These buffalo chicken bowls feature tender buffalo chicken and fresh veggies served over a bed of rice. Drizzle with your favorite ranch dressing and additional buffalo sauce for the finishing touch.
Why Youโll Love This Recipe
- These easy buffalo chicken rice bowls make it possible to get the flavor of buffalo chicken wings into an easy weeknight dinner in 30 minutes.
- If you aren't a fan of spicy buffalo chicken, this recipe is adjustable to spice! You can often find a mild buffalo sauce at many grocery stores.
- This quick dinner also works well for meal prep. Simply add the rice and saucy chicken to meal prep containers and store the dressing and toppings separately to make reheating easy. Looking for other easy meal prep recipes? Try our meal prep breakfast sandwiches, cashew crunch salad with chicken, or Greek chicken meatballs in a bowl.
- The buffalo chicken recipe is easy to make and is paired with lots of fresh ingredients and crunchy veggies.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken breasts - we prefer boneless, skinless chicken breast for this recipe, but you can swap for chicken thighs if preferred. You could even use shredded rotisserie chicken in a pinch. Another fun option would be to reheat pre-cooked chicken nuggets or chicken tenders and toss in plain buffalo sauce.
- Buffalo sauce - you can find multiple variations of buffalo sauce at many grocery stores. If you like spicy buffalo sauce, you can pick a hot or medium version. Mild versions are often available as well. We recommend using a buffalo sauce such as the one from Sweet Baby Ray's and not Frank's Red Hot as this is a hot sauce, not a buffalo sauce.
- Rice - you can use white rice or brown rice for this recipe or even cauliflower rice or quinoa.
- English cucumber - regular cucumber will work too.
- Grape tomatoes - swap for cherry tomatoes if preferred.
- Shredded carrots - grate your own or buy pre-shredded carrots.
- Pickled red onion - while we always prefer a quick pickled onion at home you can buy a jar at the store or use thinly sliced red onion instead.
- Ranch - to make it easy, we like to buy a ranch dressing from the grocery store. Our favorite options are Bolthouse Farms or Primal Kitchen. If you have extra time you could make a homemade ranch dressing.
See the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients and measurements for this buffalo chicken rice bowl recipe.
Check out more of our bowl recipes in the salads and bowls section of our website.
Recipe Tips & Variations
- For a creamy buffalo sauce, add a little bit of Greek yogurt to the sauce for the chicken.
- Other topping ideas include green onions, feta cheese, blue cheese crumbles, or extra hot sauce.
- Swap the ranch dressing for these buffalo bowls with blue cheese dressing if you prefer.
- Use crispy chicken nuggets or tenders instead of chicken breast and toss them in plain buffalo sauce.
How to Make Easy Buffalo Chicken Bowls
For the full recipe instructions, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Step 1: First begin by preparing the rice in a rice cooker, instant pot, or saucepan if you are not using a microwaveable rice packet. If you want to make your own pickled onions (see recipe notes), make them now as well.
Next, butterfly each chicken breast (slice in half so the chicken breast is half of the original thickness). Add the chicken to a mixing bowl and add the other ingredients to the bowl (feel free to use a ziplock bag if you prefer). Mix until all of the chicken is evenly coated.
Step 2: Preheat the grill on medium heat for 5 minutes. Discard the excess marinade and place chicken breasts in an even layer on the grill. Close the lid of the grill to retain heat and allow the chicken to cook evenly. After 3-4 minutes, flip each piece of chicken and close the lid of the grill again. Allow the chicken to cook on the second side for 3-4 more minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving then cut into bite-sized pieces.
Step 3: Prepare the toppings.
Assemble the bowls. Add rice to the bowl and top with chicken, cucumber, tomato, carrot, pickled onions, ranch dressing, and additional buffalo sauce if desired.
Buffalo Chicken Bowls FAQs
Store leftovers in an airtight container. We recommend storing each component in a separate container. If you are using this recipe for meal prep, you can store the rice and chicken in the same container to heat up together the next day. Then add the separately stored toppings and dressing.ย
These buffalo bowls are gluten-free. For a dairy-free version use dairy-free buffalo sauce and ranch dressing. They are not vegetarian or vegan.ย
Other Bowl-Style Meals
If you make these healthy buffalo chicken bowls, please let us know how they turn out in the comments below and/or rate the recipe! Donโt forget to tag us on Instagram to show us your finished productโit makes our day every time we see you trying the recipes we love!
Easy Buffalo Chicken Bowls With Ranch
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 ยฝ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- ยผ cup buffalo sauce
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 teaspoons olive oil or avocado oil
- ยฝ teaspoon paprika
- ยฝ teaspoon garlic powder
- ยฝ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ยผ teaspoon black pepper
For the bowls:
- Cooked white or brown rice or quinoa, for serving
- 2 cups sliced English cucumber
- 1 cup grape tomatoes
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- Thinly sliced red onion or pickled red onions (see the recipe notes for a quick pickled recipe if interested)
- Ranch dressing of choice, for drizzling (we recommend Bolthouse Farms or Primal Kitchen)
- Buffalo sauce of choice, for drizzling
Instructions
- First begin by preparing the rice in a rice cooker, instant pot, or saucepan if you are not using a microwaveable rice packet. If you want to make your own pickled onions (see recipe notes), make them now as well.
- Next, butterfly each chicken breast (slice in half so the chicken breast is half of the original thickness). Add the chicken to a mixing bowl and add the other ingredients to the bowl (feel free to use a ziplock bag if you prefer). Mix until all of the chicken is evenly coated.
- Preheat the grill on medium heat for 5 minutes. Discard the excess marinade and place chicken breasts in an even layer on the grill. Close the lid of the grill to retain heat and allow the chicken to cook evenly. After 3-4 minutes, flip each piece of chicken and close the lid of the grill again. Allow the chicken to cook on the second side for 3-4 more minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving then cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Prepare the toppings.
- Assemble the bowls. Add rice to the bowl and top with chicken, cucumber, tomato, carrot, pickled onions, ranch dressing, and additional buffalo sauce if desired.
Notes
- Here is a quick pickled onion recipe if you'd like to make your own. Simply combine the ingredients in a bowl before completing other steps of the recipe and let them sit while you cook. 1 medium red onion, sliced thin, ยพ cup white vinegar, 1 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Although we think the grill is the best way to cook the chicken and add a little smoky flavor, if you don't own a grill and want to bake the chicken: Line a baking dish with parchment paper and place the chicken breasts in a single layer. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the chicken for 15-20 minutes until the thickest portion reaches 165 degrees.
- Save Time
- Heat pre-cooked chicken nuggets or chicken tenders (we love the Bare brand) and toss them in plain buffalo sauce for crispy buffalo chicken. You could use rotisserie chicken as well.ย
- Buy packets of rice that can be cooked in the microwave.
- Buy pre-shredded carrots.
- Buy a jar of pickled red onions or use thinly sliced red onion instead.ย ย
- Prep Ahead
- Prepare the buffalo sauce mixture for the chicken ahead of time.
- Prepare the toppings ahead of time.ย
- Store leftovers in an airtight container. We recommend storing each component in a separate container. If you are using this recipe for meal prep, you can store the rice and chicken in the same container to heat up together the next day. Then add the separately stored toppings and dressing.
- These buffalo bowls are gluten-free. For a dairy-free version use dairy-free buffalo sauce and ranch dressing. They are not vegetarian or vegan.ย
- The recipe can be found on My Fitness Pal by searching "BWB Buffalo Chicken Bowls." The nutrition is calculated with ยฝ cup white jasmine rice per bowl and 1 tablespoon of Bolthouse Farms Ranch Dressing. The nutrition content provided for each recipe is an estimate created through the My Fitness Pal database. Please be aware that the nutritional content of each recipe may vary based on the products you use, the precision of your measurements, and the source you use to obtain nutrition data. While we try to provide accurate information, we give no guarantee regarding the accuracy of the nutritional information provided.
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