Make these flavorful Grilled Buffalo Chicken Tenders in less than 30 minutes! Serve with your favorite dipping sauce or on top of a salad.
Quick
Minimal prep
You’ll Learn: Why basting on the grill gives you maximum flavor and moisture
Worth It: No need for marinade
Bonus: Air fryer option
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Meal prep favorite – I love making chicken tenders for meal prep because they are so versatile. You can use them in salads, with dip, on a sandwich, any way you would like.
- Heat out of the kitchen – In the summer, I do as much meal prep as possible out on the grill to keep the kitchen cool. It’s so nice to keep the heat out of the house.
- Quick and easy – These buffalo chicken tenders come together in just 20 minutes. They are great for meal prep or a super easy weeknight dinner.
Serving Suggestions
These buffalo chicken tenders are delicious on their own as an appetizer or a snack with a dip like blue cheese dip or homemade ranch dressing and served with carrots and celery sticks like buffalo wings. They are also great on a salad like this buffalo chicken salad. You can slice them down on a sandwich or wrap!
For a classic chicken tender and fry combination, pair these with air fryer french fries or air fryer seasoned sweet potato wedges for a easy dinner. To add a bit of greens, I like to air fry brussels sprouts too.
You could also pair it with grilled sweet potato wedges to do everything on the grill.
This chicken tenders would also be so good with this one pot white cheddar mac and cheese.
Can I make these inside?
Yes! It is just as easy to make these buffalo chicken tenders inside on a grill pan or regular cast iron skillet. You can follow the same steps as below and baste the chicken tenders with buffalo sauce as you flip them, but just cook them indoors on the stove instead.
You can also do baked buffalo chicken tenders either on a parchment paper lined baking sheet in the oven or in a single layer in an air fryer basket.
If you do not need a gluten-free option, you could also bread these. Dip the chicken into a shallow dish of an all purpose flour mixture, then into an egg mixture, and finally into panko bread crumbs or any breadcrumbs. You can either bake these or fry them in batches. For baking, spray a wire rack with cooking spray like olive oil spray and place is on a baking sheet to help make them crispy. When they are done cooking, gently toss in the buffalo sauce.
Ingredients
- Chicken breast tenderloins – to keep it easy I like to buy chicken tenderloins pre-cut at the store
- Salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper – this spice blend adds depth of flavor and spice to your buffalo chicken strips
- Hot sauce – I like Frank’s Red Hot for this recipe
- Butter – butter is the base of your buffalo sauce
- Brown Sugar – the brown sugar helps caramelize and thicken your sauce
Ingredient Substitutions
If you don’t have chicken tenderloins at the grocery store, you can cut boneless skinless chicken breasts into tender shape for this buffalo chicken tender recipe. Take each breast and cut in half horizontally. Then, cut each piece in half or thirds depending on the size of the breasts. You should be able to get 4-6 tenders from each chicken breasts.
Chicken thighs or chicken wings also work for this buffalo chicken recipe.You may just need to grill them for longer, so watch carefully until the internal temperature reaches 165F.
You can play around with the spice blend for this recipe. Add smoked paprika or chili powder for a bit of smokiness. A bit of onion powder can add more depth of flavor.
How to make
Step 1: Preheat grill and season chicken tenders
To begin, preheat grill or grill pan to medium high heat. Then, place chicken tenders on a baking sheet or large plate.
Mix a teaspoon salt, pepper, teaspoon garlic powder, and cayenne in a small bowl. Season chicken tenders on all sides with the seasoning blend.
Step 2: Prepare buffalo sauce
Next, melt butter in the microwave or on the stove top. While the butter is still warm, stir in the hot sauce and brown sugar.
Set this sauce to the side with a basting brush.
Step 3: Grill, flip and baste chicken tenders with buffalos sauce
Once the grill is warm, bring the buffalo sauce and chicken tenders outside. Then, place the seasoned chicken tenders on the grill and cook for 2 minutes before flipping.
Next, flip the tenders and brush the top with the buffalo sauce. Close the grill and cook 2 minutes.
Repeat the process of flip, baste and grill 2 minutes until you have cooked the chicken tenders for 8 minutes total.
The internal temperature of the chicken should be 165F. Remove the chicken tenders from the grill, allow to cool slightly and enjoy!
Storage and reheating
Store this buffalo chicken tender recipe in the fridge in an air tight container for up to 4 to days. They will dry out easily when reheated so I like to eat the leftovers cold on a salad.
Check out these other great buffalo recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Grilled Buffalo Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken breast tenderloins
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp hot sauce
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat grill or grill pan to medium high heat. Place chicken tenders on a baking sheet or large plate. Mix salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne in a small bowl. Season chicken tenders on all sides with the seasoning blend.
- Melt butter in the microwave or on the stove top. While the butter is still warm, whisk in the hot sauce and brown sugar. Set this sauce to the side with a basting brush.
- Once the grill is warm, bring the buffalo sauce and chicken tenders outside. Place the seasoned chicken tenders on the grill and cook for 2 minutes before flipping.
- Flip the tenders and brush the top with the buffalo sauce. Close the grill and cook 2 minutes. Repeat the process of flip, baste and grill 2 minutes until you have cooked the chicken tenders for 8 minutes total.
- The internal temperature of the chicken should be 165F. Remove the chicken tenders from the grill, allow to cool slightly and enjoy!
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Leave a Reply