Grilled Caesar Buffalo Chicken Salad.
Say hello to the best summer meal ever.
Like forever-evah.
Ugh. This is fantastically fantastic.
Hi! Hey! Hello!
How was your weekend? Mine was full of chunky babes and so much chocolate frosting that I may never eat a brownie again. Also: cheeseburgers. Happy Mother’s Day to me. My one request was to not have to unload the dishwasher. Worst.chore.ever.
It was hot and summery and sunny and beautiful. I made grand plans for flowers and herbs which I will inevitably kill and played with coral nail polish with rose gold glitter and wore hot pink mirrored sunglasses and wondered if little girls still play Mall Madness and sat outside and sneezed my face off and it all felt GOOD.
I’m currently working on an embarrassing summer playlist (because, uh, hello I’m 64 years old) AND a summer bucket list. A real one this time. Not like last year’s, which I had to half-fake since I was secretly oh-so knocked up.
So do you want to, like, talk about salad?
Neither do I, but this is a good one. Promise.
It’s no secret that we are crazy over grilled romaine. Grilled greens in general is a surefire way that I will get greens in – I just wish we could do it every single day. Quickly charred lettuce sounds ridiculous but if you’ve never tried it, you’re totally missing out. Seriously.
The secrets are: a super screaming hot grill – pretty romaine stalks, cut in half so there is a “flat” side and drizzled with a little oil and lots of salt and pepper – fastfastfast grilling time. Easy! But you HAVE to do all of them. If so, you are on your way to smoky lettuce heaven.
Ew?
The ONLY (and I really mean only) way I thought that our regular grilled romaine Caesars could get better was by adding buffalo chicken. Grilled buffalo chicken, of course. Grilled buffalo chicken THIGHS, of course.
Yep. Still so riding that train. Making boneless, skinless thighs every single weekend for some meal prep and every single week for at least one dinner. Holy flavor.
The dressing here is a parmesan greek yogurt dressing which I first made a few years ago for these roasted corn Caesar salads. It’s FAB. It works on so many salads and also as a little dip for things like raw veggies and what not.
If you’re into that freaky stuff.
To round things out, aside from a few large shavings of cheese, are huuuuuuge croutons. Basically some grilled garlicky baguettes. Chop them into croutons, dip them in the salad, do what you want. Because you’re lovely. This is a salad you do NOT want to share.
Grilled Buffalo Chicken Caesar Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 3/4 cup buffalo wing sauce
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 stalks romaine lettuce, cut in half
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 baguette, sliced into rounds (you want at least 8 to 10 slices)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 ounces parmagiano-reggiano cheese, shaved for for topping
homemade greek yogurt caesar dressing
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 4 anchovies, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat your grill to the high.
- In a small bowl, stir together the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Rub it onto the chicken thighs evenly. Place the chicken on the grill (preferably on one half side of the grill, so you can use the other half for the romaine and the bread) and cook until it is cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes, flipping once or twice in between. While the chicken is cooking, heat the buffalo wing and butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Whisk until the butter is melted.
- When the chicken is almost finished, brush the buffalo wing sauce over each thigh. When you remove the chicken from the grill, brush more sauce on and then let the chicken sit for 5 minutes or so. Slice it or shred it – however you want to serve it!
- While the chicken cooks, drizzle the sliced side of the romaine with a tablespoon or so of olive oil (per each sliced stalk). Sprinkle on a pinch of salt and pepper as well. Rub each baguette slice with the garlic cloves on both sides (you may not need both cloves) and drizzle the remaining tablespoons of olive oil on top. I like to grill the bread first because the romaine needs to be served as quickly as possibly after grilling. If you have an open side of the grill (or once your chicken is finished), place the bread on the grill and grill each side for 1 to 2 minutes, until golden and grill marks appear. Place the romaine stalks on the grill, cut side down. Grill for 1 to 2 minutes, until the lettuce becomes charred, then flip over for an additional minute.
- To serve the salads, place one or two stalks on a plate. Drizzle on some of the dressing, then top with the buffalo chicken. Drizzle on a little more dressing! Shave some parmesan on top. You can, of course, drizzle on extra wing sauce, crumble blue cheese on top or add scallions or chives. You can serve the grilled bread on the side or cut it up to make croutons. You can also slice the lettuce and serve it as a chopped salad. Totally up to you! EAT UP.
homemade greek yogurt caesar dressing
- To make the dressing, add the garlic, yogurt, parmesan, mustard, vinegar, anchovies, lemon juice, salt and pepper to a food processor and blend until pureed. With the processor still on, stream in the olive oil until a creamy dressing forms.
Did you make this recipe?
Be sure to follow @howsweeteats on instagram and tag #howsweeteats. You can also post a photo of your recipe to our facebook page.
I appreciate you so much!
P.S. yes, of course, you should add bacon. Duh.
87 Comments on “Grilled Caesar Buffalo Chicken Salad.”
Summer meal perfection! I love everything about this.
Yup yup. Grilled romaine is so good. And you’ve done it one better by adding buffalo chicken. I mean. I can’t even deal.
I thought I was the only one who despised unloading the dishwasher! Really is the worst chore ever.
But this salad? I would unload it a bazillion times if I was rewarded with it. That Greek yogurt dressing? I NEED. Pinned!
This has my name allll over it. LOVE grilled romaine. LOVE Caesar salads. And totally flippin’ LOVE buffalo chicken. Yup. MAKING. PS – I hope you had a wonderful first Mother’s Day! :)
I love loading the dishwater…despise putting it all away! Sorta like laundry…And when is Buffalo Chicken not amazing? This is what my dreams are made of.
happy first mother’s day :)
I love me some gtilled salad – like all summer long. love it! did you hear my belly growl?
This is like the best idea ever! Plus, I actually have everything I need to make this right now! Grilled Caesar Buffalo Chicken Salad for dinner? I think yes.
Is it possible for a salad to be beautiful, because daaaaayyyyum – this salad is beautiful ;)
Holy moly- I love everything about this salad! This is a must make today recipe!
I can get down with any salad really, but THIS is a salad my husband would get down with and not ask what else we’re having. Win.
This looks incredible! Definitely putting it on the menu for sometime this week or next, it looks and sounds delicious! This is the same greek yogurt caesar dressing as on your roasted corn caesar salad recipe, correct? Because that is one of our all-time favorite side dishes, we had it just last week in fact! :D
Made this for dinner tonight. For anyone who hasn’t made this yet – go do it now! Delicious! We used the Sweet Baby Ray’s buffalo wing sauce that is on sale this week at Meijer and it was killer!
awesome!! so glad you liked it sarah!
I want to be friends with this salad in a big way. Happy Mother’s Day! xo
As a girl who runs a little bitty food blog (that somehow results in using WAY too many dishes on a regular basis) and recently moved into a nyc apartment SANS dishwasher… I’ve never missed a chore more… and it used to be my least favorite too! no dishwasherrrr?? what the heck was I thinking?? one pot meals for the win?!
This looks AMAZING! I’ve never grilled romaine (see also: NYC and therefore no grill) but you can guarantee I’m going to make this in a month at my parents’ place in Colorado when I visit!
This is literally my dream salad!!
oh how I love this salad! I’ve never grilled romaine, but this is the perfect opportunity to try it!
Oh man. Caesar + buffalo? Yessssss. Not sure why I’ve been procrastinating on grilling romaine forrrevah but it needs to happen. Stat!
Definitely going to give this a try, it looks amazing!
xo, Liz
http://lipstickandconfetti.com
Oh my goodness, that buffalo chicken! I’m not a big meat person but gah I want that nowww. <3
Grilled Romaine seems to be popping up more and more, that’s my cue to try it. I hope you had a relaxing Mother’s Day. It sounds like you did, minus the sneezing.
This looks AMAZING! I have to have buffalo something at least once a week. This would at least make me feel a little bit more healthy afterwards :)
Your writing is SOOO much fun! I just found you yesterday, and in no time I was chuckling, grinning from ear-to-ear and even bursting out in laugh-out-loud spectacles. Oh, and your recipes do sound DELISH! I’m gonna make this salad, like, on Sunday! In the meantime, I’m reading all you older posts. Wishing you smiles and love and continued delight in making your fans ever so happy!
This sounded so amazing, I had to incorporate it into dinner tonight. I was trying to figure out a veg way to incorporate the buffalo chicken flavor. Then I realized I had already planned to make your buffalo quinoa sliders for dinner, so why not let those stand in for buffalo chicken? Instead of caesar I went the cobb route, and loaded up the grilled romaine with buffalo slathered quinoa sliders, hard boiled egg, seitan bacon, tomato, bleu cheese, and a drizzle of buffalo sauce for dressing. Needless to say, this is the best salad I’ve ever made. Thank you again for your ridiculous recipe inspiration :)
that sounds incredible! so glad you liked it!
OMG! I need to make this ASAP! I love anything with buffalo chicken and grilled romaine is just amazing!
Happy First Mother’s Day!!!!!!!!! I hope it was wonderful for you and your new little family!!!!!!! :)
thank you lynda!!
Not a fan of hot lettuce but this sounds so good–never occurred to me to add Buffalo chicken to Caesar salad. Gonna try it soon!
Made this last night and it came with a side of one happy husband!! For the win!
so glad you guys liked it!
Wow, this seriously does look like the best summer meal ever. Yum!
I’m 100% on board with this idea. I’ve never had charred romaine before, but now I need to try this. Buffalo chicken is one of my favorite meals. I’m not going to be able to stop daydreaming about this recipe.
I do say YES to this meal. It’s creative as well as delicious and utterly summery!
This is amazing!
Also
“There’s a sale at the fashion boutique!”
soulmate.
We made this for dinner tonight, and it’s delish! My husband gave me a high five and said “we’re definitely making this again!” A repeat for sure
yay! so glad!
OMG I loved that game Mall Madness!! Ugh brings back so many memories! I bet they don’t play it anymore ;(
Pingback: Friday Favorites | A Tasty Life
Pingback: Friday Faves
Pingback: Present Sense Impressions aka Link Love - Order in the Kitchen
Pingback: 23 Unexpected Appetizers You Can Make On The Grill | SaltyPepper
Pingback: 23 Unexpected Appetizers You Can Make On The Grill | I'M NOT SERIOUS
Pingback: TiffinSingh – Best recipes Ever
Pingback: 23 Unexpected Appetizers You Can Make On The Grill | Kuwait Post
Pingback: HolidayFun.co
Pingback: 23 Unexpected Appetizers You Can Make On The Grill | GotOneFlix
This is perfect, I’ve been looking for really good chicken recipes. Looks absolutely delicious!
Pingback: BBQ Chicken and Pineapple Lettuce Wraps | How Sweet It Is
We’ve had this for dinner 3 times already! It’s delicious. The chicken is SO good. I’ve subbed half the grilled romaine for spinach to add more greens, and cut the amount of butter in the buffalo sauce by half to try and health it up a bit. This one is going to be a regular in our house all summer long!
ahhh love it! so happy!
Pingback: The Best of Grilling Recipes | The Effortless Chic
Pingback: Grilled Kale BLT Dip | How Sweet It Is
okay, your instructions say add anchovies. Your ingredients do NOT show anchovies. Yes, Caesar dressing includes anchovies. How many and shouldn’t you make a paste of garlic and anchovies and not just ‘add’?
hi beth – the anchovies are in the ingredients, in the dressing – the 6th ingredient down. i mince 4 and add those.
Pingback: Grilled Chicken with Chimichurri | Bourbon and Honey
Jessica, I am not a experienced cook so I am one who needs exact measurements at least to begin with. In the directions of the dressing it mentions sardines but they are not listed in ingredients. Could you please tell me how many sardines need to be use? Thank you so much! This sounds scrummy and healthy. :)
Jessica, never mind I thought I had read all the comments but just after I posted I noticed the post right above.