This Ultimate Buffalo Chicken Salad is the perfect combination of tender, juicy grilled buffalo chicken on a bed of crisp romaine lettuce, a variety of fresh toppings and a flavor-packed homemade blue cheese dressing! A perfect summer salad!
The Perfect Restaurant Style Buffalo Chicken Salad
Sometimes you just need a big salad for a quick and easy lunch or dinner. This salad is a perfect option for your menu plan. It is packed with so many great flavors, they will really wake-up your tastebuds! Personally, we love these salads with ALL the toppings but feel free to use the ones that you like or simply what you have on hand.
We also have a great Paleo Crispy Buffalo Chicken Salad that can be made on the stove top, if you don’t have a grill or prefer it that way.
What You Will Need
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts – when topping a salad we love to use chicken breasts, they just have a little more substance to them than chicken thighs but, as always, feel free to do what works for you!
- kosher salt and pepper – a perfect simple seasoning used when cooking any meat.
- buffalo sauce – we love our easy homemade buffalo sauce (it has the perfect tang and slightly spicy flavor) or grab any of your favorite store-bought options!
- romaine lettuce – the perfect crisp, green base for an amazing salad.
- avocado, corn kernels, green onions, matchstick carrots, red onion, & cherry tomatoes – a variety of fresh toppings that really make this an ultimate buffalo chicken salad!
- blue cheese crumbles – the perfect compliment to anything made with buffalo chicken.
- blue cheese dressing – this homemade option is so easy and so good! You have to try it!
The Best Ways To Cook Chicken For This Salad
There are a variety of ways to cook buffalo chicken when preparing this salad. You can easily make it in the oven, on the stove top, in the crockpot, or our favorite way… on the grill!
Salad Topping Options
This is an ultimate buffalo chicken salad so we really went for all of the toppings – avocado, corn, green onions, carrots, red onion, cherry tomatoes, and blue cheese crumbles, but if you are looking for other options you could also toss on a hard boiled egg, cucumbers, or even a little bacon. Get creative!
Meal Prep
This salad is a great option to meal prep for weekday lunches! You can easily make the buffalo chicken ahead of time, just store it separately from the salad so you have the option to heat it up (if you want) and so it doesn’t make the salad soggy. You will also want to wait on the blue cheese or ranch dressing until you are ready to eat to keep it fresh and crisp.
How To Make The Ultimate Buffalo Chicken Salad
Begin prepping your chicken breasts by patting them dry.
Season them with salt and pepper.
And place them in a bowl with your favorite buffalo sauce.
Let them sit for 15-30 minutes.
Place them on a clean, preheated grill to cook on direct heat for 4-5 minutes on each side and then over indirect heat for 5-10 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 165 degrees.
Mix up your blue cheese dressing.
Assemble your salad and enjoy!
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Other Buffalo Chicken Recipes You Might Like
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Healthy Buffalo Chicken Dip
Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Ultimate Buffalo Chicken Salad
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Grill
- Cuisine: American
Description
Ultimate Buffalo Chicken Salad – packed with flavor and ALL the good stuff! Everything you could ever want in a buffalo chicken salad recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup buffalo sauce (store-bought or homemade)
- 4 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled
- 1 avocado, cubed
- 1/2 cup corn kernels
- 2–4 green onions, sliced
- 1/2 cup matchstick carrots
- 2 tablespoons red onion, diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- (optional) croutons
- Dressing: homemade blue cheese dressing (store-bought works too) or you can use some homemade ranch*
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts on plate. Pat dry and sprinkle both sides with a generous amount of the kosher salt and ground black pepper.
- Place chicken in a bowl and pour buffalo sauce over top; mix to fully coat the chicken. Let sit 15-30 minutes.
- Ensure grill grates are clean and rub with olive oil or your favorite non-stick.
- Heat grill to medium heat (approximately 400-450 degrees F).
- Place chicken on direct heat (direct flame) and cook at medium heat for 4-5 minutes per side.
- Move chicken away from the direct heat (direct flame) so that it is cooking on indirect heat (maintaining the same grill temp) and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes (you don’t need to flip during this point because the chicken will cook as if it is in an oven) or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the chicken reads 160 on your meat thermometer.
- Remove from grill and let rest at least 5 minutes (the chicken will continue to cook during this time and the internal temp will continue to rise up 5 additional degrees). Chicken is safe to eat when it reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees (at thickest part of the breast).
- Slice chicken into cubes or slices.
- Divide all the salad components between two bowls (chicken, lettuce, etc.). Top with the dressing of your choice and enjoy!
Notes
- Chicken Breast: you could use chicken thighs here too if you want, just adjust the cooking time. We have a tutorial on How to Grill Chicken Thighs HERE!
- Buffalo Sauce: we love our homemade buffalo sauce, but feel free to use store-bought! The Primal Kitchen buffalo sauce is awesome!
- Romaine Lettuce: feel free to use any leafy greens, spinach, etc.
- Corn: if you are grilling your chicken you might as well take this salad to the next level and grill some corn too! Simply cut off the kernels and add to your salad.
- Croutons: we LOVE making our own homemade croutons! And you can use gluten-free bread if that is an issue for you.
- Dressing: this homemade blue cheese dressing is phenomenal, but feel free to use store-bought if you are short on time.
- Dairy-Free: to make this salad dairy-free simply omit the blue cheese crumbles and then use a dairy-free ranch dressing instead of the blue cheese dressing.
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