How to Make a Buffalo Chicken Salad

Our Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe is not only delicious, but so easy to throw together! Loaded with buffalo chicken, veggies, avocado, black beans and topped with bleu cheese dressing and crispy fried onions, it is sure to make any dinner feel like a special occasion! 

I am so excited to share this recipe with you guys today! If you've been around here long, you know that these buffalo chicken bowls are one of our most popular healthy recipes! I make them every few weeks, and the recipe always makes a ton! Finally, I figured out what to do with our leftover buffalo chicken... these buffalo chicken salads! 

If you like healthy dinner recipes you will also love these healthy greek chicken bowls or this easy and delicious wedge salad! Or you can find our whole dinner gallery here. 

This Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe is simply the best

Salads are my favorite dinners to serve  throughout the spring and summer months! The great thing about this salad recipe is it is hearty and filling, so the big eaters in your life are NOT going to be disappointed when it's a salad on the menu! 

With a romaine lettuce base, yummy veggies, and finished off with bleu cheese and crispy fried onions, this salad is yummy enough to serve for company. Plus, if your chicken is already made it takes literally five minutes to throw together! 

Buffalo Chicken Salad Ingredients: 

Here is what you need to make this yummy salad! 

• Romaine Lettuce
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Corn
• Black Beans
• Avocado
• Bleu Cheese 
• Crispy Fried Onions
• Blue Cheese Dressing

How to make a Buffalo Chicken Salad

1. Place 4 large chicken breasts in your slow cooker with 1 cup of your favorite buffalo sauce (I use Frank's) and 1 tablespoon minced garlic and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6 hours.
2. When chicken is cooked shred with two forks and let sit in sauce until ready to assemble your salads.
3. Wash and chop your romaine lettuce. Wash and halve your cherry tomatoes. Rinse corn and black beans.
4. Add all ingredients equally into four bowls (or into jars if you are meal prepping, see below). Enjoy!

How to make Buffalo Chicken Salad for meal prep

If you've never meal prepped salads before, get excited, because it is so easy to do! It is one of my favorite things to do for lunches for my husband to take to work or for me to eat on crazy days! The salads will last for 7 days in mason jars in the fridge! 

1. Gather clean, quart sized mason jars. 
2. Layer your ingredients in your jars in this order: dressing, meat, beans or other canned vegetables, cheese, fresh vegetables, lettuce. 
3. If you have something dry like the french fried onions in this salad or croutons in a Caesar salad you can add them on top of the lettuce, or separate in a small baggie if you don't want to refrigerate them. 
4. When you are ready to eat simply dump them out onto a plate and enjoy! Sometimes if I don't want my salad to be too cold (taco salad, for instance) I will pull out the lettuce and fresh veggies, then stick the jar in the microwave for 30-60 seconds to warm up a bit before adding to my salad. 

Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe Variations

Looking for a few yummy buffalo chicken salad variations? Here are a couple other options that are all super delicious as well.

• Buffalo Chicken Caesar Salad: Toss grilled buffalo chicken strips with crisp romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, croutons, and shredded Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with a buffalo Caesar dressing made by mixing buffalo sauce with traditional Caesar dressing.
• Buffalo Chicken Cobb Salad: Combine chopped buffalo chicken breast with avocado, hard-boiled eggs, crispy bacon, diced tomatoes, crumbled blue cheese, and mixed greens. Serve with a tangy ranch dressing spiked with buffalo sauce.
• Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad: Mix cooked pasta (such as penne or rotini) with diced buffalo chicken, chopped celery, shredded carrots, and diced red onion. Toss with a creamy dressing made from a combination of ranch dressing, buffalo sauce, and a splash of lemon juice. Garnish with chopped parsley and crumbled blue cheese.

Easy Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe tips

1. Put your chicken in the slow cooker ahead of time so it is ready to go whenever you decide to eat. You can even cook it the day before. 
2. If you have picky eaters (like I do) I like to separate the salad out on their plate. My kids love this meal, but a few of them will eat them in little groupings of beans, corn, tomatoes, chicken etc. instead of as a salad. 
3. If anyone in your family has an aversion to bleu cheese dressing, you can easily sub it out for ranch! The bleu cheese can also be subbed out for almost any type of cheese you like.. that being said, buffalo and bleu pair so well together! 
4. If you have leftovers, save them to use in our famous buffalo chicken bowls later in the week or meal prep salads in mason jars to eat for lunches later on! 

What to serve with Buffalo Chicken Salad

• Garlic Breadsticks: Serve warm garlic breadsticks on the side to complement the flavors of the buffalo chicken salad. The garlic-infused bread pairs well with the tangy and spicy notes of the salad.
• Cornbread Muffins: Freshly baked cornbread muffins make a tasty accompaniment to buffalo chicken salad. The slightly sweet and savory taste of cornbread complements the bold flavors of the salad, while the moist texture contrasts with the crispiness of the salad greens.

How to store leftover Buffalo Salad

1. Refrigeration: Place the salad in an airtight container or cover it tightly with plastic wrap.
2. Separate Dressing: If the salad is dressed, consider storing the dressing separately to prevent the greens from becoming soggy.
3. Label and Date: Use a marker to label the container with the date to keep track of freshness.
4. Refrigerate: Store the salad in the refrigerator promptly, ideally within two hours of preparation, to maintain freshness and prevent bacterial growth.
5. Consume Promptly: Consume the leftover buffalo chicken salad within 3-4 days for optimal taste and safety.

Okay are you ready for this easy recipe? 

If you try this recipe and like it we would love for you to rate and review! Your positive comments mean so much to us! 

Happy healthy eating, friends! 

xo, 

This post was originally published March 6th, 2020.