Pioneer Woman Buffalo Chicken Salad

Pioneer Woman buffalo chicken salad takes 20 minutes and juicy pan-fried chicken, Louisiana hot sauce and blue cheese dressing to make a cold, crunchy main dish salad. It's an easy buffalo chicken salad recipe for weeknight dinners, game day or summer cookouts, and it's gluten-free.

Slice the chicken breast in half before cooking so you get two thin pieces that brown fast and soak up the sauce. Skip that cut and the thick breast cooks unevenly, so the hot sauce only coats the outside.

Instead of tossing the chicken in sauce, you leave it sitting in the hot sauce while you build the salad, then dip the slices back in before serving. That way the sauce slowly runs into the blue cheese dressing, so every bite tastes like a wing dunked in dressing.

Pioneer Woman Buffalo Chicken Salad

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: SaladCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Calories

650

kcal

Golden pan-fried chicken gets coated in tangy hot sauce and sliced over cold, crisp lettuce with a light blue cheese dressing. Once the warm sauce meets the dressing, it melts into every bite while the celery hearts keep things crunchy.

Ingredients

• 1 whole Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
  

• Salt And Pepper, to taste
  

• 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
  

• 2 tbsp. Butter
  

• 1/2 c. Louisiana Hot Sauce (Frank's, Etc.)
  

• Salad Greens: Iceberg, Romaine, Mixed Greens
  

• 1/2 c. Blue Cheese Dressing
  

• Extra Blue Cheese Crumbles
  

• Celery Hearts, Leaves Intact
  

Directions

• Slice the chicken: Use a sharp knife to slice the chicken breast in half from top to bottom, giving you two thinner, similar-sized pieces. Then season both sides of each piece with salt and pepper.
• Pan fry the chicken: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken on both sides until it's done and as golden brown as you can get it.
• Pour off the fat: Remove the chicken from the skillet and pour off any excess fat or oil, but don't clean the pan. Then turn off the heat before the next step.
• Coat in hot sauce: Return the chicken to the skillet and pour 1/2 cup Louisiana hot sauce over the top. Turn the pieces to coat both sides, then let them sit in the sauce while you prep everything else.
• Toss the salad: Toss the salad greens in a large bowl with 1/2 cup blue cheese dressing, using just enough to lightly coat the leaves. If the dressing feels too gloopy, thin it with a little milk.
• Build the bowls: Heap the tossed salad into two individual bowls. Then sprinkle blue cheese crumbles over the top of each one.
• Slice the chicken: Slice the chicken into thin pieces on the bias and arrange them over each salad. If the slices look dry, dip them back into the sauce so they're really coated.
• Finish and serve: Top both salads with extra blue cheese crumbles. Then serve them right away with celery hearts, leaves intact, on the side.

Tools for this recipe

• John Boos maple cutting board, 18 x 12, OXO 12-inch locking tongs, Partanna Sicilian extra virgin olive oil, 1 liter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

FAQs

Can I make my own blue cheese dressing from ranch?

Yes, you can stir blue cheese crumbles into ranch dressing from your fridge and get a quick blue cheese dressing. It's a good shortcut when you don't have a bottle of the real thing.

Can I use bagged salad instead of a head of lettuce?

Bagged salad works well here, so use whatever lettuce mix you have. Stick with iceberg or romaine blends over spring greens, because you want that cold, crunchy texture.

Can I make this ahead of time?

You can cook the chicken and coat it in hot sauce ahead, but toss the salad and assemble the bowls just before eating. The dressing wilts the lettuce if it sits, so keep the greens undressed until you're ready.

What if I don't have a skillet to cook the chicken in?

A grill pan or any heavy frying pan will do, as long as it gets hot enough to brown the chicken well. Grilled chicken works too, and you can toss it in the hot sauce in a bowl afterward.

What's the most common mistake with this salad?

Using too much dressing is the big one, since it weighs the lettuce down and turns it limp. Add just enough to lightly coat the greens, because the hot sauce from the chicken adds more flavor as you eat.