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Keeping Monday healthy, fun, and delicious with this Crispy Buffalo Ranch Chicken Salad with Goddess Dressing. Filled with garden-fresh greens, crunchy celery, avocado, and a little cheese too. Each salad bowl is topped with oven-baked (and extra crispy) ranch seasoned buffalo chicken and served up with a light yogurt-based herby goddess style dressing. Promise this is not your average salad. It’s DELICIOUS, makes a great lunch, but is totally dinner-worthy too.
I’ve said it many times before, but my goal in life? Never another boring salad.
OK, so that’s not my only goal in life, but it’s always my goal whenever I set out to make a new salad recipe. Salads can be incredibly boring. We all know this, BUT salads can also be incredibly delicious. I actually LOVE a GOOD salad and find they can even be crave-worthy as opposed to something you dread eating. This is that crave-worthy salad that makes a great lunch, but is hearty enough for dinner too.
It’s filled with all things deicious, and then some. It is definitely not 10 ingredients or less. And it’s going to take you more than 30 minutes to prepare (but only about 15 minutes more, so still under an hour!). But every now and again we have to put a little extra time into making a good dinner, and you guys, this salad is so very good.
And yes, I know it’s summer. I’m so, so sorry that I’m going to make you turn your oven on today, but please hear me out. I tried pan-frying the chicken, I tried grilling the chicken, and you know what I discovered? Nothing was easier, and nothing tasted better, than cooking it in the oven.
It’s worth the heat and the extra time in the kitchen.
Here are the details you must know.
Start with the chicken. It’s breaded in Panko breadcrumbs which get seasoned up with my homemade ranch seasoning blend, then oven-baked until they are nice and crispy. As soon as the chicken has baked, you’re going to toss it with some spicy buffalo sauce. So basically, this is my black pepper ranch chicken fingers, but tossed in buffalo sauce. Everything you’d ever want out of a crispy chicken breast – herby, hinted with garlic and onion, spicy, and saucy. All things GOOD.
The chicken is the hearty layer of the salad and makes up a bulk of the flavor. But the salad and the dressing are extra special too. You all know me, nothing boring and everything extra special, that’s the only way I like to roll.
So, the salad is a simple mix of greens, veggies, avocado, and cheese. I’m of course using blue cheese because it’s been one of my favorite cheeses since I was probably 8 years old. I’ve always loved it…
Again, I was that super odd child that ate raw broccoli, loved carrots as an after school snack, didn’t eat potato chips, and instead loved blue cheese. So weird.
Anyway, the salad base is basic, but it’s perfect for holding up to the goddess dressing. Oh, this dressing. I love it so much. It’s super creamy, but light, refreshing, and cooling, all at the same. Simply combine plain yogurt with fresh herbs, jalapeño, plenty of fresh lemon, and salt. That’s it.
In addition to the avocado, the creamy goddess dressing helps to tame the heat from the spicy chicken.
Put it all together and you’ll have the most delicious…and least boring…Monday salad.
It. Is. SO. GOOD.
This is also a current family favorite. But this might be because we all really love anything buffalo chicken around here. It’s one of the first foods I made for my family when I started cooking. And 10 years later everyone still gets excited over any recipe with buffalo in the title. It’s certainly nothing fancy, but sometimes you just need feel-good food that’s uncomplicated and delish.
This is that salad. It’s healthy and summery, but also hearty enough to carry on into the fall for football season.
PS. If you don’t eat chicken, try roasting cauliflower florets and tossing them with the buffalo sauce…such a great vegetarian option.
If you make this crispy buffalo ranch chicken salad with goddess dressing 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!
Crispy Buffalo Ranch Chicken Salad with Goddess Dressing
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 711 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cutlets, or tenders
- 1/2 cup buffalo sauce, homemade or store-bought
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon each dried chives and dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried dill
- 1 teaspoon each garlic and onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more or less to taste
- 1 pinch each kosher salt and black pepper
Salad
- 2 heads romaine lettuce, shredded
- 4 carrots, shredded
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 Persian cucumbers, chopped
- 4 radishes thinly, sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro or parsley, roughly chopped
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or feta cheese
Goddess Dressing
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup fresh cilantro
- 1/2 cup fresh basil
- 1 jalapeño, halved and seeded
- juice from 1 lemon
Instructions
- 1. To make the chicken. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.2. Toss the chicken with 2 tablespoons buffalo sauce. Add the Panko, chives, parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and a pinch each of salt and pepper to a medium-sized bowl. Stir to combine. Dredge the chicken through the crumbs, pressing firmly to adhere. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all the chicken has been used. Lightly brush/drizzle the chicken with olive oil. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Drizzle the chicken with the remaining buffalo sauce.3. Meanwhile, make the salad. In a large salad bowl, combine the lettuce, carrots, celery, cucumbers, radishes, and cilantro.4. To make the goddess dressing. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy, adding water, 1 tablespoon at a time as needed, to thin the sauce. Toss the salad with a few tablespoons of dressing.5. To serve, divide the salad among bowls. To each salad add the chicken, avocado, and crumbled cheese. Serve with fresh chives, additional buffalo sauce, and additional goddess dressing. Enjoy!
We just wrapped up having this for dinner and WOW! I thought my son would head for the old bottle of Ranch dressing but he loved the tang of the dressing. The Buffalo chicken had that nice “wingy zing”. My wife loved the balance of heat and the refreshing cool of the veg. All around the table said this is definitely a repeat!
Thanks for sharing and making me look great 😉
D
Aw that is amazing! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you, Darren!! Thank you! xTieghan
Truly the best salad I’ve had in a long time. My husband and I agree this is going into the permanent rotation!
Thank you so much! That is so amazing!! xTieghan
Great recipe for buffalo chicken!
Thank you so much Casey! xTieghan
Phenomenal. Even my husband, who isn’t crazy about salad, absolutely loves this and requests it be added to our meal plans. I often skip the cucumber and celery because I’m just not a fan of either. I didn’t have any jalapeno to add to the dressing this time around, either, but it still tasted great without it. So good. So easy. So adaptable. So filling!
Thank you so much Kayla! I am so glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan
I was lazy and didn’t make the dressing – used store bought with similar ingredients. But this salad was so good! Quick easy dinner that was healthy but satisfying. Thank you!
I am so glad this turned out so well for you! Thank you Sophie! xTieghan
I want to make this chicken for lunch. Will it still be crispy? 🙂
Hi Cassy! What a perfect lunch! Yes the chicken should still be crispy the next day. Let us know if you have any other questions. Enjoy! X Kelly
Delicious! Even my salad-skeptical husband and Dad both loved this meal so much! My only issue was that even though I thoroughly dried my chicken, the breading on the bottom got soggy and ultimately fell off after I took it off the pan. This always happens to me when I bread and then bake chicken cutlets in the oven. Hubby loves cilantro so the dressing was a huge hit. For me personally it was a 4.5 star recipe but I didn’t hold one back on my review because I was outnumbered by people who loved it. Thank you!
I am so glad you all enjoyed this one, Kristen! Thank you so much! xTieghan
Made this tonight. I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Hot Sauce. It was delicious!!
Thank you Ari! xTieghan
Made this tonight – fabulous recipe. I live in Australia so replaced the Franks sauce in the buffalo sauce with an Asian chilli sauce which worked really well. Used strong blue cheese so could use less cheese for great flavour. Well done on another great recipe Tieghan, thank you
Thank you so much Deirdre! So glad you loved this! xTieghan
Hi! I am wondering what you might sub for cilantro in the dressing – my husband is really not a fan! Looking forward to trying it this week!
Hey Dani! I recommend using fresh basil. That will be so good! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
The chicken came out delicious but the dressing had way too much acidity so we ended up throwing it out and using store bought ranch.
I am really sorry to hear that Chrissy! Are there any questions I could help you with? xTieghan
Hmm.. very good, but for some reason, my chicken came out waaaay lighter than your photos and had some wet spots. I put it in for the full 20, and I considered leaving it in for longer but didn’t want the chicken to get too dry. Any tips? Great salad otherwise!
Hey Taylor! Did you brush the chicken with oil before baking? This really helps the chicken to brown nicely.
Also, You can try drizzling on the sauce then returning the chicken to the oven for 3-5 minutes to help darken it up! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
My husband is lactose intolerant, is it possible to use almond milk or soy milk yogurt in place of the Greek yogurt? hopefully making this for meal prep this weekend!
Hey Kelsey! Yes, of course! You can use almond milk, soy, or coconut yogurt in place of the greek yogurt. That will be great! Alternately, you can omit the yogurt all together and use 1 small avocado (with water to thin the dressing). Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I love that you always use fresh herbs! They really make a salad sing, in my opinion. I have a big pot of sage growing like crazy right now, and I am stumped on how to use it. I keep thinking about Thanksgiving, but that’s geologic ages from now. Perhaps I will fry it and top some turkey burgers. Thanks for another refreshing recipe!
Thank you so much Julie! so glad you loved this recipe! xTieghan
I have all ingredients for this recipe!!! Definitely making this tonight??
I hope you love this Sheenam! Thank you so much! xTieghan