Crispy Buffalo Chicken Salad {Paleo, Whole30, Keto}

5.13.19

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Whole 30No Added Sugar

This buffalo chicken salad is super addicting, easy to make, and filled with goodies! Crispy pan fried chicken tenders are tossed in 2 ingredient buffalo sauce and mixed with greens, carrots, celery, avocado and topped with Whole30 compliant cilantro ranch dressing. Easy to prep ahead of time and great for weeknight dinners.

My crispy buffalo chicken wings are one of the most well-loved blog recipes and obviously that’s nothing to argue with. The people want crispy buffalo chicken!

I mean, I also want crispy buffalo chicken. I used to say way back when that the recipes I create for the blog are secretly (or maybe not so much!) MY favorite meals and honestly it really hasn’t changed much.

I crave, I create, I post. And that’s exactly how this crispy buffalo chicken salad was born – I just needed that buffalo chicken fix and a huge salad sounded like heaven!

This salad is actually super simple to make. Yes, I know I might say that a lot, but hey – my recipes usually ARE pretty dang simple only because it’s all around better that way, don’t you think?!

Not only is it simple, but you can prepare the salad itself and the dressing ahead of time. The chicken is ready in about 20 minutes flat, so, there you go – a 20 minute dinner!

We start with the “salad” part of the salad, if that makes sense. It’s a mix of greens (choose what you like) chopped celery, shredded red cabbage and carrots, and avocado.

For the chicken, I used tenderloins. I dredged them in an almond flour/tapioca mix with some flavor added in, and pan fried in coconut oil. You can also use avocado oil or ghee for frying with good results.

After the chicken is cooked, each tenderloin is dipped in the buffalo sauce which is just a mix of Whole30 compliant hot sauce and melted ghee – and it’s perfect!

After dipping the chicken, you can place it right on the salad to serve, or cut it into bite size pieces as I did. Add in the avocado and drizzle all over with the cilantro ranch dressing, and you have an easy and seriously delicious dinner ready for action.

Oh, and if you happen to have a little bit of leftover buffalo sauce, you need to drizzle that on there too!

Add a little extra cilantro and you’re good to go. And make sure you save a little of the leftovers for lunch the next day. I guarantee you’ll want this crispy buffalo chicken salad for more than just one meal!

Are you ready?! Because now I’m over here craving this big salad all over again! So yeah, it’s time to grab our ingredients and a big skillet – let’s go!

Crispy Buffalo Chicken Salad {Paleo, Whole30, Keto}

Crispy Buffalo Chicken Salad with Cilantro Ranch {Paleo, Whole30, Keto}

Author: Michele Rosen

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Course:Dinner/Lunch

Cuisine:Paleo, Whole30

Keyword:salad

Servings: 8

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4.65 from 145 votes

Ingredients

Salad:

3cupschopped romaineor salad greens
3Celery stalkschopped
1/2cupshredded cabbage
1cupShredded carrots
1large Avocadosliced
Thinly sliced red onionoptional

Chicken:

1lbchicken tenderloins
1large eggwhisked
3/4cupblanched almond flour
1/4cuptapioca flouror arrowroot
1and 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt
1/8tspblack pepper
1tsponion powder
1/2tspgarlic powder
1/4cupcoconut oil or avocado oilfor frying
1/3cupFranks original hot sauce
1/4cupgheemelted
Additional cilantrofor garnish

Dressing:

1/2cuphomemade mayo or purchased paleo mayo
3Tbspcoconut milk
1/2tspgarlic powder
1/2tsponion powder
2Tbspcilantrominced
1tspdried chives
1/4tspdried dill
1tspfresh lime juice
1/8-1/4tspsaltor to taste

Instructions

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a bowl until nice and smooth, then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
In a large serving bowl, arrange the salad ingredients, except for the avocado, which should be sliced right before serving to avoid browning. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the chicken.
Whisk the egg in a small shallow bowl and in another shallow bowl, add the almond flour, tapioca, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.
Heat a large skillet over medium/med-hi heat (non-stick is preferreand add the oil for frying.
Once sizzling hot, (breading with soften and fall off if oil isn’t hot enougdip a piece of chicken in the egg, shaking off excess, coat with dry mixture, and place in the skillet. Repeat with all chicken pieces.
Cook on one side until golden brown, about 3 mins, adjusting the heat if necessary. Turn carefully using tongs so as not to lose the “breading”.
Cook on the second side until golden brown on the outside and cooked through inside - about 6 mins total depending on thickness.
Remove chicken to a paper towel lined plate and allow to cool a bit.
In a bowl, whisk together the hot sauce and melted ghee. Dip each piece of chicken in the sauce to coat and place on a cutting board. If you don’t want to cut the chicken before serving the salad, you can place the chicken right over the salad.
Cut chicken into pieces if desired, then arrange on the salad, drizzling any leftover sauce over the top. Arrange avocado around the chicken, and serve right away with the ranch dressing. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 417kcal

Carbohydrates: 12g

Protein: 16g

Fat: 35g

Saturated Fat: 8g

Cholesterol: 77mg

Sodium: 524mg

Potassium: 478mg

Fiber: 4g

Sugar: 2g

Vitamin A: 4795IU

Vitamin C: 12mg

Calcium: 50mg

Iron: 1.5mg

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Want More Whole30 Salad Recipes? Try One of These!

Crispy Chicken Salad with “Honey” Mustard Dressing

Kale Salad with Chicken and Hot Bacon Dressing

Shrimp Cobb Salad with Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette

BLT Chicken Salad with Peppercorn Ranch

Rainbow Veggie Salad

Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Paleo Running Momma!

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About Michele

More than a little into running and paleo recipes (yoga now too!) but I'm not here to rain on your grains (or anything else) so come along for the ride! I do a little too much of everything (except cleaning), and I enjoy laughing at myself. As long as I'm the one making the jokes, that is. Just kidding. So bring me your angst, your appetite and your frying pan and climb aboard!

Reader Interactions

Reader Reviews & Comments

Addison says
May 13, 2019 at 10:22 am
I love buffalo chicken and this recipe sounds amazing! Love how quickly it comes together yet it packs quite the flavor punch. Yum!
Reply
Chelsea says
May 14, 2019 at 7:23 pm

I made this tonight, and as usual it’s another delicious recipe. It was easy and came together quickly. Thanks for all of these awesome recipes!
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Carol Clark says
May 17, 2019 at 12:27 pm

This is another amazing recipe. My entire family loved it!!
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Samantha says
May 20, 2019 at 1:49 pm

This recipe is by far my favorite! I love absolutely everything about this. Also a great recipe for just chicken tenders – will be making the tenders again for my toddler!
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Barb says
May 27, 2019 at 8:07 pm

My husband and I have decided to take the 30 day keto challenge. So, the first recipe I tried was this one tonight for dinner. It was delicious! He really enjoyed it and so did I, and he’s a meat and potatoes guy. I have never purchased or used tapioca flour before, but the chicken tasted amazing and I can’t imagine doing chicken tenders any other way now. The salad and dressing were so good too. Thank you for the recipe.
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Emily says
May 29, 2019 at 3:57 pm
Love every single one of your recipes!! I’m wondering if there’s a way to dip and bread and then BAKE the chicken?
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Hannah B. says
June 12, 2019 at 1:16 pm

This mixture for breading the chicken is SO GOOD! The best whole30 one I’ve tried, by far. I’ve been reheating the chicken by quickly frying both sides again in coconut oil, and it is lunch salad perfection ?? Thank you!!
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cece says
June 12, 2019 at 9:57 pm

made this recipe! it’s awesome. i will say, at least for me, when it comes to frying chicken it takes a bit longer than 6 minutes and also needs to cook at lower heat because as the oil gets dirtier the chicken pops just like when you cook bacon (also i use avocado oil which i think gets hotter faster.) but tastes amazing and is perf for whole30!
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Kelly says
June 14, 2019 at 6:20 pm

Made this the other day and it was amazing! My son (he is not a whole30’er) said he could eat it everyday and is willing to learn how to make it himself! This is a winner. I will agree with another poster though, the chicken took longer than the recipe stated, but that’s okay, worth every extra minute. Thanks for posting!! This will be made often in my house – in large quantities too – to carry over for lunches! Thanks for posting 🙂
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Consuelo Zimmerman says
June 26, 2019 at 3:17 pm
Yes I just make it, is actually really good, I just want it to know if you have a suggestion on switching the buffalo sauce for another brand I found this one to be a little salty
Reply
Raychel Behman says
July 6, 2019 at 7:58 pm
PERFECTION!!!
Reply
Amanda says
August 28, 2019 at 9:44 pm

So yummy! Very tasty and easy to make. Love the crunch the carrots and cabbage give to the salad. I cannot have dairy so I subbed coconut oil for the ghee it was still delish!!!
Reply
See Also
Easy Meatless Ricotta "Meatballs" in Tomato Sauce - SugarLoveSpices
Tania says
September 14, 2019 at 10:18 am

This recipe was amazing and really easy to make. We will be adding this recipe to our besties. Thank you
Reply
Linda says
September 16, 2019 at 4:31 pm

Holy cow, this recipe is amazing! So simple, yet so damn delicious. I completely veganized it so I used vegan chicken and vegan mayo, and I CAN NOT GET ENOUGH OF THE DRESSING!! It is WAAAAAYYY better than any vegan ranch dressing in the store. Seriously, nothing comes close. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Reply
Tarisa says
December 10, 2019 at 2:50 pm

After completing a Whole30 and then switching to a Paleo diet, I find myself using one of your recipes at least twice a week if not more. Your site is my go-to. This one was awesome! Loved the leftovers for lunch as well. So good!
Reply
Hannah says
January 3, 2020 at 1:58 pm

This is both beautiful and delicious!
Buffalo chicken salad is my favorite!
Reply
Kimberly says
January 7, 2020 at 6:53 pm

Made this for dinner tonight. It was amazing!!
Reply
rachael says
February 2, 2020 at 11:59 am
Hello! I am making this tonight but my roommate is allergic to almond flour– what could I use instead?
Reply
Nicole says
February 18, 2020 at 7:34 am
Can you bake the chicken?
Reply
Sharon says
February 25, 2020 at 2:53 pm

This salad is AMAZING!! Got rave reviews from the family and will definitely be making this often!!!
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Maria says
March 5, 2020 at 4:45 pm

Yes, I made this today. I really love all the flavors together. Just Got stuck on almond flour and tapioca flour or arrowroot, What? I figured it out and I learned something new. Thank you running momma! ?
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Heidi says
March 10, 2020 at 1:58 pm

Can’t keep this in the house! Love it!
Reply
Erin says
March 11, 2020 at 9:58 pm
Made this tonight and holy yummm! Will definitely be making it again! Love, love , love your recipes! They save me time and time again:)
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Kate says
March 12, 2020 at 11:36 pm

My partner asked if we could have this every night! Yum, was hoping to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow but we devoured it all!
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Svet Tour says
March 24, 2020 at 4:06 pm
Serve in buffalo chicken tacos, in a buffalo chicken salad, or even a buffalo chicken breakfast frittata!
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Alicia says
April 17, 2020 at 8:26 pm
This recipe was amazing! However, your page is full of so many ads.. very annoying!!!
Reply
Jenny says
April 18, 2020 at 11:25 am

I made the chicken last night, and it was great! I used a smaller amount of almond flour and subbed coconut flour for tapioca, but it was delicious!
Reply
Kathy Boyle says
April 21, 2020 at 5:32 pm

Loved it!! Easy to make and so very delicious! Also, the sauce that accompanies the salad is fabulous…so double this if you are a sauce person like me! 😉
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becca says
May 26, 2020 at 6:35 pm
Love this recipe. I’ve made it before, but for some reason it turned out way better this time. I’m not following a whole30 right now, so instead of ghee, I used butter to mix with the hot sauce. Delicious. But I have made it with ghee before and it was still delicious. I think I used more lime juice in my dressing than the recipe calls for (not sure, because i didn’t measure it out), but the unskippable ingredient in the dressing is definitely the cilantro. It compliments the other flavors extremely well. I love this salad recipe and while it’s healthy, it makes me feel like I’m indulging. Will continue to come back to this one!
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Lindsey says
June 3, 2020 at 9:03 pm
Wow!!!! Sooo good! Even my Husband can’t stop talking about it!!! Seriously better than any restaurant salad!!!!!
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Kristen says
August 4, 2020 at 5:50 pm

Family favorite for sure!! Also use the “breading mixture” on beef chunks or fish- it is amazing!!!!
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Amanda says
August 18, 2020 at 4:23 pm

Amazing recipe this is a keeper! I used coconut flour cause that’s what I had. I also used baby rays buffalo sauce without the ghee. I doubled the dressing cause I’m naughty like that. Husband loved it!
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Sonia Reddout says
August 25, 2020 at 8:35 pm

Yummy! Even without the sauce!
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jazzie says
August 30, 2020 at 2:22 pm

really good!
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Len says
October 5, 2020 at 6:47 pm
Honestly, this is a horrible description of a recipe.
Reply
Joan VanDewater says
January 11, 2021 at 8:47 pm

So good!!! The flavors pair really well. My family all loved it. Plus, it was quick to throw together.
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Danielle Beason says
June 1, 2021 at 6:11 pm
Any substitution for almond flour? I can’t do almonds in large amounts like that. But still want something healthy.
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Ella says
February 27, 2022 at 5:31 pm
My husband would love this! I’ll have to make this for him.
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Keara says
April 5, 2022 at 11:35 pm

Made this, and it was SO yummy! My husband is pretty picky about salad dressing paleo subs, and he loved this. I did use primal kitchen Buffalo sauce instead of Frank’s because that’s what I had on hand, and it was phenomenal. Will definitely become a regular in our rotation.
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Mary Brand says
April 10, 2022 at 7:05 pm

Delicious. Oh! My! Gideons!! So good. Telling my friends for sure.
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Laura says
May 18, 2023 at 12:16 pm

So tasty. My husband and son love! Wondering how air fryer might work.
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cat says
August 6, 2023 at 2:18 pm

ugh – who puts celery in a buffalo chicken salad
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Patti H says
January 16, 2024 at 9:40 pm

This is really yummy. The chicken in the buffalo sauce is such a treat and the dressing is fun. My only suggestion to you would be on servings. If these recipes are going to be someone’s entree then 1 pound of chicken is not enough to serve 8 people and keep them satisfied. I would say this serves 4 as an entree as written– and is delicous. Thanks!
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Julia says
April 4, 2024 at 12:32 am
Hi! Would this be ok to make with whole 30 pre made buffalo sauce?! Thank you! Can’t wait to make it
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