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Alright guys, I have got a good one for you…Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad.
Seriously, this one is going to rock the blog world. Well….at least I think it should.
Anything involving Buffalo Sauce rocks. No questions.
Buffalo Chicken is a very much-loved food around here. Every time I make it for my Dad he say’s “You could sell this stuff. We need to open a restaurant devoted to all things Buffalo Chicken.” Really he say’s it every time…..and I love it!
After all, the reason I love cooking so much is seeing how people react to my food. It is the best when someone loves something! And I know something is good when I get my dad’s stamp of approval. Don’t get me wrong he will eat just about anything, but for him to say something is really good, means it is really good. He is kind of a toughy.
No joke, this is the best quinoa salad out there. I mean guys, it is Buffalo Chicken.
It’s healthy, quick and super simple. That right there is enough reason to make this. I added some broccoli and carrots for crunch and some blue cheese just cause well, blue cheese is delicious and in my opinion you can not do buffalo sauce without some blue cheese.
It’s just awesome. Perfect snack, lunch or dinner. I am kind of obsessed.
Really if you are out of quinoa you are going to want to go to the store. Now!
Cause I am pretty sure you need to ditch all other previous plans for dinner for tonight and make this. It is just too good not to make.
Ok…here’s how you do it….
First, the quinoa……..rinse and drain the quinoa. Add to the pot with water and bring to a boil. Cover and turn heat to low……Cook about 20 minutes until all water is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with fork!
The buffalo sauce dressing…..yuuummmmmm. In a small bowl, whisk olive oil, hot sauce, and seasoned salt. Set aside.
The chicken……Heat a medium sized skillet on medium-high heat. Add 1 T. olive oil and saute the broccoli for about 5 minutes. You want it a little soft, but still crisp. Remove from pan and set aside. Add the chicken to the same pan and cook for about 5 minutes until cooked through. Add 1/4 C. of the buffalo sauce dressing until the chicken absorbs most of it.
Assembling….When everything is ready, add the quinoa to a big bowl and toss in chicken, broccoli, carrots, shredded cabbage, and buffalo sauce dressing. Toss to combine the dressing and all the chicken and veggies. Mix in the blue cheese and half of the green onions. Toss again. Serve warm with extra blue cheese crumbles and green onions on top!! YUM!
Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad with Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
Buffalo Dressing
- 1/2 cup hot sauce, I recommend Franks
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
Salad
- 3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 3/4 cup shredded carrots
- 3/4 cup shredded cabbage
- 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles, plus more for garnish
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 4 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, make the buffalo sauce dressing. In a medium bowl combine the olive oil, hot sauce, and seasoned salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Heat a medium size skillet over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and cook the chicken for about 5 minutes or until cooked through. Add 1/4 cup or so of the buffalo sauce and cook until the chicken absorbs the sauce. Add the broccoli and cook 3-5 minutes or until the broccoli is tender. Remove from the heat.
- In a large salad bowl, toss together the cooked quinoa, chicken, broccoli, carrots, shredded cabbage, and as much of the dressing as desired. Add the blue cheese and half of the green onions. Toss again and serve warm with extra blue cheese crumbles, the remaining green onions, and avocado.
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.
Seriously, go make this now. You’ll be so happy your did!
Shared with: Inside BruCru Life, Lil Luna, Chef In Training, Buns In my Oven, Foodie Friday Friends, Tidy Mom, Taste and Tell, Cheerios and Lattes, Somewhat Simple, Mom on Timeout, I Heart Nap Time, Fine Craft Guide, The Country Cook, Whipperberry, Chef In Training
Oh. My. Word. This looks amazing!!!! You are totally right! Anything with buffalo sauce ROCKS!! This looks sooooooo good, I can’t wait to make it!
~Jen @ Yummy. Healthy. Easy.
This is genius! I am all over it! I am always trying to find ways to get my family to eat quinoa and love it like I do– this might do the trick! Seriously so smart. Thanks!
I hope you guys like it!
This IS a good one. I’m running out of ideas for all the quinoa I bought, and my husband doesn’t seem to like quinoa, but loves hot sauce. This recipe may just be the one to turn him!
Oh, I hope he likes it!
This looks delish! Anything with buffalo chicken is a win! Beautiful photos too by the way!
We love buffalo sauce and thank you!
Just to clarify- you do use frank’s buffalo sauce, even though you say “hot sauce” in the recipe ingredients? Because frank’s makes both a buffalo sauce AND a hot sauce!! Thanks, I can’t wait to try this!
YUP, I use franks hot sauce (not the buffalo)! In my opinion nothing is better than franks!
You do realize that you say both “hot sauce” and “buffalo sauce”…..its a bit confusing….I have the Franks version of both and was bit confused on which to use. I chose to use the “buffalo sauce..given the name of the recipe…putting in 1/4 cup of the buffalo sauce ( didn’t realize you meant part of the “dressing”) while cooking the chicken was a bit painful….not sure if the pan was to hot ( although I don’t think so) but the fumes from the sauce while cooking the chicken was a bit much….
I”ll admit that the Franks Buffalo sauce, chicken, and some quinoa did make for a nice “snack” for the rest of the week.
Hi Amy, sorry it was confusing for you. For this recipe I make my own version of buffalo sauce using the Franks Hot Sauce (not the buffalo sauce). I will have to go and re-read my recipe and try to make it less confusing. Glad you still enjoyed the dish though!
Thank you!
I made your dish and LOVED it! However, I have just started counting calories and I am curious if you know what the calorie count for 1 cup of this dish is.. I put it in my counter and it was on the better side of 750 per serving. Please tell me I’m wrong….
I am pretty sure that it was to high! I calculated between 380 and 400 calories! Much better. So glad you liked this!
Thanks so much for coming to (link) party with me… I hope you’ll come again next week to Super Saturday Show & Tell! http://www.whatscookingwithruthie.com xoxo~ Ruthie
Thanks for the recipe. I just made it and loved it, although I forgot the carrots and I can’t do onions.
So glad you like it!!!
Tieghan (pretty name) This salad looks delish. I have a quinoa salad that I love making but I cannot wait to try this one. Thank you for sharing. So glad I saw your link on Cheerios and Lattes.
Leslie
http://www.thememorynest.blogspot.com
Would love for you to stop by and say hi.
Thank you, that is so nice of you to say!
This looks really good. We’ve been on a buffalo chicken kick around here lately. Think this could be a good first way to add Quinoa and see what we think of it.
I would love if you would share this at my link party. http://www.realcoake.com/2013/03/real-family-fun-5.html
Take care,
KC
This would be a great dish for new quinoa eaters!
I’m actually from Buffalo, and LOVE all things with buffalo sauce.
this is on TOP of my must make list.
amazing!!!
YAY!
I am drooling over here! LOL This looks so good!! I pinned it for later and would love for you to link this up at my linky party Thursday at http://www.juliakendrick.com! I hope to see you there!
Yummy! I have a whole bunch of quinoa I’ve been wanting to use up. Definitely going to try this.
Just stopping by from the Back for Seconds Linky party 🙂
I do believe you’re my soul mate.
I can’t handle any spicey-ness in my food but this recipe looks so tastey! Any suggestions on what I can swap with the Franks?
I am not sure. This recipe is all about the hot sauce, you could try reducing it to a half cup. If you are looking for more quinoa recipes check out some here: https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/category/recipes/salads/