The best Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe! Easy to make and healthy, learn how to make buffalo chicken salad for a delicious, quick meal!
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Click here to read my policy and about affiliate links.
It’s no secret we are obsessed with buffalo sauce and we love our Buffalo Chicken Dip, Buffalo Chicken Soup, and Buffalo Chicken Casserole.
I have never liked chicken salad because I HATE mayo, however, once I perfected our Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad with NO MAYO, I knew I had to make a recipe with buffalo sauce!
This is such a delicious lunch and I know you are going to LOVE it!
Why we love this buffalo chicken recipe:
There are so many things to love about this recipe and here are some of the reasons it’s a favorite for us:
- yo – Mayo is relatively high in fat and offers little to no nutrition value. Greek yogurt is higher in protein, low fat, and low calorie.
- Low fat/high protein – Greek yogurt helps to make this chicken salad low in fat and high in protein. In 1.5 cups there is 40+ g of protein.
- Light and fresh! – This chicken salad is super filling while tasting really light and fresh! If you love Healthy Buffalo Chicken Dip you will totally enjoy this!
Is the buffalo chicken salad healthy? Yes, this is a healthy salad recipe! It’s a little bit high in sodium from the buffalo sauce but delicious!
How many calories in a buffalo chicken salad? In 1.5 cups, there are less than 300 calories and 40g+ of protein.
How long does it take to make buffalo chicken salad? It takes less than a half-hour to make . If you have cooked chicken on hand it should take only about 10 minutes.
Buffalo Chicken Salad Ingredients
To make this recipe you’ll need the following:
- cooked shredded chicken
- nonfat greek yogurt
- celery
- fresh parsley, garlic powder
- buffalo sauce
- blue cheese crumbles (optional)
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded substitutions box.
How to make Buffalo Chicken Salad
Making Buffalo Chicken Salad is super easy to do!
- Add all ingredients to a bowl (blue cheese is optional).
- Toss together using a spatula until all ingredients are thoroughly coated with yogurt.
- Serve on a sandwich, over a salad, or with crackers.
SUBSTITUTIONS FOR BUFFALO CHICKEN SALAD
This chicken salad is SO versatile. You can easily customize it with whatever you like/don’t like or have on hand. Here are some ideas for you:
Chicken – You can sub chicken for tuna if you’d like. We also have a Greek Yogurt Tuna Salad recipe. I have not tried canned chicken in this recipe but I think it would work. If you need an easy recipe for cooking chicken, try either our crockpot shredded chicken or instant pot shredded chicken.
Yogurt – I like to use plain, unflavored, non-fat greek yogurt in this recipe. You can use 1%, 2%, or full-fat yogurt if you like. We don’t recommend using flavored/sweetened yogurt in this recipe. I have not made this recipe without yogurt. Mayo might work but I can’t be sure without trying it.
Parsley- If you don’t have fresh parsley, you can sub with 1/4 the amount of dried parsley. If you don’t have or like parsley you can substitute with some fresh dill, thyme, or even basil!
Dairy Free – I have not tried this with dairy free yogurt, but I think it would work. Make sure that your yogurt is unsweetened, plain yogurt.
Grilled Chicken – This salad is great with leftover grilled chicken.
Celery– If you don’t like or don’t have celery, you can omit it.
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.
How to serve Healthy Buffalo Chicken Salad
You can serve this chicken salad however you like (we love it with green onions on top)! If you’re wondering what to serve with Boneless Buffalo Chicken Salad here are some ideas:
- on a sandwich or a strawberry salad
- in lettuce wraps
- as a healthy ‘dip’ with celery or carrot slices
- with crackers
- with extra veggies like Garlic Roasted Brussels Sprouts or Green Beans Almondine
For more buffalo chicken recipes, try our Buffalo Chicken Meatballs or Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole.
How to store Buffalo Chicken Salad
This healthy salad is great for meal prep because it lasts for a while in the fridge!
Can Buffalo Chicken Salad be made ahead of time? Yes! You can make this ahead of time and eat it later.
How long does buffalo chicken chicken salad keep in the fridge? You can keep this chicken salad in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. After that, it will lose its freshness.
Can you freeze buffalo chicken salad? We do not recommend freezing this chicken salad. The yogurt will get funny after freezing.
Will it be okay out of the fridge in a lunch box/on the go? Because this has cooked chicken in it and dairy, we wouldn’t recommend leaving it out of the fridge for more than 2 hours.
How to make 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 chicken breast 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 breast 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 1 lb of chicken breasts in water for 10-14 minutes until thoroughly cooked.
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 bone broth with it!)
Tip for shredding chicken: You can pull apart chicken with two forks – but if you want to save time – place your cooked chicken breasts in your kitchen aid mixer and give a few quick turns with the paddle attachment. You can also ‘mix’ them with the beaters of a hand mixer.
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
- 2.5 cups cooked shredded chicken about 1 lb
- ¾ cup nonfat greek yogurt unsweetened
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped finely
- ½ cup celery diced finely
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons buffalo sauce
- 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 cook chicken in the instant pot, crockpot or buy a rotisserie chicken.
- While chicken is cooking, chop parsley and celery.
- Once chicken is cooked, shred the chicken by pulling apart with 2 forks.
- Add chopped ingredients, spices, greek yogurt, buffalo sauce, cheese if using and shredded chicken in a bowl.
- Toss together using a spatula until all ingredients are thoroughly coated with yogurt.
- Serve on a sandwich or over a salad.
Dawn Cianci says
Is there something I can I use if I do not eat yogurt? I appreciate it!
The Clean Eating Couple says
I have not made this recipe without yogurt. Mayo might work but I can’t be sure without trying it.
ElizabethTaylor says
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.
Elizabeth Taylor says
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!!
Sarah says
Omg this tastes Soo good!! Had it on some baby spinach it was amazing .. the flavour was amazing. Highly recommend this recipe!
Laura says
This was absolutely delicious! I will be making this frequently – even my husband loved it!
Kyle says
This is delicious! I am not a fan of Greek yogurt so I was skeptical but the Buffalo sauce and spices mask it completely.
Gail says
I used hellmanns mayo instead of yogurt…used what was left from Rotisserie chicken
Jordan says
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!!
Melissa Murphy says
Yummy and easy to make!