Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe
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Nothing is quite as delicious as Buffalo chicken salad, especially when it’s full of wholesome, real food ingredients like this is! This easy recipe is great for a healthy lunch or dinner.
For a quick, easy and healthy meal, you can’t go wrong with a buffalo chicken salad! Tender shredded chicken combined with a spicy kick of buffalo sauce and a healthy yogurt-based dressing. It’s fantastic in sandwiches, on a bed of crispy greens, as a snack, or even a healthy party dip!
It’s no secret we are obsessed with buffalo sauce. We use it to make meatballs, dip, buffalo chicken soup, and even a buffalo chicken casserole.
I have never liked traditional chicken salad because I HATE mayo. However, after perfecting our Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad recipe, I knew I had to make a similar recipe using buffalo sauce!
The yogurt-based dressing increases the protein while reducing fat and calories. There are more than 40 grams of protein and less than 300 calories in a 1.5 cup serving of buffalo chicken salad.
Even though it’s healthier, it has plenty of flavor! It really is the spicy chicken recipe of your dreams!!
Best of all, it takes less than 30 minutes to make—and with previously cooked chicken, it only takes 10 minutes!
This is such a delicious lunch and I know you are going to LOVE it!
liz’s tips for the best buffalo chicken salad
- Mix the dressing before tossing it with the shredded meat. Yes, this means there’s an extra bowl to wash, but it also ensures that the dressing covers every single piece.
- Shred the chicken well to avoid any large chunks. Pro Tip: Place your cooked chicken in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Turn the mixer on medium speed and you’ll have shredded chicken in less than 2 minutes. You can even pour the dressing into the mixer bowl after shredding the meat, then let the mixer do all of the work for you.
Ingredients
Substitutions
Chicken – Any type of pre-cooked chicken will work, including canned and even grilled chicken. However, if you use canned, be sure to drain it well. We use our Instant Pot to cook the chicken breasts. If you want a hands-off recipe, our crockpot shredded chicken or a rotisserie chicken (without the skin) are both great options.
If you want to use a different type of meat, that’s fine, too. We also have a Greek Yogurt Tuna Salad recipe that you could make and add the buffalo sauce to.
Yogurt – We use plain, unflavored, non-fat Greek yogurt in our buffalo chicken salad. You can use 1%, 2%, or full-fat yogurt if you’d like. We don’t recommend using flavored/sweetened yogurt in this recipe. We have not tested this recipe without yogurt. Mayo will probably work, but we aren’t sure how much you’ll need to use.
Parsley – If you don’t have fresh parsley, you can sub with 1/4 the amount of dried parsley. If you don’t care for parsley, you can substitute with some fresh dill, thyme, cilantro, or even basil!
Blue Cheese Crumbles – Not everyone likes blue cheese, so leave it out if you want to. The salad is still delicious without it!
Buffalo Sauce – If you don’t want to use homemade buffalo wing sauce, there are plenty of bottled, ready-to-use sauces available. I like Primal Kitchen or Frank’s Red Hot.
Celery– Feel free to omit this, or substitute it with scallions, onions, or even chopped bell peppers.
Recipe Variations
Dairy Free – Dairy free yogurt should work, but it hasn’t been tested with this recipe. Make sure that your yogurt is unsweetened and unflavored. For the best flavor, we recommend sticking with a full-fat version.
Lower Salt: Buffalo Sauce is a high sodium food and makes this recipe high in sodium. If you eat a low sodium diet, look for a low sodium buffalo sauce.
Other Chicken Salad: If you like everything bagels, try our Everything Bagel Chicken Salad or Taco Chicken Salad.
How to make Buffalo Chicken Salad
This is just a summary of the steps involved in making the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card for the full instructions, or click on the Jump to Recipe button, below.
- Add all of the chicken salad ingredients to a bowl.
- Stir to combine until everything is thoroughly coated with yogurt and buffalo sauce.
- Serve it up however you wish, and enjoy!
Cooking Methods for Shredded Chicken
The only ‘cooking’ this recipe requires is for the chicken breast. You can cook your chicken in the instant pot, crockpot, or by boiling it on the stovetop. Even better – buy a rotisserie chicken to save time! Here are different methods for cooking your chicken:
Instant Pot: Cook 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs with ¼ cup water on manual for 14 minutes. You can also follow this instant pot shredded chicken recipe if you need help.
Crockpot: Cook 1 lb chicken breasts or chicken thighs with ¼ cup water on low for 6 hours. You can also follow this crock pot shredded chicken recipe if you need help.
Stovetop: Boil or poach 1 lb of chicken breasts in water until the internal temperature of the poultry reaches 165°F. at its thickest portion. This typically takes 10-15 minutes.
Rotisserie chicken: Simply buy a cooked chicken and pull the meat off with forks to save time! (Make sure to save the bones and make slow cooker bone broth with it!)
Tip for Shredding Cooked Chicken
You can pull the chicken apart with two forks, but if you want to save time, place the cooked chicken breasts in a stand mixer bowl. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and let it run a few quick turns. You can also use an electric hand mixer.
storage
Refrigerator: Keep any leftover chicken salad in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. After that, it will lose its freshness.
Freezing: We do not recommend freezing buffalo chicken salad. The consistency of the yogurt becomes clumpy and unpleasant after freezing and thawing.
Unrefrigerated in a lunch box/on the go: Because there is cooked chicken and dairy products in it, we don’t recommend leaving the salad out of the fridge for more than 2 hours.
Serving Ideas
Here are some easy ways to serve the buffalo chicken salad:
- Sandwiches: Serve it in a pita, tortilla wrap, or between two slices of bread
- Lettuce wraps: It’s great in romaine lettuce with a drizzle of healthy ranch dressing or healthy blue cheese dressing
- As a healthy dip or spread with celery, cucumber, carrots, and/or crackers
- On a bed of salad greens with one of these healthy dressing recipes
- Stuffed inside of bell peppers, beefsteak tomatoes, or hard boiled eggs
Although most people prefer buffalo chicken salad sandwiches as a lunch option, you could easily add some sides and serve it for dinner.
Other healthy lunch recipes
Looking for other easy lunches? Check out these 40+ Easy Healthy Chicken Recipes. Click here to grab our free healthy 30 minute dinners cookbook. Here are some of our other favorite healthy lunch recipes that use shredded chicken.
Buffalo Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups cooked shredded chicken about 1 lb
- ¾ cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup finely diced celery
- 2 tablespoons buffalo sauce
- ½ tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles optional
Instructions
- Cook chicken. Bring a pot of water to a boil and boil chicken for 10-14 minutes. You can also make instant pot shredded chicken, crockpot shredded chicken or buy a rotisserie chicken.
- While chicken is cooking, chop parsley and celery.
- Once the chicken is cooked, shred the chicken by pulling apart with 2 forks.
- Add the shredded chicken, Greek yogurt, celery, buffalo sauce, parsley, garlic powder and blue cheese in a bowl.
- Stir the ingredients together using a spatula until all ingredients are thoroughly coated with yogurt.
- Serve on a sandwich or over a salad.
Video
Notes
- Chicken – Any type of unseasoned or simply-seasoned cooked chicken will work, even leftovers. If you use canned chicken, be sure to drain it well before using.
- Yogurt – You can use any percent fat (1, 2 or 5%) We haven’t tried this recipe with dairy free yogurt but it should work.
- Celery– Feel free to omit this, or substitute it with scallions, onions, or even chopped bell peppers.
I have made this recipe a few times since I discovered it, and I will be making it again for sure. So delicious!
I made this and it came out great! Will make again.
Glad you liked it! Have you tried our buffalo Chicken dip? You’d probably love that too!
Do these macros use the primal kitchen buffalo sauce or a different brand? And do these macros include the blue cheese crumbles? Thank you!
If you’re counting macros you should put this recipe into your app and scan your exact items! it used franks red hot for the sauce, and did include the cheese crumbles. hope that helps!
We loved it!!
This was DELICIOUS. I left out the parsley and accidentally put in a little too much yogurt but it was still fantastic. It made hefty servings and lasted well in the fridge all week. Will 100% be making this recipe again!
Yummy and easy to make!
I put in too much fresh parsley, and half a red onion. I’m big on crunchy texture, and this hit the spot. I just ate this in three servings, I feel like it gets better every day in the fridge! Recommend reduced fat crackers if you’re tracking macros. Will definitely make again!!
I used hellmanns mayo instead of yogurt…used what was left from Rotisserie chicken
This is delicious! I am not a fan of Greek yogurt so I was skeptical but the Buffalo sauce and spices mask it completely.
This was absolutely delicious! I will be making this frequently – even my husband loved it!
Omg this tastes Soo good!! Had it on some baby spinach it was amazing .. the flavour was amazing. Highly recommend this recipe!
This is so amazing!! I really feel like I could eat the whole bowl! I didn’t have fresh parsley, so I used dried like recommended and it turned out great.
Today I made this again with feta instead of blue cheese because it was what I had. I definitely prefer blue cheese, but if you don’t like blue cheese, you should try the feta because it’s still really tasty!!
Is there something I can I use if I do not eat yogurt? I appreciate it!
I have not made this recipe without yogurt. Mayo might work but I can’t be sure without trying it.