Surprisingly simple, but totally delicious buffalo chicken salad! Complete with a homemade ranch dressing, this healthy recipe is FULL of delicious flavor. Quick and easy to make, it’s perfect for meal prep!

overhead image of buffalo chicken salad in a bowl with homemade ranch dressing and buffalo sauce on the side.

What You’ll Need to Make Buffalo Chicken Salad

Chicken – Start by either slicing and pounding chicken breasts until thin, or make your life super easy and buy pre-cut chicken cutlets! Or, if you’re not up for the extra step and can’t find chicken cutlets, then simply cook whole chicken breasts for your salad. If taking this option, you’ll likely need to cook the chicken for 4-5 additional minutes each side. To check if your chicken is fully cooked, insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of a breast. Once the thermometer reads 165° Fahrenheit, then you’re chicken is cooked through and ready for this salad recipe!

Buffalo Sauce – I make my own buffalo sauce for this buffalo chicken salad because it’s truly so easy. However, you can totally buy pre-made buffalo sauce instead, if you’d like. For the homemade buffalo sauce, all you’ll need is hot sauce, melted butter, and honey – that’s it!

Ranch Dressing – Again, I made my own ranch dressing for this salad. But you can buy bottled ranch instead, if that’s more your thing. If I’m short on time or looking for a short cut, I use this Primal Kitchen Vegan Ranch Dressing – it’s lighter and healthier than most other ranch dressings on the market!

Blue Cheese – Salty, tangy blue cheese crumbles are the cherry-on-top of this buffalo chicken salad! Though you can totally add any kind of cheese you’d like to this meal. Or, for a non-dairy salad, leave the blue cheese out altogether.

homemade ranch dressing being poured over a buffalo chicken salad.

Tips and Tricks

Meal prep this buffalo chicken salad ahead of a busy week! It’s the perfect grab-and-go lunch recipe. To do this, prepare the salads, then store the buffalo sauce and ranch dressing separately. When ready to eat, dress the salads and enjoy!
Feel free to switch out/swap in any ingredients you’d like! This salad is super simple, and easy to customize – so have fun with it and don’t be afraid to make it your own.
I always recommend dressing this salad right before serving! Leftover salad (without dressing) will stay fresh in the fridge for up to four days.

buffalo chicken salad in a bowl with a fork.

Adjust This Recipe to Your Dietary Needs

Make it Dairy-Free: For a dairy-free salad, leave out the blue cheese and make the homemade ranch dressing with mayonnaise, instead of Greek yogurt.

Make it Vegan/Vegetarian: Make some simple plant-based swaps to turn this into a vegan buffalo salad recipe! Replace the chicken with chickpeas – toss them in the chicken seasoning, then roast them in the oven at 350° Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes, or until crispy. Also, leave out the blue cheese and use a vegan mayo or plain vegan Greek yogurt to make the ranch dressing.

Buffalo Chicken Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by Samantha Course: MainDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Total time

minutes

Ingredients

For the chicken:
1-2 pounds chicken breasts, cut or pounded thin (or chicken cutlets)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
salt and black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon oil
For the buffalo sauce:
1/2 cup Frank’s hot sauce
1/4 cup melted butter
3 tablespoons honey
For the ranch dressing:
1 cup mayo or plain Greek yogurt
2-3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
For the salad:
1 bunch romaine, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 avocado, sliced
1/2 English cucumber, chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Directions

Pat chicken breasts dry with a paper towel, then season on both sides with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then sear chicken breasts 4-5 minutes per side or until cooked through.
Make the buffalo sauce by whisking together the hot sauce, melted butter, and honey in a small bowl.
Make the ranch dressing my whisking together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
Assemble the salad with romaine, celery, avocado, cucumber, carrots, blue cheese, and the cooked chicken, then top with a drizzle of buffalo sauce and ranch dressing.

Recipe Video

Did you make this recipe?

Share it and tag @samdoesherbest on Instagram!

Like this recipe?

View Post

What You Need To Make Crispy Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Wings

Chicken Wings -There are two kinds of chicken wings, a drumette and a flat. They’re both cut from the wing of a chicken, but yield a different shape and slightly different tastes. A drumette will taste a bit more mild and is made up of mostly white meat, whereas a flat is entirely dark meat and has more flavor. If you ask me, you need both on a plate of chicken wings. But I know some people prefer one kind over the other. Use whichever cut you’d like in this recipe!

Non-Dairy Butter – Any and all non-dairy butters will work in this recipe. I prefer Miyoko’s Cultured Vegan Butter, it is just all-around a superior non-dairy butter in my opinion. And if you’re not dairy-free, go ahead and use regular butter instead.

Hot Sauce – Most people and recipes will tell you that Frank’s RedHot is the only way to go with buffalo sauce. But I’d argue that any hot sauce will work. I used Cholula Original hot sauce in my buffalo sauce and it came out incredibly tasty! The only recommendation I’d make when picking a hot sauce, is to go for something a bit thicker in consistency. This will contribute to a thick buffalo sauce that clings to your wings.

Honey – This is my secret ingredient, it really does take these air fryer buffalo chicken wings to the next level. All that spice needs something to balance it out, and honey does the trick. Trust me, it’ll just be that ingredient in there that has people saying, WOW this is soooo good.

Adjust This Recipe To Your Dietary Needs

Make it Vegan: Use cauliflower instead of chicken wings! Chop a head of cauliflower into florets, keep the recipe the same except reduce the cook time to 15-20 minutes. You can also substitute maple syrup for the honey in the buffalo sauce.

Make it Paleo: Use ghee instead of non-dairy butter and your favorite paleo hot sauce.

Add Dairy: Feel free to use regular butter instead of non-dairy butter in this recipe!

Crispy Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Wings (GF/DF)

0 from 0 votes

Recipe by Samantha Russo Course: AppetizersCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Total time

minutes

These air fryer buffalo chicken wings are incredibly crispy and EXPLODING with flavor. This recipe features both air-fried and oven-baked options, along with a dairy-free buffalo sauce. With just a few simple steps, you’ll have healthier restaurant-quality buffalo chicken wings.