Deliciously Creamy Salad with Buffalo Chicken

Make this creamy salad with buffalo chicken for a refreshing and soul satisfying lunch. And be sure to check out the sandwich and wrap variations too!

A Note From Teri on This Recipe

I wanted to take all the goodness and flavor from a buffalo chicken wing and put it together in a fabulous salad. It tastes like a bit of a guilt free spin with everything you love with a buffalo sauce, a creamy dressing, blue cheese, celery and carrots.

This buffalo chicken salad recipe is so satiating. It’s high protein deliciousness that is perfect for lunch or a weeknight dinner. This chicken would also be fabulous for meal prep. You can use it in this salad, in a sandwich, in a wrap, or in a lettuce wrap. There are endless ways to enjoy this chicken. It’s paired with a buffalo version of my creamy chive dressing that is so luscious. Use it in this salad, or even as a dip for vegetables.

Ingredients

Buffalo Creamy Chive Dressing:

• Large egg
• Light olive oil 
• Chopped chives
• Fresh lemon juice 
• Minced shallots
• Apple cider vinegar 
• Garlic clove
• Anchovy, optional 
• Grated lemon zest 
• Kosher salt 
• Buffalo sauce

Buffalo Chicken Thighs:

• Buffalo hot sauce
• Boneless chicken thighs 
• Kosher salt
• Garlic powder 
• Black pepper 
• Paprika 
• Olive oil

Salad:

• Romaine lettuce
• Kosher salt 
• Julienned carrots 
• Celery sticks 
• Cherry tomatoes 
• Blue cheese crumbles or cheddar cheese
• Avocado
• Green olives 
• Green onion

Variations

This recipe is really delicious with chicken thighs, but you could certainly use boneless skinless chicken breasts instead. Be sure to adjust your cooking time as needed for the size of your chicken.

The buffalo creamy chive dressing is truly the star of the show in this recipe. I highly recommend you take the time to make it. It’s just a few minutes of extra prep that makes all the difference! However, if you prefer, you could always add a bit of buffalo sauce to a blue cheese dressing or homemade ranch dressing instead.

Make a creamy chicken salad! For a shortcut to a delicious chicken salad, you could add your buffalo wing sauce to a rotisserie chicken with mayo or some greek yogurt for added protein. You could serve it with crackers, tortilla chips or fresh vegetables like a buffalo chicken dip, or even make buffalo chicken salad sandwiches.

How to Make This Salad with Buffalo Chicken

Make Your Buffalo Creamy Chive Dressing

In a wide mouth mason jar, add the egg and, using an immersion blender, slowly add the olive oil until it emulsifies and thickens. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until thoroughly combined. Cover and refrigerate to allow the dressing to thicken before use. 

In a small bowl, combine the spices. Place the chicken thighs in a bowl and coat them with the spice blend. Set aside.

In a small saute pan, heat up the buffalo sauce over low heat. Or, place it in a microwave-safe bowl and cook for a minute or so until heated through. 

Cook Chicken and Assemble Salad

To cook the chicken, heat a skillet or cast-iron pan over high heat for 2 – 3 minutes. Lower heat to medium and add the olive oil. Cook the chicken thighs skin down for 5 – 6 minutes or until golden crispy. Note: The timing on the chicken thighs may vary depending on the size of each thigh and how many you cook in the same pan. Once the skin is crispy and golden, flip and cook for 4 more minutes. Using a spoon or basting brush, top each thigh with about a tablespoon of buffalo sauce and quickly flip them twice. Remove chicken from the skillet and place on a plate to rest. 

To serve, add the romaine to a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Top with the carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, blue cheese, avocado, and green olives. Slice the chicken things and add them over the salad. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss everything together. Sprinkle the green onions, then serve and enjoy.

Turn Your Buffalo Chicken Salad into a Sandwich!

You can use these buffalo chicken thighs to make an incredible sandwich. It uses a lot of similar ingredients to your salad, all on a fabulous brioche bun.

For the sandwich:

• Green cabbage 
• Purple cabbage 
• Carrots 
• Geen onions 
• Kosher salt 
• Brioche rolls
• Pickle slices or pepperoncini

How to Make the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

To make this sandwich, follow all the same instructions for your salad dressing and chicken thighs. When your chicken thighs are just about done, place two slices of cheese on top of each chicken thigh. Remove from heat and cover the pan to melt the cheese. 

In a medium bowl, toss together the cabbages, carrots and green onions, and sprinkle with salt. Add a 1/4 cup of the dressing to coat. Toss to combine and set aside. If it makes it easier, you can buy a pre-shredded coleslaw mix but I prefer making it myself because it’s fresher and crunchier. 

To assemble the sandwiches, spread a generous amount of the creamy buffalo dressing on the bottom half of each bun. Place one chicken thigh on top of the dressed bun and top with a spoonful of cabbage slaw, pickle slices or pepperoncini, and the bun tops. Serve with extra slaw on the side. 

Turn Your Buffalo Chicken Salad into a Wrap!

For two Buffalo Chicken Wraps, peel the outer 2-4 leaves off a head of iceberg lettuce (use two heads of iceberg if you cannot get 4 intact leaves from one head) and rinse them under cold water then let them crisp up on the fridge on a sheet tray.  

Prepare the dressing, chicken, carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and green onions as above. Stack two iceberg leaves together to create a shell and fill it with all of the other ingredients and your choice of blue cheese crumbles or cheddar cheese. 

Carefully, using both hands, begin to roll the leaves up into a wrap. Begin with the edge of the leaves closest to you and start wrapping it over the filling. Pull the filling in toward you as you roll and tuck or fold in the sides of the lettuce as you go. Continue rolling as tightly as you can until the sandwich is completely wrapped, like a burrito. Then tightly roll the paper around the wrap. Twist the ends of the paper, and cut the wrap in half. Repeat to make a second wrap, then serve and enjoy immediately.

Storage and Reheating

Store leftovers in airtight containers in the fridge for up to four days. I love to enjoy the chicken cold in other salads, in sandwiches, in wraps or even by itself as a quick snack.

Try These Other Spicy Chicken Recipes

• Hot Clementine Sumac Roast Chicken
• Nashville Hot Chicken
• Spicy Butter Chicken
• Spicy Citrus Chicken Stir Fry

If you make this Salad with Buffalo Chicken recipe, be sure to rate and review the recipe to let me know what you think. And if you want to follow along, head to Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest for more inspiration!

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