Buffalo Chicken Salad

A creamy, spicy, high protein lunch ready in under 30 minutes

Course Lunch

Cuisine American

Keyword buffalo chicken salad, buffalo chicken salad recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 25

Servings servings

Calories 335kcal

Author Madeline Tague

Ingredients

1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 cup celery - roughly chopped
1 cup shredded carrot
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup plain greek yogurt
3 tbsp hot sauce - more or less depending on your heat preference
2 tbsp ranch seasoning blend

Instructions

Place chicken breasts in a sauce pan with chicken broth or water mixed with bullion. The liquid should cover the chicken completely if you don’t have broth, salted water will also work. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover the pot and simmer for 16-18 minutes.
Check that the chicken has cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165F before removing from heat. Allow the chicken to cool for 10-15 minutes before continuing.
Place the chicken breasts in a food processor - its okay if they are still a little warm. Press the pulse button a few times until the breasts are just shredded, not too much because we want some texture. Add the celery, carrot, mayonnaise, greek yogurt, hot sauce and ranch seasoning to the food processor
Pulse again just until everything is evenly combined. At this point I like to taste and mix in a bit more hot sauce if i want it a bit spicier. Then, transfer to the fridge so all of the flavors can come together and I serve chilled. You can also serve immediately at room temperature.

Notes

Use the food processor to shred the chicken. This is the fastest way to get perfectly shredded chicken without the effort of two forks. Just pulse a few times until shredded. Do not over-process or it will turn into a paste.

Taste the dressing before serving. The hot sauce level is very personal. Taste the salad after mixing everything together and add more hot sauce if you want it spicier or a little more Greek yogurt if you want to cool it down.

Chill before serving if you have time. This salad is great right away but the flavors come together even more after 30 minutes in the fridge. It is also one of the best meal prep lunches because it stays fresh for up to 4 days.

Use rotisserie chicken for a shortcut. If you want to skip the poaching step, a store-bought rotisserie chicken works great. Just shred the breast meat and use it in place of the poached chicken.

Nutrition