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Where are all my buffalo chicken lovers?!?! Gather round because I just made you a huge buffalo chicken salad!!! You’re welcome!!!
This buffalo chicken salad is meant for anyone who loves a good crunchy salad with all the textures! You’ve got crunchy romaine lettuce, chopped celery, bell pepper, a few slices of red onion, creamy hard boiled eggs, salty delicious creamy blue cheese crumbled straight off the block (the only way to eat it)! And of course, the perfectly cooked chicken breast doused in buffalo wing sauce. All of that is drizzled with some homemade Greek yogurt ranch dressing – to help cool things down!
That’s right we made our own ranch dressing! And trust me, it’s so good you won’t miss the bottled stuff, plus it’s super easy to make!
Thick and creamy plain Greek yogurt + lemon juice and apple cider vinegar for tang + all the classic herbs and spices (dill, chives, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and black pepper) = a quick and easy, satisfying cooling homemade ranch that’s perfect on top of our buffalo chicken salad.
We are so winning with this salad!
We even made our own buffalo hot sauce. Hot sauce + butter melted together! That’s it, that’s all there is to it. To make it even easier we just heat up the sauce right in the pan as the chicken finishes cooking! Another point has been scored!
Why do I always turn buffalo chicken recipes into some kind of game theme when I don’t even follow sports?! I guess buffalo chicken meals brings up thoughts of wings eaten in sports bars or at houses while a game is on that I never really pay attention to lol.
This buffalo chicken salad is meant for those moments when all you want are some greasy fried buffalo chicken wings with ranch for dipping but you don’t want to feel the heaviness of it. This my friends, is why we turn these junk food/comfort food things into salads. Always more veggies TYVM!!!
Let’s discuss the blue cheese for a second…I love it! I like to sneak little bites of it as I’m crumbling it for the salad. Plus blue cheese is meant to be with buffalo chicken anything, always and forever. THE END!!!
Okay, I get it blue cheese isn’t for everyone. You have two options 1) leave it off completely, no cheese. 2) swap it with some shredded cheddar cheese…who doesn’t love a good cheddar cheese?! Everyone happy?! GREAT!
If you’re looking for more buffalo chicken recipes try my loaded buffalo chicken hummus dip (so good), or my buffalo chicken stuffed sweet potatoes.
I am so crushing over fresh salads RN, spring/summer foods are my happy place! Expect more to come in the near future :).
Did you make this recipe?! Be sure to leave a comment below along with a star rating – this helps others to find my recipe easier. Also be sure to snap a photo on Instagram and use #RobustRecipes so that I can see what you came up with! Thanks for being here, friends! I appreciate you!!! đŸ™‚
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Buffalo Chicken Salad with Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 4 to 5 1x
- Category: Entree, Salad, Chicken/Poultry
- Cuisine: Gluten Free
Description
Buffalo chicken salad satisfies the craving for buffalo chicken wings only with more veggies. It’s packed with crunch, spicy buffalo sauce, and homemade cooling Greek yogurt ranch dressing. So tasty!
Ingredients
- 2 to 4 eggs*
- Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing
- 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt (or sue full fat for a richer taste)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 to 4 tablespoons filtered water
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried dill (or sub 1/2 teaspoon fresh dill, roughly chopped)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried chives (or sub 1/4 teaspoon fresh chives, roughly chopped)
- Buffalo chicken
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts
- salt
- 1/2 cup hot sauce ( I like Frank’s Red Hot)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Salad
- 2 to 3 hearts romain lettuce, chopped
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 2 to 3 ribs of celery, sliced
- Optional: Blue cheese, crumbled (you could sub shredded cheddar cheese)
Instructions
- boil the eggs: Place eggs in a small sauce pot with a tight fitting lid. Cover with cold water – pop the lid on. Bring to a boil and immediately remove from the heat. Allow the eggs to sit in the hot water for 10 minutes. Rinse with cold water and peel while they’re still warm. Refrigerate until you’re ready to use them. Remember you can make these up to 1 week in advance.
- make the Greek yogurt ranch: Add the yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and to a food processor. Blend until smooth – add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until you reach your desired consistency (it should be thick, but pour-able). If you accidentally add too much liquid than add 1 to 2 tablespoons of yogurt to thicken it up again. Next add all of the spices and pulse or blend on low just until they are incorporated and broken down a little, specks of the green herbs should still be visible. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Transfer to an air tight container or mason jar and pop in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
- Cook the chicken: Heat a medium sized non stick skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle one side of the chicken with salt. Once the pan is hot add the oil, then the chicken salted side down – sprinkle the upside with more salt. Cook the chicken 5 to 8 minutes per side or until the the chicken is mostly cooked (internal temp at 155 degrees Fahrenheit). Add the hot sauce and butter over the chicken, allow the sauce to cook into the chicken another minute or two rotating the chicken in the sauce. Remove the chicken onto a cutting board once the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut the chicken: allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes. Slice or cut into bite sized pieces. Drizzle any remaining sauce in the pan over the chicken (if desired).
- Make the salad: While the chicken is cooking prepare your veggies as instructed above and slice the heard boiled eggs . Divide the romaine between bowls (or into one large serving bowl). Toss the romaine with some of the ranch dressing until it’s well coated (you may have some dressing left over). Top it with the celery, red onion, green bell pepper, hard boiled eggs, and crumbled blue cheese.
- Finish: Add the sliced buffalo chicken to the salad and serve with the ranch dressing on the side for extra dresssing as needed. Eat immedieatly.
- Store leftovers: Store any leftover veggies in separate containers with out dressing. Store chicken in a separate container. The veggies will keep without dressing for up to 1 day. Reheat the chicken in the microwave, or eat cold, it’s good cold too. đŸ™‚
Notes
Hard boiled eggs: For a short cut you could either make these up to one week in advance, peel and store in the fridge. OR you could purchase some at the salad bar or “short cuts” section of your grocery store. If you prepped you eggs ahead of time then you can reduce the cooking time by 10 minutes.
Bacon would be a delicious addition to this dish, if you want!
Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing: You may have dressing leftover, it’s good on pretty much any kind of salad. I found the dressing had a stronger ranch taste when it sat in the fridge for 24 hours so that the flavors could develop – it’s still good when eaten right away.
Also, I know that the photos show that I made the ranch dressing in a blender but I later found a food processor allows me to achieve a thicker dressing so I changed the recipe to reflect that.
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