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Buffalo chicken salad is a spicy twist on the traditional chicken salad! It’s creamy with a hit of buffalo flavor! I like to drizzle mine with ranch, but blue cheese is nice if you’re into that. Serve on a sandwich or use this as a dip for crackers or celery.
I am a total sucker for buffalo chicken.
I mean, I don’t super love bone-in wings, so I guess my love of buffalo chicken isn’t the most traditional, but I love the flavors and I’m happy with the boneless wings or any of the other millions of ways you can turn chicken into spicy buffalo goodness.
Also, by spicy I mean just a teensy bit of heat because I’m a wimp. Luckily though, you can easily adjust most buffalo chicken recipes to the level of heat you prefer!
Take this buffalo chicken salad sandwich. It’s packed with flavor and you can play up the heat or you can keep it mild. I’ll share my tips for getting the perfect heat level with you below!
How to make:
This buffalo chicken salad comes together like most traditional chicken salads. Cooked chicken, dressing, chopped veggies.
You’ll start with the cooked and shredded chicken.
Add in some mayonnaise, buffalo sauce, shredded carrots, chopped celery, and ranch seasoning.
Give that mixture a stir until it’s all combined and…well…orange. I’m sorry, it’s a weird color for chicken salad, but buffalo chicken is meant to be orange.
Mild vs. Spicy:
This recipe is beyond simple to customize to suit your own personal heat preference!
If you like it mild, use mild buffalo sauce. The amount called for in the recipe is pretty perfect for me, but you can always start with less and then add more if you want.
If you like it spicy, skip the buffalo sauce and use Frank’s Red Hot. The amount called for in the recipe is still not over the top hot, but it definitely has more kick. Feel free to add more hot sauce to the recipe, drizzle extra on top during serving, and if you’re really feeling the heat – stir some ground cayenne in with the mayonnaise.
Variations & Tips:
- Swap the mayonnaise for Greek yogurt if you’d like to keep this dish a little healthier.
- Swap the mayonnaise for blue cheese if you like that sort of thing.
- Drizzle with ranch or blue cheese before serving for maximum flavor.
- Stir in minced jalapeno for even more heat!
- Serve with crackers or celery instead of as a sandwich.
- Use ranch seasoning instead of the ranch dip mix – the sodium is much lower and the Frank’s already adds a lot of sodium. Hidden Valley is my preferred brand.
Anytime I share a buffalo chicken recipe, I hear from people that RANCH DOES NOT BELONG.
First of all, y’all are real angry about that and I apologize.
Second of all, I use ranch dressing, because guys. Have you heard the news? Blue cheese is old and moldy. Whew. Feels good to get that off my chest.
So, ranch for me. Blue cheese for the rest of you weirdos. 😉
Dig in and let me know what you think!
Also, if you’re low carb, this is perfect on a fork or in a lettuce wrap. I ate half a bowl of it for lunch the other day. No shame in my game.
More buffalo chicken recipes:
- Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Buffalo Chicken Pizza
- Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings
- Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
- Buffalo Chicken Sandwich
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
- Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Buffalo Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup mild buffalo sauce see notes
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup shredded carrots
- 1 tablespoon dry ranch seasoning see notes
- ranch or blue cheese dressing for serving
- 8 slices bread for making sandwiches
Instructions
- Add the chicken, mayonnaise, buffalo sauce, carrots, celery, and ranch seasoning to a medium bowl and stir well to combine.
- Spoon chicken salad evenly between the bread to make 4 sandwiches.
- Drizzle the sandwiches with ranch or blue cheese dressing and extra buffalo sauce, if desired.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This recipe was originally published in April 2017. It was updated in May 2020 with new photos. Original photo below.
Stacey Ann Smith says
Making this tonight! It’s been a hot week with rain and high humity and I like my meals quick and this is it!
Eileen says
Born and raised South of Buffalo there is no substitute for blue cheese when making anything Buffalo chicken. Hearts across Buffalo are breaking at the meer mention of using ranch dressing. That is how we can tell the locals from the tourists.
I just made a batch for potluck lunch at work tomorrow. Substituted the mayo and ranch for blue cheese dressing. Bought 100 calorie Fold Its for anyone who wants to eat it like a sandwich and not like a salad.
Love it after my initial taste test. We shall see what all the dieters at work think tomorrow.
Karly says
Luckily, we’re all able to make our own food decisions and substitute the flavors we prefer when we like. It sure makes the world more interesting.
Jazzy says
We happen to like Ranch too Ms. High and Mighty! And I’m from the South, I can stand Blue Cheese , Yuck! Not everyone likes BLUE CHEESE .
Jazzy says
Can’t stand , not can.
Stacy Ann Smith says
Making this today!
Valentina of Valentina's Corner says
This is my kind of sandwich. Especially the last picture, yes!! Pinned..
Maria @ kitchenathoskins says
Always assumed that I was the only blue-cheese-hating-wierdo out there! So happy to find a recipe with ranch and this sandwich would be great for lunch and quick week night dinner as well.
Karly says
Oh no. You’re definitely not the only one! 🙂
Kimberly @ Berly's Kitchen says
Yum!! Buffalo chicken is a favorite in my house. My kiddo would LOVE this, and it’s easy enough for him to make it all by himself.
Kristyn says
I’ve got some homemade keto mayo in the fridge that is begging to be turned into this chicken salad. Looks so delicious, I’m sure I won’t even resent eating it bread-less.
Karly says
You can taste the flavors better when it’s on a fork anyway! 😉
Cheryl says
Uh yeah, so everything should be spicy and buffalo-y, but it seems you’ve gotten the message. This looks goooood, and also, RANCH.
Carol P. says
That sounds so good. I love your story about feeding your kids. Sometimes we do what we gotta do! :o)
Kelly T says
Im on the lo carb thing now too and needed something that I could just eat for lunch. I’m going to try this, I love buffalo chicken and l like the moldy kind of cheese too haha I’ll go by the way of the fork too…man I really miss bread!!! Thanks for the recipe!
Karly says
Check out the 90 second keto bread. This would be good on a couple slices of that toasted. 🙂
Patty K-P says
Oh so yum! I LOVE anything with Frank’s hot sauce. My weekly tuna sandwich just got bumped for buffalo chicken salad 🙂
Benny says
I know it’s meant to be eaten cold, but do you think it would taste good if I slapped some bread on it and threw it in a panini press?
Anne says
You do what you have to do. No shame.
What could you do with the buffalo chicken to keep it low carb?
Karly says
Eat it with a fork or use a low carb bread and you’re good to go. The chicken salad itself only has around 4 grams net carbs for the whole recipe.