Buffalo Chicken Wedge Salad Recipe

Buffalo chicken may be most closely associated with all things wings and dip, but as it turns out, those iconic flavors translate well to salad format, too. In this Buffalo chicken wedge salad recipe, I combined the best of two worlds — spicy, buttery Buffalo chicken pieces and crisp, blue cheese-dressed wedge salad — to create a twist on a game day classic. I love serving this salad as either an easy weekday lunch or a light dinner with some crusty bread, and you can easily scale up or scale down the portion size to fit that ideal meal, appetizer, or side dish category.

Since we're preparing the Buffalo chicken from scratch in this recipe, there are a few more required steps than you might find in the average salad recipe. Any extra effort is well worth the result, as the fresh, crunchy, and zesty Buffalo chicken pairs wonderfully with crisp iceberg lettuce and rich, creamy, funky homemade blue cheese dressing. The finished salad itself is both simple and refined, relying on the Buffalo chicken and dressing to do most of the heavy lifting, while final garnishes of juicy cherry tomatoes and crispy, smoky bacon bits help tie everything together.

A wedge salad is only as good as its dressing, and for this recipe, you'll whip up a blue cheese dressing consisting of mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice (or vinegar), blue cheese crumbles, and black pepper. As for the Buffalo sauce and chicken, you'll need hot sauce (I recommend Frank's, but you can use a different brand if you prefer), unsalted butter, an egg, mayonnaise, flour, salt, breadcrumbs, and chicken tenderloins. Finally, to assemble and serve the salad, grab a head of iceberg lettuce, halved cherry tomatoes, cooked and chopped bacon, and extra blue cheese crumbles.

To prepare the blue cheese dressing, in a bowl, stir to combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, and lemon juice.

Stir in about ¾ of the blue cheese crumbles (reserving the rest for sprinkling over the salads) and the pepper; chill until ready to use.

To prepare the Buffalo sauce, in a small pot, heat the hot sauce and butter until melted. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.

Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.

To prepare the Buffalo chicken, in a bowl, whisk to combine the egg, mayonnaise, flour, and salt. Mix to combine the breadcrumbs and butter in a separate bowl.

Cut the chicken tenders into thirds.

Toss the chicken with the egg mixture to coat.

Dip each piece in the breadcrumb mixture and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 4-6 minutes.

Preheat the oven to broil.

Continue to cook until the tenders are golden brown and cooked through.

Trim off the bottom of the iceberg lettuce and cut it into quarters.

Give the chicken 5 minutes to rest, then slice it into smaller bites.

Transfer the chicken pieces to a bowl and toss to coat them with the hot sauce mixture.

Place a spoonful of blue cheese dressing on each of four plates, and top each with a wedge of lettuce.

Spoon over the blue cheese dressing, and sprinkle each plate with cherry tomato halves.

Divide the chicken between each plate, and sprinkle each plate with bacon and the remaining blue cheese crumbles to finish.

Serve immediately.

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With the word Buffalo in the mix, you might think that Buffalo chicken somehow has something to do with actual buffaloes, as in the animals. This isn't the case, however; instead, Buffalo chicken likely hails from Buffalo, N.Y., which provides a pretty quick and simple explanation as to how it got its moniker. Not so simple is determining who exactly gets credit for inventing or popularizing Buffalo chicken. 

Many stories credit Teresa and Frank Bellissimo, owners of the Buffalo-based Anchor Bar, for first purveying the iconic spicy fried chicken in the mid 1960s. However, it's more likely that the Bellissimos drew inspiration from chef John Young, whose spicy fried wings were already quite popular in Buffalo's Black community, and particularly in Young's restaurant, Wings and Things. Ultimately, both restaurateurs played an important role in establishing and popularizing the iconic spicy wing we all know and love. Nowadays, Buffalo chicken is incredibly popular across the U.S. and worldwide, though its namesake serves as a reminder for exactly where the iconic dish was born and why we call it "Buffalo chicken" in the first place.

This salad doesn't rely on many frills or unique ingredients to make it stand out. Instead, it's the simple combination of ingredients that work incredibly well together — spicy chicken, crisp lettuce, and creamy blue cheese dressing — that makes it such a winning dish. That said, there is plenty of room to up the ante if desired, or at the very least swap out ingredients to make this a salad all your own.

To start, you don't need to stick with chicken tenderloins, and you don't need to go through the hassle of cooking the chicken from scratch if you don't have the time. Rotisserie chicken would work just as well here, as would just about any type of leftover chicken or even air-fried frozen chicken. If you want to go a vegetarian route, ditch the chicken entirely and opt for Buffalo-coated tofu, cauliflower, or chickpeas instead. 

While the iceberg lettuce does contribute a certain level of freshness and crunchiness to the salad, just about any type of lettuce leaves will work here. If you want that added layer of crispiness that bacon adds but don't want the bacon itself, opt for croutons or sunflower seeds instead. Finally, in a pinch, you can reach for your favorite brand of store-bought blue cheese dressing instead of making a homemade version. 

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