Crunchy Buffalo Chicken Salads with Bacon and Spicy Ranch.
Can you indulge my buffalo chicken hang up for one more day?
Awesome. You’re the best.
You’re also the best because it’s Monday and I’m stereotypically bringing you a salad, but it’s only because I want pizza. Buffalo chicken pizza, to be exact. Shocker. We’ve still been eating it pretty much every single weekend so the whole thing is just overflowing into every other dish I make.
You know me and my phases. I’m sure this too will pass. (But hopefully not.)
Also, it’s sort of imperative that we eat buffalo chicken salads on this Monday because… we’ve still been eating the the pizza pretty much every single weekend. Like, both days. Like, Saturdays and leftovers on Sundays. And sometimes, leftovers for breakfast. So I guess that is three times per weekend? #bikiniseason
We all know that I’m a fan of salads without vegetables and this is no exception. In my opinion, the next best thing to salads without vegetables are salads with CRUNCHY things, like chicken fingers. Essentially, chicken nuggets on a salad. With cheese. And bacon.
Obviously you could leave those things off and health this situation up a bit. But, um, why would you want to?
The crazy thing is that I’m not really into ranch dressing… or any type of salad dressing if we’re being honest. It’s never helped with my dislike for vegetables and I think it’s actually hindered the process of learning to enjoy them. I do love some oil and vinegar though. But I also like a little drizzle of ranch or blue cheese when I make buffalo chicken pizza as I feel that it… completes the flavor, if you will. So I find that a teeny drizzle goes a long way here, and if you finish it with some extra buffalo wing sauce, you don’t need anything else. It’s spot on.
But I mean, I’m not a salad connoisseur or anything.
Crunchy Buffalo Chicken Salads
Ingredients
chicken
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 egg whites
- 2 tablespoons buffalo wing sauce
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/3 cup seasoned fine breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
salad
- 6 cups of butter lettuce, chopped
- 1 carrot, sliced or chopped
- 1 big handful of snap peas, cut in half
- 4 green onions, sliced
- 4 chives, sliced
- 4 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
- 2 ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
dressing
- 6 tablespoons ranch dressing
- 1 tablespoon creamy blue cheese dressing
- 2 teaspoons buffalo wing sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack on top, spraying it with nonstick spray.
- Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a bowl, whisk together egg whites and buffalo wing sauce. In another bowl, stir together panko, breadcrumbs, onion powder and flour. Dip each piece of chicken into the egg white mixture, then into the breadcrumbs, pressing gently to adhere. Place on the wire rack. Give the chicken a spritz with nonstick spray or olive oil, then bake for 20-25 minutes.
- To make the dressing, whisk together the ranch, blue cheese and buffalo wing sauce.
- To assemble the salads, combine lettuce, carrots and snap peas in bowls or on plates. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then toss. Top with an equal amount of chives and green onions, then add chicken on top. Cover in gorgonzola and bacon, then drizzle with the dressing. Eat!
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…yet.
100 Comments on “Crunchy Buffalo Chicken Salads with Bacon and Spicy Ranch.”
I want to smear that dipping sauce on just about everything I can!
Ummm I ‘d say that you ARE becoming a salad connaisseur my dear! These are beautiful! As a kid, I think I must have consumed at least 10 gallons of ranch and caesar dressing because I can’t stand either on my salads or veggies now. Having said that, I could do with this for dinner tonight!
There is nothing more that I love than a crunchy buffalo chicken anything, especially salads and wraps, yum. I have this mindset that no matter what fattening dressing or toppings I put on a salad, I’m still eating vegetables so it’s automatically healthy. Especially those huge 12-bag servings at Cheesecake Factory that are loaded with onion rings and BBQ dressing. So healthy.
This is my kind of salad! You can’t go wrong with Buffalo flavored anything! Looks delish!!
I totally want pizza too… but somehow I don’t feel the need for it when I see a salad that looks so good!
I will never get sick of buffalo anything! This salad included! Raw veggie salads are pretty boring in my opinion, salads have to have some heft to them! Some chicken, some pretzels, something! This looks so good!
I’m not a huge fan of salad, but this I would try.
Totally craving salad for breakfast now.
I have been craving buffalo chicken salad for weeks. I love salads….that are covered in crunchy chicken and cheese and bacon and sauces. So much better than boring vegetables.
I’m digging how you combined three different sauces to make one dressing :)
Lovely this salad..
Not Only Sugar
we have a similar dish (that is nowhere NEAR as healthy as this is) in the cafeteria at work, and it is my one meal out a week i let myself have…we’re talking cranky girl if i miss it.
You make the BEST SALADS EVER!!! (Yes, I’m yelling!)
I love Buffalo flavor, but not wings….so this is perfect. I may pair it with TidyMom’s Buffalo Cheese Fries that I saw a few minutes ago. You know, to balance out the lettuce. ;)
Miss your face, girlie!
You can count on me eating just about anything buffalo chicken related. Please make more!
yummy lunch for two!
Wow.. that makes me what to eat more salad.. but i can’t help but want to dip some fries in that dressing.. :)
Give me Buffalo Chicken Salad or give me DEATH.
OH Mercy! i totally need this for dinner.
Great recipe, I can’t wait to try it! Your blog is becoming a favorite of mine!
I love crunchy things on my salad too! Man you are talking about buffalo pizza and I would like some with this salad.
I like your kinda salads. This one looks especially delicious!!!
Like that the chicken is baked! Good for me.
This is basically all my foodie dreams coming together in a salad dish. Love it!!!!
This salad looks wonderful!
Yum yum yum! Looks amazing!
Some Snapshots Blog
Jess
ooohhh soo amazing. I think my fiance would love me more if I made this for him.
I totally hear you about the pizza. I’ve had to do a month-on, month-off with pizza because i found myself eating it wayy too often (especially because I would always order extra for leftovers) and not enjoying it enough :)
ohMAHgawwd
delish.
dinner. made. thank you
This has to be the best looking salad I’ve seen in like FOREVER!! ;)
This looks AMAZING! I am not a huge gorgonzola fan- what would be your second best cheese pick for this salad? Blue cheese? Feta?
My kind of veggies!
Usually I don’t really care for buffalo chicken unless it’s on a pizza, but I would be all over this salad, too. Looks great! :)
Ahh I made something similar this weekend but I love how you styled yours!
Oh my god, YES! This looks so delicious!
This sounds so great! Yummy!
This salad looks so yummy–that dressing takes it over the top for me!
This looks like it would be a perfect -serve to a guy- salad :)
just emailed the husband to see if this is something he would dig. With chicken, bacon and wing sauce, I don’t see how he could say no. Here’s to hoping he indulges me just this once. (gorgeous photos by the way)
Hello gorgeous, this might be tonight’s dinner!
I love spicy ranch! It’s so good…on anything! This kinda sauce MAKES me eat my veggies!
I’m kinda obsessed with EVERYTHING buffalo chicken! Give it ALL to me! Yum! Yum!
Now THAT is a satisfying salad
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever had buffalo chicken anything……….. ever.
We made this last night for dinner…and the springtime veggie skillet lasagna last week! You seem to be reading my mind…and always give me something to cook that only requires me to run to the store for two items! Yay!! And thanks for NEVER dissappointing on the flavor! Hubby could have eaten another whole chicken breast cooked crunchy buffalo style! ;)
What a yummy recipe. The dressing alone looks so delicious. I think I want to put it on just about everything. ;) Always so many great recipes Jessica!!
I would take this salad to my deserted island…if I had one. I’ looking but they’re hard to come by so I’ll maybe just shoot for the salad right now ;)
Can I just make the chicken and the dressing and dunk my heart away? Because that’s sounding sooo good right now.
What’s the buffalo sauce? Bought or made?
Looks delish!
You reference your Buffalo Wing Sauce – do you have a recipe you use, or do you have a favorite one you purchase? I’ve looked for a recipe but can’t find it
I use Frank’s buffalo wing sauce! Found near the BBQ sauce and red hot sauce/other hot sauces. I’ve tried multiple times to make it from scratch but it’s no where near as good.
What a great twist on salad! And Franks is my favorite buffalo sauce, too! (It is hard to make buffalo sauce from scratch…I agree!)