Buffalo Chicken Salad

This Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe combines buffalo chicken with sun-ripened tomatoes, shredded carrots, sweet red bell peppers, crisp celery, creamy avocado, and blue cheese crumbles, drizzled with a homemade ranch dressing. If you love buffalo wings, this dish is right up your alley. This hearty salad is perfect for those long summer days and warm evenings.

Make this healthy, high-protein dish loaded with tons of veggies for the buffalo chicken lover in your life, and get ready for the compliments. I love to serve this with low-carb wraps and fresh blueberry lemonade for a cool, refreshing finish. If you like this recipe, you should try my buffalo chicken dip.

The base of the salad is the lettuce, and for this salad, you need a good, sturdy green. My go-to lettuce for this salad is Romaine. I sometimes add a little color from other greens I may have in the fridge, like spinach, radicchio, chard, or even cabbage.

Part of this salad can be prepared and mixed ahead of time. You can prepare the buffalo chicken and the dressing up to 24 hours in advance. However, the salad assembly should wait until just a few hours before serving. Hold the drizzle of the dressing and the seeding and slicing of the avocado until right before serving. For best results, brush the avocado with lime or lemon juice right after slicing.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

A mouth-watering delicious Buffalo Chicken salad full of flavor from tender chicken slathered in buffalo wing sauce, homemade ranch dressing, romaine lettuce, carrots, celery, and bleu cheese.  Guaranteed to please the Buffalo Chicken lover in your life.

5 from 8 votes

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Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 691kcal

Author: Beth Pierce

Ingredients

Buffalo Chicken

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup Franks’ red hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic pressed
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1 ¼ lb. boneless skinless chicken breast or chicken tenders

Salad

• 10 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 2 ribs celery chopped
• 2 carrots peeled and shredded
• 1 ½ cups grape tomatoes halved
• 1 red bell pepper finely diced
• ⅓ cup red onion thinly sliced
• ⅔ cup crumbled bleu cheese
• 1 ½ tablespoons lemon or lime juice
• 1 avocado seeded and sliced

Homemade Ranch Dressing

• ⅓ cup buttermilk
• ⅓ cup sour cream
• ⅓ cup mayonnaise
• 2 cloves garlic pressed
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

• Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add Frank’s Redhot Sauce, apple cider vinegar, pressed garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and ground cayenne.
• Whisk to combine and bring just to a simmer. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• Once cooled, add half the mixture to a bowl and add the chicken.  Stir to coat, cover, and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours, stirring every 30-45 minutes.
• Preheat the grill to 400 degrees. Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill for 10-12 minutes or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit, flipping halfway through the process. Baste with the remaining buffalo sauce to keep it moist and tasty. Cover and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces.
• Whisk the ingredients together for the creamy ranch dressing.
• Layer the romaine on a large platter or in a bowl. Follow up with the celery, carrots, grape tomatoes, red bell pepper, red onion, bleu cheese, and buffalo chicken. Brush the cut avocado with lime juice and add it to the salad. Drizzle with the homemade ranch dressing or your favorite bleu cheese dressing.

Notes

• Make the buffalo chicken a day in advance but don’t cut it, or it will dry out. Store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.
• For a quick substitute for the Buffalo Chicken, use shredded chicken from already cooked rotisserie chicken tossed in the buffalo sauce. Chicken shreds well using 2 forks.
• Greek yogurt can be subbed for the mayo.
• Don’t cut the avocadoes until you are ready to serve the salad. Then for best results, brush them with a little lemon juice or lime juice.
• Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 24 hours, but the avocado may brown and need to be discarded.

Nutrition

Calories: 691kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 52g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 190mg | Sodium: 2774mg | Potassium: 1352mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 18137IU | Vitamin C: 63mg | Calcium: 258mg | Iron: 3mg

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