through the process of how I turn leftover chicken and and handful of other ingredients into dinner in just about 15 minutes from start to finish.
Step One: Prepare Slaw
Start the recipe by tossing the shredded lettuce or cabbage and carrots with ranch or bleu cheese dressing. Cover and chill while you prepare the buffalo chicken for the tacos, giving time for the flavors to marry together.
Step Two: Prepare Buffalo Sauce
Heat the butter, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and apple cider vinegar together in a large skillet over medium heat. You simply need to heat until the butter has melted. You can skip the homemade buffalo sauce and use your favorite buffalo wing sauce to make dinner prep EVEN faster.
Step Three: Toss Chicken with Buffalo Sauce
Add diced or shredded cooked chicken to the pan and toss to coat in the buffalo sauce. Simmer for just a minute or two to gently heat through.
Step Four: Assemble and Serve
Serve the buffalo chicken on warmed tortillas, topping with the ranch slaw and shredded cheese if desired. So easy and so good!
More Delicious Taco-Inspired Recipes
- Breakfast Tacos
- Taco Pizza
- Taco Pasta
- Ground Turkey Taco Skillet
- Wonton Tacos
- Shredded Chicken Tacos
Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Video
Ingredients
For Ranch Slaw
- ½ head iceberg lettuce, shredded, or shredded cabbage
- ¼ cup grated or shredded carrots
- ¼ cup ranch dressing or blue cheese, plus more for serving if desired
For Buffalo Chicken Tacos
- ½ cup hot sauce, such as Frank's Red Hot
- ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce, or a pinch of salt
- ½ tablespoon honey, optional
- 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese, optional
- 12 corn or flour tortillas or taco shells
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the lettuce (or cabbage) with carrots and ranch dressing. Toss together until everything is well combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready to assemble tacos.
- In a medium saucepan, combine ½ cup hot sauce, ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and ½ teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once simmering and the butter has melted, lower the heat to low and stir in ½ tablespoon honey. Alternatively, warm ¾ cup of store-bought buffalo wing sauce in a skillet over low heat.
- Add the shredded or cubed chicken to the pan with the warmed buffalo sauce, tossing together to evenly coat in the sauce. Continue to heat over low heat just to warm through. It should just take a minute or two.
- Using tongs, or a slotted spoon, top warmed tortillas with the buffalo chicken mixture. Top with the slaw and shredded cheese. Feel free to top the tacos with additional dressing, minced chives, or crumbled blue cheese as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These look delish! Am I missing the amount of vinegar needed for the buffalo sauce? I don’t see it listed in the ingredients list, just in the preparation directions.
Thanks. Hoping to make these tonight with leftover chicken!
Sorry about that, Meredith! It is 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar.
These tacos were a big hit in my house! My family couldn't get enough of them, thank you for the recipe! We'll definitely be having these again soon.
I love hearing that! Thank you for taking the time to share, Oliva!
I love trying new flavors of tacos and these were such a great idea! I love buffalo + ranch especially.
We had a wonderful and satisfying taco night because of these buffalo chicken tacos! They are packed with flavors and the dressing is a winner!
Wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing!
Can I sub the 3 cups of chicken for a pound of ground chicken?
Absolutely Taylor! I would brown the chicken, breaking it into small-bite-sized pieces, and then season as directed.
This is really good! One way I kicked up the brightness on the flavor was instead of using lettuce I chopped up Clery leave and the inner softest most tender top of the celery stalks and I shaved carrots with my peeler and put those on it. So good!
Oh I love that idea of a topping! I am so glad you enjoyed the tacos Abby!
These were delicious! Loved the kick and so did my kids. Can't wait to add them to our weekly menu plan!
YAY!!! They are a family favorite here too!