Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe

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Busy nights mean quick and easy meals in my house, and this Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe is one of our favorite low carb dinners. You can put this dinner together in less than 10 minutes using my favorite shortcuts, so keep reading to find out how!

Y’all know I love taking shortcuts in the kitchen in order to make delicious home-cooked meals with minimal time and effort. That’s why this Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe has been one of our go-to dinners for many years. It’s super quick and easy, and it tastes amazing too!

I’ve talked about it in several posts, but pre-cooked chicken breasts and rotisserie chicken are my favorite kitchen shortcuts. They allow me to throw meals together quickly on busy weeknights. When you learn how to take shortcuts in your kitchen, you’ll be less tempted to grab fast food on nights when you’re running all around town with your kids or after working an extra long shift.

Another reason to take shortcuts in the kitchen is to reduce the number of dishes you are dirtying up. Because let’s face it, part of the dread in cooking is knowing you’ll have to clean up afterward. With my tips and tricks, you’ll be creating quick and easy meals that require little clean up as well! 

If you make this Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe and use one of the shortcuts, let me know! When I know what shortcuts you’re using, I can create more recipes using those shortcuts to help you create delicious healthy meals for your family with minimal time and effort!

What ingredients you need to make this Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe:

• Chicken breasts: Chicken can take a while to cook, it’s messy, it dirties up your dishes, and it can dry out quickly if you overcook it (you know, to ensure it’s not undercooked). That’s why pre-cooked chicken breasts are great to have on hand. You can find a few different varieties in the refrigerated meat section at Costco and the grocery store. Some even come pre-seasoned, which is an added bonus when using on a salad. Trader Joe’s has fully cooked chicken breasts, cut up and packaged for easy use. You can get plain or Chile Lime seasoned, and both are great to have on hand. Frozen fully cooked chicken is another great option. It may take a while to thaw, but if you cook them in the air fryer, they cook rather quickly. Rotisserie chicken has always been a fan-fave! It’s cooked, it’s seasoned, and it’s ready to eat when you are. Cut off a piece, chop it up, toss with it sauce, and throw it on your salad!
• Buffalo sauce: Use your favorite bottled buffalo wing sauce for this recipe. My two faves are Frank’s Red Hot Mild Wing Sauce and Primal Kitchen Buffalo Sauce.
• Salad greens: Grab a bag of salad mix, chopped salad, chopped kale, baby spinach, arugula, or your favorite salad greens. You can use any greens you like for this salad.
• Ranch Dressing: This is one area where I refuse to take a shortcut. My ranch dressing recipe is seriously the best, and it’s made with better ingredients than the bottled stuff. But if you want to use bottled ranch for ease and convenience, please do! This is your kitchen now, and you can use shortcuts that work for YOU! My favorite bottled ranch dressings are Hidden Valley and Primal Kitchen.
• Cheddar Cheese: You can omit the cheese and use a dairy free ranch dressing to make this recipe dairy free. But there’s something about the cheese that adds to the deliciousness of this Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe. 
• Add-Ins: I usually don’t add anything else to this salad because I want it to be quick and easy, but diced cucumbers, celery, and carrots are great options!

How to make this Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe:

1. Add salad greens to a bowl
2. Toss cooked chicken breasts with buffalo sauce and place on salad greens
3. Add shredded cheddar cheese and a drizzle of ranch dressing
4. It’s that simple! Now you have an easy “home-cooked” Buffalo Chicken Salad to eat!
5. Makes 4 servings

You can make this Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe the night before and store it in an airtight container to take to work the next day. I recommend packaging the chicken and dressing in their own separate containers and adding to the lettuce and cheese right before eating. That way your lettuce won’t wilt, and it will taste fresh for your lunch. 

A few of my other favorite salad recipes:

Wedge Salad

Easy Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing

3 Ingredient Chicken Salad 

Everything But the Bagel Salad Dressing

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