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Buffalo Chicken Bowls are saucy, with sassy flavor and easy to make. The family will love this veggie loaded meal.
Table of Contents
Why Make Buffalo Chicken Bowls
These bowls are bangin with flavor! They have tangy spiced buffalo sauce and cooling, homemade ranch in every bite.
Easy to make. This meal comes together quickly and takes a few short steps to make.
Customizable. Buffalo chicken bowls can be paired with several different veggies and sides. You can really customize it in any way you prefer, add more or less veggies and enjoy it how you’d like! My Southwest Chicken Bowls are also tasty and made with a Jalapeño sauce.
Ingredients Needed
Chicken Breasts. High quality chicken breasts, boneless & skinless will work best
Buffalo Sauce. Choose a high quality buffalo sauce you enjoy. All grocery stores will have serval to choose from. Grab one that suits your needs and budget. Franks Buffalo Hot Sauce will also work great.
Sour Cream. This is used to make the easy ranch dressing. You can also use plain greek yogurt.
Apple Cider Vinegar. This is used for the ranch dressing. It adds a perfect little tang to the mix.
All other ingredients and measurements can be found in the recipe card towards the bottom of this post.
Recipe Variations & Substitutions
Chicken Breasts. You can also use chicken thighs in this recipe if you prefer.
Buffalo Sauce. This recipe is all about the buffalo! But, if you have a picky eater or can’t have this sauce, barbecue will also work.
Make It Dairy Free. You can make this recipe dairy free by using a DF buffalo sauce, DF sour cream and substituting butter for ghee or plant based butter.
Long Grain Rice. use any grain of choice, you can also serve this over romaine lettuce or cauliflower rice.
Make It Healthier. To cut the calories in this recipe, skip the cheese, use plain greek yogurt in stead of sour cream for more protein and replace long grain rice with cauliflower rice.
Steps To Make This Recipe
Step One. Start to cook the rice according to the package (this typically takes about 20 minutes). Gather and prep veggies, set aside. Prepare the chicken. Cut the boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or thighs, if using) into bite-sized cubed pieces for even and quick cooking.
Step Two. Season the chicken (salt, pepper, dried basil). Oil a large skillet, on medium/high heat, add the chicken to the pan and brown it on all sides for about 12 minutes or until the chicken reaches 165º internally.
Step Three. While the chicken is cooking, make the ranch dressing. Add all the ingredients into a small blender or food processor (apple cider, sour cream, seasonings, fresh chives, cilantro, water, garlic).
Step Four. Once the chicken is cooked through, lower the heat to the lowest setting. Add the buffalo sauce and the butter, let the butter and sauce combine and come to heat.
Step Five. Assemble the bowls! Add rice, top with saucy chicken, cheese, onion, chopped cilantro, green onions, cucumber, peppers and banana peppers. Add any leftover buffalo sauce and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, barbecue sauce will also work great if you do not want to use buffalo sauce.
Shrimp! Shrimp would be a great substitute from chicken. You will only need to cook the shrimp for about 3-4 minutes on each side.
Yes, franks hot sauce will work great if you don’t want to you a prepared buffalo sauce.
Recipe Tips
Don’t Burn The Buffalo Sauce! Make sure you keep an eye on the sauce once you pour it into the chicken. It can burn easily. Turn the heat off the skillet if needed.
Don’t Overcook The Chicken. I highly recommend a digital thermometer to ensure better cooking with chicken! It’s a life saver in the kitchen and they are affordable. Here’s mine.
Customize The Bowl To Your Liking. If you want to make it a lighter meal, skip the rice and serve it over lettuce. Add different veggies you might prefer more! Steamed corn or zucchini is also good on this bowl.
Other Easy Chicken Meals To Try
If you loved this recipe let me know! Also, follow me on Instagram & Pinterest for even more fun recipes to make you feel good from the inside out. Thanks for being here.
Buffalo Chicken Bowls
Equipment
- large skillet
- sharp knife
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts, boneless & skinless, *see notes
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup buffalo sauce , *see notes
Herby Ranch
- ½ cup sour cream , *see notes
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ tsp apple cider vinegar
- 3-4 Tbsp fresh chives
- 1 Tbsp fresh cilantro
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp salt , more to taste
Buffalo Chicken Bowl
- ½ cup long grain rice, uncooked , *use more if needed
- 4 Tbsp green onions, chopped
- ¼ cup red onion, chopped
- 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
- ¼ cup banana peppers, chopped
- ¼ cucumber, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup montery jack, shredded , optional
- fresh cilantro, chopped , for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Start to cook the rice according to the package (this typically takes about 20 minutes). Gather and prep veggies, set aside. Prepare the chicken. Cut the boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or thighs, if using) into bite-sized cubed pieces for even and quick cooking.
- Season the chicken (salt, pepper, dried basil). Oil a large skillet, on medium/high heat, add the chicken to the pan and brown it on all sides for about 12 minutes or until the chicken reaches 165º internally.
- While the chicken is cooking, make the ranch dressing. Add all the ingredients into a small blender or food processor (apple cider, sour cream, seasonings, fresh chives, cilantro, water, garlic).
- Once the chicken is cooked through, lower the heat to the lowest setting. Add the buffalo sauce and the butter, let the butter and sauce combine and come to heat.
- Assemble the bowls! Add rice, top with saucy chicken, cheese, onion, chopped cilantro, green onions, cucumber, peppers and banana peppers and herby ranch. Add any leftover buffalo sauce and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love the flavor and how quick this was to put together!
Made these over the weekend and they were incredibly good. I highly recommend this recipe for an easy, healthy weeknight meal.
I am so happy to hear this! Thanks for the feedback.
Are the nutrition facts based on including the rice?
Hi Trish! Yes, the nutrition calculator includes the rice on this recipe. I use a universal calculator so it can vary slightly but it should be quite close. Enjoy!
This is SOOOO good! So good that I came on here part way through the meal because I couldn’t wait to comment on how good it actually is. All of the flavors together are perfect! The ranch is a must! Yet again another one of Bailey’s recipes that I will start rotating weekly! Make this ASAP; you won’t be disappointed!
I am so thrilled to hear this! Thanks for the support and for the positive feedback.
I’ve been making these bowls for lunch meal prep throughout the week and they are absolutely delicious, healthy and filling! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
I am really happy to hear this! They do make a great lunch, thanks for the feedback and happy cooking. xoxo!
Fabulous meal! Would highly recommend it!