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Buffalo Ranch Pretzel Chicken Caesar Salad. Spicy, saucy buffalo chicken fingers, breaded in salty pretzel crumbs, oven-baked and tossed together with fresh greens, avocado, and crispy bacon. Add a creamy Caesar salad dressing and lots of parmesan for a colorful salad that’s anything but boring. Beyond delicious. It’s that salty, spicy pretzel chicken and creamy dressing. The combo is hard to beat.
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If my family had a “house” salad, this would be it. It’s a dinner-style “house” salad, but one I could (and will) easily make on repeat.
We love buffalo chicken. Many of you have already heard this story (sorry). Buffalo chicken really was one of the very first dinners I made for my family that they become obsessed with. So much so that in the early, early days, I would make it once or twice a week. They LOVED my baked buffalo chicken.
I used to make 2 sheet pans worth of chicken. Anything leftover I would turn into quesadillas for the boy’s lunch the following day. I’m not joking, they were truly obsessed with buffalo chicken.
It was my dad who would take the leftover chicken and toss it into his salad. My dad was (and is) a big salad guy. When we lived in Cleveland he would eat a salad for dinner every night. But the thing about his salads – they were different – very different. He’d take whatever greens he had in the fridge and mix them with whatever leftovers he had in the fridge. Literally more of a leftovers with a side of greens kind of situation. French fries? Yup, he would toss them in too. Taco meat? Sure thing. Leftover pasta? Why not. It didn’t matter what it was, he’d throw it in. And add half a bottle of ranch dressing too (fortunately, that’s a thing of the past).
Yes, certainly not your typical salad. But those salads inspired many of my recipes.
The details
What I love about this fun salad is that even though it has a lot going on, it’s actually really easy. But it does have some steps.
Start with the chicken. Finely crush the pretzels into crumbs to bread the chicken. The finely crushed pretzels are key. They flavor the chicken with the perfect amount of salt and add a nice crunch. I season the crumbs with a blend of homemade ranch seasonings – chives, parsley, dill, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne. These crumbs are delicious.
If you have a food processor, pulse the pretzels in the food processor to really break them down into a fine crumb. If you don’t have a food processor, just add the pretzels to a ziplock bag. Then step on the bag with your feet to finely crush them.
Bake the chicken in the oven until it crisps all over. My secret is to lightly drizzle the chicken with olive oil before it bakes. This helps the coating to really crisp up nicely in the oven.
For the salad, I do a short-cut Caesar dressing and toss it with some shredded romaine lettuce, homemade croutons, celery, cubed avocado, and bacon.
The dressing is obviously key, it adds creaminess plus flavor.
Once you have the salad tossed, all that’s left is to add the chicken. Also, while I use a mix of parmesan and blue cheese, if you don’t enjoy blue cheese you can use cubes of cheddar or simply add more parmesan.
When everything comes together – the greens, croutons, avocado, bacon, cheese, dressing, and chicken -wow, this salad is SO GOOD!
Crunchy ranch seasoned chicken, buffalo sauce, salty bacon, creamy avocado, and a creamy caesar dressing that really completes the salad. Every bite is special. Exactly how all of our salads should be.
Looking for other dinner salad recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Summer Chicken Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing
Pesto Chicken and Avocado Bacon Salad Wraps
Lastly, if you make this Buffalo Ranch Pretzel Chicken Caesar Salad, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Buffalo Ranch Pretzel Chicken Caesar Salad
Ingredients
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 pound boneless chicken tenders
- 1 cup finely crushed salted pretzel twists
- 1 tablespoon dried chives
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon dried dill
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup buffalo sauce
- 1 cup torn ciabatta bread
- 6 cups mixed greens
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup shaved parmesan
- 1-2 avocados, diced
- 4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
- 4 slices cooked thick cut bacon, crumbled
Caesar Dressing
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1-2 cloves garlic, grated
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Combine the pretzels, chives, parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, and a pinch of pepper in a bowl.3. Dredge the chicken through the crumbs, pressing to adhere. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.4. Toss the hot chicken in buffalo sauce.5. To make the salad. Combine the greens, breadcrumbs, blue cheese (or use cheddar or parmesan), avocados, and bacon in a salad bowl.6. To make the dressing. Combine all ingredients in a glass jar and whisk until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. Toss the salad with the dressing, saving some for serving. 7. Toss the chicken in with the salad. Add a little more of the dressing and extra buffalo sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Holy smokes!!!! This was crazy good!!
Thank you SO much Melinda! I am so glad you loveddd this buffalo ranch salad! Thanks for trying it out! xT
This was incredible! My daughter is obsessed with this salad. Anytime a teen loves what you cook, I consider it a win!!
Hey Liz,
Awesome! Love to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! xx
100% restaurant quality! Sooo good! Halved the dressing but made as written otherwise! Croutons amazing. Chicken amazing!
Hey Julie,
Wonderful! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, love to hear it turned out well! Xx
Is the 1 cup of cucumber added to the salad?
Hey Gina,
There is no cucumber in this recipe:) Please let me know if I can help in any other way! xT
So yummy. I used buffalo wing flavored pretzels and I added wing sauce to the egg dip. This made it extra “wingy”. I was a little lazy and used bleu cheese dressing rather than making the dressing recipe.
We will use the recipie just for buffalo wing chicken strips, we liked it so much.
Thanks for another delicious recipe!
Thanks so much, Julie!! So glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe:) Thanks for sharing what worked well for you! Happy Friday! xT
Hey Tieghan! This looks so good! Any specifics for what pretzel twists to use for this recipe, or will any work? I tend to get caught up in details that probably don’t matter.
Thanks so much Caitlin!! Any brand of pretzel twists that you enjoy will work, I used Snyders:) I hope you love this recipe! xT
Have put this together haven’t tasted it yet but looks delicious. Curious tho.. what part makes it ranch?
Hi Jocelyn,
Thanks for trying this recipe! All of the seasonings create the ranch….so the chives, parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder:) I hope you love this salad! xT
This is freakin delicious!! I could have carried on eating all night! Thank you!
Hey Jess,
Fantastic!! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it was a hit! Have a great weekend😎
Made this tonight and it was so good. Did all my prepping before hand and it went so smooth. My husband loved it. Will be making this again. It’s a keeper.
Hi Lauren,
Wonderful!! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your comment, so glad it was a hit! Happy Memorial Day weekend!🇺🇸
One of our faves! Made this for Mother’s Day. Thanks for all the deliciousness Tieghan!
Hi Valorie,
Perfect!! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed and thanks so much for making it! Happy Mother’s Day!💐
After making this…my 13 yr old son begged me to put this in rotation. I generally don’t make things twice. The whole family loved it!!!!
Hey Jacqueline,
Happy Monday!! I am so glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! xx
I made this last night for the first time. There were many firsts for me. I have never made home made croutons before, so easy and delish! I have never made a Caesar Salad Dressing either, again so easy and so delish! I think this is the best salad I have ever made!!! I will definitely be adding this to my rotations! Yum
Hey Kimberly,
Happy Friday!! I appreciate you making this recipe and your feedback, I am thrilled that it turned out well for you! ☀️🍉