We adore this buffalo chicken chopped salad! It’s full of flavor and tons of crunchy ingredients and you can prep the entire thing ahead of time for weekday lunches. Drizzle with a homemade ranch you’re good to go!

My love for chopped salads knows no bounds!

buffalo chicken chopped salad

Chopped salads are the best salads in my opinion. You get a bite of everything, they are so incredibly CRUNCHY and it’s usually the gateway for people to start loving salads. Like me! I started with chopped salads and it was key. It’s how I learned to love salad. 

chopped vegetables

This buffalo chicken chopped salad is incredible. Juicy grilled chicken mixed with all the delicious ingredients you associate with the classic buffalo chicken flavor. Chopped carrots, chopped celery, chopped romaine, chopped cucumbers, chopped green onions, cilantro, chives and crumbled blue cheese.

Full disclosure: I am always picking the celery out of my own portion. You know I can’t get behind that. 

buffalo chicken

In addition to all these wonderful flavors, I make my homemade yogurt ranch to drizzle on top. Sometimes I do a drizzle of wing sauce and ranch separately. Sometimes I mix a few tablespoons of wing sauce directly into my ranch, making a buffalo ranch dressing. Both work, both are delicious and this chopped salad will have everyone in awe.

salad in a bowl

The texture is superb.

The flavor is so wonderful, it’s almost like you’re not eating a SALAD. It definitely feels more like a “bowl” meal and I mean, that may be half the battle with wanting to eat salad. If it looks and tastes like salad, it almost instantly becomes less appealing. But if it looks more like a bowl meal, and if you get a crunchy bite of flavor in every forkful, it’s automatically a great meal. 

One that you crave!

buffalo chicken chopped salad

When I say that we crave this… that may be an unstatement. It is full of our favorite flavors and it is SO easy. Especially because you can prep a few of these ingredients ahead of time and store them in the fridge.

I will chop the carrots and celery and store them together. Then I’ll also chop the cucumbers too. I also chop up the cilantro, chives and green onions and keep those together too. And of course, the chicken can be grilled ahead of time. And the ranch? Well let’s just say that I almost always have it in my fridge.

buffalo chicken chopped salad

The only thing I do right before serving is chop up my lettuce. I find that it’s the freshest this way and also stays very crisp. Which is key for me to love it. 

All of these ingredients make for a wonderful weekday lunch. One where you want lots of flavor, a meal that keeps you incredibly satisfied and one that can usually be made for everyone. It’s very easy to leave out the “x” ingredient if someone doesn’t love it. 

buffalo chicken chopped salad

I also find that this method is a great way to get my kids to eat vegetables. Now I may leave out the lettuce (though Max loves lettuce and will even eat a plain bowl of it) and just do chunks of everything together. I don’t necessarily make it buffalo wing flavored because of the spice, but I’ll do this with BBQ sauce or even my house sauce and they love it. They also take out each chunk and dip it! 

buffalo chicken chopped salad

The recipe below makes a large portion of salad to feed four, but you can easily cut this in half. And it’s not a real RECIPE of course – it’s more of a method. Add as much of one ingredient that you love, remove the ones you don’t. Use as much dressing as you like and so on. Make it your own. 

Oh and for the record, our favorite wing sauce is the frank’s red hot buffalo wing. The buffalo wing version is key! 

See? Cannot.go.wrong.

This is what’s on the menu this week!! 

buffalo chicken chopped salad

Buffalo Chicken Chopped Salad

Buffalo Chicken Chopped Salad

We adore this buffalo chicken chopped salad! It's full of flavor and tons of crunchy ingredients and you can prep the entire thing ahead of time for weekday lunches. Drizzle with a homemade ranch you're good to go!
5 from 10 votes
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Ingredients

  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • kosher salt and pepper
  • garlic powder
  • buffalo wing sauce, we like frank’s red hot wing sauce
  • 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 4 celery stalks, chopped
  • 1 seedless cucumber, peeled and chopped
  • 8 to 10 cups chopped romaine hearts
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced
  • ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
  • ½ cup chopped cilantro
  • ¼ cup chopped chives
  • ranch dressing, for serving

Instructions 

  • Preheat your grill to the highest setting. I like to grill this chicken but you can cook it however you prefer.
  • Season the chicken all over with the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Drizzle a little wing sauce on it too.
  • Grill the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes a side, until cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. I highly suggest using a meat thermometer because the time will depend on the size of your chicken breasts and the heat of your grill.
  • Once the chicken is grilled, let it rest while you chop the other ingredients.
  • Chop the carrots, celery, cucumbers and green onions. Chop the romaine lettuce and place it in a large bowl. I like to chop everything in pieces that are evenly sized - or at least as close as I can get them. Chop the cilantro and chives too. Combine it all in a bowl with the lettuce. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and toss.
  • Slice or chop the chicken (whatever size you prefer) and toss it with a few tablespoons of the wing sauce. Add the chicken into the bowl with the salad.
  • Drizzle the entire thing with ranch dressing and more wing sauce if you’d like. Serve!
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buffalo chicken chopped salad

Chopped is the only way to go.