Buffalo Chicken Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing - Easy Lunch

Buffalo Chicken Salad is so addictive.

It's got all of the food groups covered. Juicy, seared chicken breasts that have been marinated in your favorite Buffalo sauce. Crisp and fresh chopped celery, cucumber, and red bell peppers. Vitamin-rich and refreshing shredded carrots and cherry tomatoes. Crunchy, savory homemade croutons. And to top it off, a drizzle (or dousing) of creamy blue cheese dressing.

This makes "bagged-lunch" fun, y'all.

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What Makes Buffalo Chicken Salad So Good?

• Romaine lettuce. This crisp, healthy lettuce is used as the base of our salad. Iceberg lettuce also makes a great substitute, but packs in less nutrition.
• Chicken breasts, marinated in your favorite high-quality Buffalo Sauce. We're talking Frank's Red Hot, Texas Pete, etc. I used Texas Pete Buffalo Wing Sauce.
• Chopped celery.
• Shredded carrots.
• Chopped cucumber.
• Chopped red bell pepper.
• Cherry tomatoes.
• Homemade croutons, or store-bought. I made my Gluten Free Croutons.
• High-quality blue cheese dressing. I used Marzetti's Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing, which can be found in the refrigerated produce section of the grocery store. It has real chunks of blue cheese in it - so delish.
• Blue cheese crumbles.* I highly recommend adding this ingredient if your dressing doesn't have real blue cheese crumbles already in it.

How to Make Homemade Gluten-Free Croutons:

I have an entire post dedicated on how to make my homemade gluten-free croutons.

For this recipe, I used the same method to make the croutons, but I left out all of the spices/ingredients I felt didn't need to be in a Buffalo Chicken Salad recipe. Essentially, I was aiming for more plain "salt and pepper" flavored croutons. If you want to follow in my lead, leave out the following: Italian seasonings, minced garlic, onion powder, and Parmesan cheese.

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Salad:

• (Optional) Prepare Homemade Gluten-Free Croutons. Allow to cool completely.
• Trim chicken breasts of any fat. Cut in half lengthwise, and add to a one-gallon Ziploc bag. Pour in a good amount of Buffalo sauce to your liking (I suggest somewhere between ½ cup and ¾ cup. Allow to marinate 2-3 hours, or overnight for best results.
• After chicken has marinated, preheat oven to 350 F. In addition, preheat an oven-safe grill pan or large frying pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat on the stove-top. Add in 1 tbsp. of oil.

• Once pan is hot, sear chicken breasts on both sides (discarding excess marinade). Do not flip the chicken until it releases cleanly from the pan, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. You want nice, dark grill marks. Carefully transfer pan to oven. Bake 20-30 minutes, basting several times with more, fresh Buffalo sauce until cooked to an internal temperature of 165 F. Tip: It's important to baste with sauce 2-3 times in order to keep chicken saucy and flavorful.
• Meanwhile, prepare and chop salad ingredients: romaine lettuce, celery, cucumber, and red bell pepper. Set aside.
• Remove chicken from oven once completely cooked through. Baste with more Buffalo sauce. Allow to cool.

• To assemble salad: Add a bed of romaine lettuce to a large plate. Lay piles of the remaining ingredients: celery, cucumber, red bell pepper, shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, croutons, sliced, cooled chicken, and (optional) blue cheese crumbles. Drizzle over blue cheese dressing.
• Serve.

Optional: You can omit step 3, if cooking chicken on a grill instead.

Notes:

• Wanting to swap an ingredient? Here are some other additions that would be great in this salad: avocado, ranch dressing, snap peas, crushed tortilla chips, fried onion straws.
• To meal prep for work week lunches: Keep wet ingredients separate from dry. Place the chopped romaine, chopped celery, chopped cucumber, shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, and chopped bell pepper in one large, rectangular container (or compartment). Place the chopped, cooled chicken in another container (or separate compartment). Portion out the dressing in small containers. Portion out croutons and store in sandwich baggies, at room temperature. Eat within 3-4 days.

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