Buffalo Chicken Salad
There’s nothing more delicious and addicting than buffalo chicken dip, but it often leaves you feeling heavy and weighed down if you succumb to the cravings and eat way too much of it (is there any other way to do it)? When inspired to make this recipe, I wanted to create something that gave me the same satisfied, crave-able feelings as buffalo chicken dip, but quick to put together and with healthier ingredients. This buffalo chicken dip delivers in all the ways you’re looking for — it’s creamy, rich, and most importantly fresh, something that’s pretty much impossible with a traditional buffalo chicken dip. I recommend enjoying this as an appetizer or even a healthy lunch option on a busy day.
Ingredients needed to make Buffalo Chicken Salad
Can buffalo chicken salad be healthy? Yes, buffalo chicken salad can absolutely be tailored to make a healthy and satisfying meal. There are two components that cause the most calories in a traditional buffalo dish or chicken salad: mayonnaise and butter. Here are the ways I recommend making buffalo chicken salad a healthy option:
Swap the majority of the mayonnaise for cottage cheese. Let’s face it — mayo is in chicken salad for good reason. It adds a richness and creaminess that’s very hard to achieve with a substitution, and most things in moderation are still okay for you to eat. That’s why I don’t completely remove mayonnaise from this buffalo chicken salad recipe. Instead, I decrease the amount of mayo to just a couple of tablespoons, leaving cottage cheese to contribute the rest of the creaminess. This way, you don’t have to compromise on flavor but you have increased protein from the cottage cheese to keep you satisfied.
Select a healthier buffalo sauce at the grocery store. There are so many fantastic options for varieties of buffalo sauces at the grocery store nowadays, and a lot of them have healthier ingredients while still being incredibly flavorful. Traditional buffalo sauce is simply butter and hot sauce, delicious, but very high in calories and unhealthy fat. My preferred buffalo sauce swaps butter for avocado oil, a substitution that adds vitamins and antioxidants to the salad.
What to serve with buffalo chicken salad? I love to serve buffalo chicken salad with an assortment of vegetables and crackers you can use to scoop up the dip. My favorite choices are buttery crackers, stalks of celery, or even stalks of carrots, similar to the accompaniments you’d find alongside buffalo chicken wings. If you want to make this healthy chicken salad an even more substantial meal, you can serve it on bread with toppings such as lettuce and tomato to make it a sandwich.
Can you make buffalo chicken salad in advance? Yes, buffalo chicken salad is a recipe that works wonderfully if made in advance. Making the salad a day ahead of time gives the recipe a chance for all of the flavors of the buffalo sauce to meld with the chicken and cottage cheese.
How long is buffalo chicken salad good for? This buffalo chicken salad should be eaten within 3-5 days of being prepared. For best results, I recommend storing the salad in an air-tight container in the refrigerator and eating it as soon as possible.
How to make buffalo chicken salad:
Buffalo Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1 rotisserie chicken
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup (plus 1-2 tbsp, based on preference) buffalo sauce
- 2 tbsp mayo
- 2 scallions, for serving
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Take apart the rotisserie chicken by shredding the meat into bite-sized pieces and discarding the bones. Put all of the chicken into a large bowl.
- Add the cottage cheese, buffalo sauce, and mayo to the chicken. Season the ingredients with salt and pepper to taste. Buffalo sauce can be salty, so use caution here and taste along the way.
- Stir all of the ingredients together, being delicate not to break up the chicken shreds too much.
- Top with sliced scallions and enjoy!
Notes
Tip: You can save the bones of the rotisserie chicken to make your own homemade chicken stock. I freeze the chicken bones until I have 2 or three and then make a large stock out of them once I have enough. I like to think of this as a chicken freebie!
