Buffalo Chicken Salad
This Buffalo Chicken Salad is a delicious restaurant-quality salad made tender buffalo chicken, fresh vegetables, creamy ranch dressing, and crumbled bleu cheese. It is a show-stopping recipe that comes together in under 30 minutes, even if you opt to make the dressing and buffalo sauce from scratch!
Servings: 4
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Buffalo Chicken
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch chunks
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup hot sauce like Frank's Red Hot
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
For the Salad
- 1 head romaine lettuce chopped
- ½ cup shredded red cabbage optional
- 2 large carrots peeled and shredded
- 1 medium English cucumber diced
- 2 stalks celery thinly sliced
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 1 medium red or yellow bell pepper diced
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes halved
- ⅓ cup crumbled blue cheese optional
For the Ranch Dressing
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt or mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon ranch seasoning
- ¼ cup buttermilk or regular milk
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Ranch Dressing
- In a small mixing bowl, combine ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt, ¼ cup sour cream, 1 tablespoon ranch seasoning, ¼ cup buttermilk, and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice together until well combined. Cover and refrigerate while you are preparing the remaining ingredients.
Buffalo Chicken
- Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃). Spray a rimmed sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a shallow dish, whisk together the ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Cube 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces and add to the flour mixture and toss to coat the chicken. Shake off the excess flour from the chicken and place the seasoned chicken onto the greased pan.
- Bake for 6 minutes, flip the chicken, and return to the oven and bake for 4-6 minutes, or until the chicken reaches 165℉ (74℃), or the juices run clear.
- While the chicken is baking, mix together the ¼ cup hot sauce, 1 tablespoon honey, and 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (melted) together in a small bowl.
- Once the chicken has baked, add the baked chicken to the hot sauce mixture and toss to evenly coat.
For the Salad
- Toss together the romaine, red cabbage, carrots, celery, celery, peppers, and green onions together in a serving dish.
- Remove the chicken from the hot sauce mixture and add to the salad base.
- Top the salad with grape tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese, and drizzle with the prepared ranch dressing. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Ranch Dressing: Feel free to substitute your favorite store-bought ranch or bleu cheese dressing instead of the homemade dressing.
Salad Base: Use any combination of greens and vegetables you like.
Buffalo Sauce: If using prepared or homemade buffalo sauce, toss the baked chicken with ¼ cup prepared sauce and omit the hot sauce, butter, and honey from the recipe.
Storage: It is best to serve this salad upon assembling immediately. However, you can prep the chicken, salad, and dressing up to 3 days in advance and store them in separate sealed containers in the refrigerator. Assemble right before serving.
**Nutrition values are approximate and based upon 4 servings using the full amount of homemade ranch dressing without blue cheese.
Nutrition
Calories: 302kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 87mg | Sodium: 645mg | Potassium: 1137mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 7461IU | Vitamin C: 86mg | Calcium: 118mg | Iron: 2mg
