This is a great dinner salad, and we never seem to make enough chicken for leftovers! Traditionally, it’s served with blue cheese dressing, but we used ranch when there were pregnant people eating it. You can adjust the ratio of yogurt and milk to create the thickness you’d like. The consistency is not like commercial ranch dressing since there are no thickeners or gums to give it that texture.
Buffalo Chicken Salad
Servings: 6
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 lbs chicken thighs cut into ½" pieces
- ¼ cup siracha
- ¼ cup hot sauce (Cholula, Crystal, Franks, etc)
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 2 tbsp butter for sauteeing, not marinade
Salad
- 8 cups lettuce or mixed greens cut or torn in bite sized pieces
- 1 large red or yellow bell pepper cut in ½" dice
- ½ large jicama peeled and cut in ½" dice
- ½ bunch radishes cut in ½" dice
- 1 cup celery cut in ½" dice
- 1 cup carrots cut in ½" dice
- 3 Persian cucumbers peeled if desired, cut into thin half moons
- ½ lb sugar snap peas cut in ½" pieces
- ½ bunch scallions sliced thinly
Blue Cheese Dressing
- 2 oz blue cheese finely grated
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 large lemon juiced and zested
- 1 tsp celery salt
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
Ranch Dressing
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt (fat content doesn't matter)
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped fine
- 1 tbsp fresh chives chopped fine
- 1 tbsp fresh dill chopped fine
- 1 clove garlic pressed or finely grated
- ⅛ tsp kosher salt
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
Marinate chicken
- Combine chicken marinade ingredients in a large ziplock bag and squeeze to mix. Add chicken and seal bag, expelling as much air as possible. Massage chicken to coat thoroughly with marinade. Refrigerate, turning bag over occasionally to keep marinade well distributed. Leave for 4 hours or up to overnight.
Blue Cheese Dressing
- Combine ingredients, mixing well and adjust seasoning to taste. Refrigerate for at least an hour or two before serving for flavors to meld.
Ranch Dressing
- Combine dressing ingredients in a lidded jar and shake well to combine. Refrigerate an hour or two before serving for flavors to meld.
Make Salad
- Combine salad ingredients, adding or substituting other veggies as desired. You want it to be a cool, crisp salad.
Prepare chicken
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 2 tbsp butter. Add chicken and marinade and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking until chicken is cooked through and marinade has thickened and sticks to chicken without leaving much liquid in the pan. Cook off as much liquid as possible without scorching.
- Allow chicken to cool slightly, and serve on top of salad with dressing on the side.