Buffalo Chicken Salad

This creamy Buffalo Chicken Salad is bold, spicy, and cream. Plus it’s ready in just 5 minutes, packed with protein, and perfect for a sandwich or a low carb lettuce wrap!

 

We’re entering chicken salad season and I am here for it.

🐔 Buffalo Chicken Salad (AKA Your New Lunch Obsession)

Let’s talk about Buffalo Chicken Salad—because if you’re anything like me, you’ve got a soft spot for spicy, creamy, flavor-packed things you can slap between two slices of bread or scoop onto a crunchy lettuce leaf and feel like a responsible adult who has their life together.

This isn’t your average deli-counter chicken salad.

We’re tossing shredded chicken (hello, perfect use for my crockpot shredded chicken) in a tangy, spicy buffalo sauce and mellowing it out with cool, creamy ranch (or blue cheese, if you’re into that).

It’s bold, it’s creamy, it’s got just enough heat to make lunch exciting without going over the top spicy – which is just the way I like things.

♥ 3 Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe:

1. Big flavor, low effort – It’s got the craveable zip of wings with none of the mess or deep frying. Takes about 5 minutes to stir together, too.
2. Super versatile – Sandwich? Wrap? Lettuce cup? Fork-straight-from-the-bowl? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Been there, done that.
3. Make-ahead magic – Perfect for meal prep. Just scoop and go all week long.

Ingredient Notes:

Cooked Shredded Chicken – You’ll start with already cooked shredded chicken. We make ours ahead of time for recipes like this but this is also an excellent case for rotisserie chicken.

Mayonnaise – I’m a mayo girl, through and through. However you can absolutely swap in Greek yogurt here. It will give the salad more tang, but also more protein and less fat.

Buffalo Sauce – We prefer Frank’s Buffalo Sauce but you can use any brand of buffalo sauce you like. Want it extra spicy? Use the hot version or just swap in Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. The hot sauce is spicier than the buffalo sauce.

Carrots & Celery – We’re adding chopped celery and shredded carrots to the salad because they go so well with buffalo chicken! For less texture, shred your own carrots. For more crunch, buy a bag of shredded in the produce section.

Ranch Seasoning – Use ranch seasoning and not ranch dip mix or this will be extra salty!

Ranch / Blue Cheese Dressing – I’m not personally a huge blue cheese lover, so ranch is what I go for. If you like blue cheese, feel free to use that instead.

Bread – Feel free to get creative. White or wheat sandwich bread, a tortilla to make this a wrap, a croissant to feel fancy, or a lettuce leaf to keep things low carb!

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Salad Sandwiches:

Add the chicken, mayo, buffalo sauce, carrots, celery, and ranch seasoning to a medium bowl.

Stir everything together until the mixture is all coated and creamy. Serve immediately or pop in the fridge for later.

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, aka the wimp of the house, 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.

Serving Ideas:

• Sandwich – Pile it high on toasted sourdough or wheat bread (add lettuce or pickles if you’re feelin’ fancy).
• Wrap – Tuck it into a tortilla with shredded lettuce and avocado.
• Lettuce Cups – Use romaine or butter lettuce for a crunchy, low-carb option. So fresh!
• Snack Board – Scoop with celery sticks, pita chips, or crackers.

💬 Real Talk

This salad is one of those “accidentally genius” recipes. I threw it together with leftovers and a prayer and now I make it on purpose all the time. It’s creamy, spicy, and weirdly comforting, even when you stand at the counter and just shovel it in with a fork. (Zero judgment here.)

• Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Dip
• Buffalo Chicken Pizza
• Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
• Buffalo Chicken Sandwich
• Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
• Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers

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Recipe

Buffalo Chicken Salad

This spicy twist on chicken salad is perfect for any buffalo chicken lovers! You can adjust the spice easily to suit your tastes.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin

Prep5 minutes minutes

Total5 minutes minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 1/2 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

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

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:

To make this spicier, use Frank’s Red Hot rather than buffalo sauce. You can also stir in ground cayenne pepper for more spice. 

Be sure to use the ranch seasoning and not the ranch dip or this will be quite salty. Hidden Valley makes both and the ranch seasoning is available in packets or in larger canisters. 

If you like a more ‘wet’ chicken salad, add an extra dollop of mayo. You can also reduce the amount of mayo if you like it more dry.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1sandwich| Calories: 460kcal (23%)| Carbohydrates: 30g (10%)| Protein: 21g (42%)| Fat: 27g (42%)| Saturated Fat: 4g (25%)| Cholesterol: 66mg (22%)| Sodium: 1416mg (62%)| Potassium: 307mg (9%)| Fiber: 2g (8%)| Sugar: 4g (4%)| Vitamin A: 1405IU (28%)| Vitamin C: 0.5mg (1%)| Calcium: 91mg (9%)| Iron: 2.3mg (13%)

Author: Karly Campbell

Course:Main Course

Cuisine:American

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