As promised, I’m going to be sharing more of my favorite easy weeknight recipes on Lemon Stripes this year… Starting today! This is actually my sister’s recipe so I want to give a big shout out to Lauren for one of my favorite new dinners: Buffalo chicken bowls. What I love about these buffalo chicken bowls is that they’re super flavorful, really filling, and take less than 20 minutes to make.
Whenever I serve them for dinner, Anel gets so excited. I’d say it’s one of his top three meals that I make. And he has no idea that it couldn’t be easier! Well, unless he reads this post I suppose.
The main reason that the recipe is so easy is because the base of it is a pre-bought rotisserie chicken. I buy them from Whole Foods for $8 and have seen them at other grocery stores for even less. It ends up being cheaper than buying uncooked chicken breasts or thighs and it’s already cooked. Win/win!
When my sister first made it for me, she put the shredded buffalo chicken on a pizza and it was phenomenal. I asked her if she ever used the recipe for anything else and she told me that she serves it with brown rice or salads for a healthier weeknight dinner. As soon as I got home from that trip, I made it on a salad and was hooked. It’s now in our weekly rotation!
I usually serve it over a spinach salad with goat cheese, but it’s super hearty with brown rice (Anel melts cheese on top of his) or even in a sandwich. Literally this buffalo chicken could be used dozens of ways.
If you want to use raw chicken breasts or thighs, you can add more of the sauce and cook it in your slow cooker on low for eight hours for another option.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Buffalo Chicken Recipe:
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
– 1 rotisserie chicken (or roast a chicken yourself)
– 2/3 cup, hot sauce (I use Cholula, but most people love Frank’s RedHot)
– 1/2 cup, salted butter
– 1/2 tspn, Worcestershire sauce
– 1.5 tblspns, white vinegar (I usually only have apple cider vinegar, so I just use 1 tblspn of that instead because it’s so strong)
– 1/4 tspn, garlic powder
– Salt to taste
– Cayenne pepper to taste (I use none because I don’t like too much spice)
Directions:
1. Combine all sauce ingredients in a sauce pan and heat over medium heat.
2. Stir constantly and when it starts to simmer, remove from heat and continue to stir until combined.
3. Set sauce aside and shred the rotisserie chicken into small bites.
4. Place shredded chicken into a large bowl and cover with sauce. Mix well until completely covered.
5. I serve this over a spinach salad with goat cheese or over brown rice, but you could make it into a sandwich or even put it on a pizza. My sister adds mozzarella cheese on top for added deliciousness.
6. Enjoy!
Photos by Julia Dags.
