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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!
This is an excellent salad and qualifies for a dinner in one dish! I did cheat and use a bottled goddess dressing (Chosen Foods) and also added a little lemon vinagrette dressing. My adult son complimented me with “a restaurant quality salad” comment and a “wow.” More complimentary was my 83 year old mother liking it. We will definitely have this again!
Hey Jane,
Wonderful! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
This is one of my favourite go-to meals. It’s so delicious and fresh!
Any tasty suggestions for vegetarian substitutes for chicken that could take the buffalo sauce and breading well?
Hey Zoe,
Fantastic! I am thrilled that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! I would use cauliflower. xxTieghan
One of the best salads I’ve ever made, my fiance would agree! We are hooked!! Thank you for these amazing recipes!
Hey Krista,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed! Have great week:) xTieghan
We had this for dinner last night and though it was really tasty. I think next time I will pan fry the chicken in a little bit of oil as it didn’t get very crispy in the oven. I also feel like the dressing could use something but not sure what yet. I added salt and pepper which helped. We will make it again, but with some small tweaks. Thanks!
Hey Pam,
Thanks so much for making the recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed! xTieghan
This is most definitely a keeper. Fabulous. I used my air fryer for the chicken breast. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! Loved it!
Thank you so much Myrna! xTieghan
So yummy! Filling but not heavy and tastes amazing.
Thank you so much Xandra! xTieghan
Just made this for my family and everyone loved it!! It was easier than I thought and the chicken was amazing!
Aw love that!! Thank you so much Lucy! xTieghan
We had this salad for dinner this week and it was a huge hit!! Love your recipes 🙂 Keep ’em coming!
Thank you Stephanie! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! I hope you continue to love my recipes! xTieghan
Soo good! I used my air fryer for the chicken at 400 for 10 mins on each side and it came out perfectly! I also used the suggestion for basil instead of cilantro in the dressing and it’s so delicious!! It was the perfect Friday lunch!
Thank you so much Meagan! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Super tasty and super easy to make. I also drizzled my salad with a tiny bit of sriracha for an added kick! Would be super interested in making this with cauliflower (I made it with chicken this time).
I am so glad this turned out so well for you, Lily! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
So delicious! Unfortunately my chicken was soggy on the bottom though. Do you have any tips to prevent that? Thanks!
Hey Sam,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try! Try flipping the chicken next time so that both side can have a chance to crisp up. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hello! Love this recipe and thanks so much for sharing — but for some reason, cannot get it to crisp up on both sides. Even on the top/crispiest part, it doesn’t look as crispy as your pics. Is there a recommended type of pan or oil that helps the crunch??
Hey Jenna,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try! I would recommend adding olive oil to help crisp them or even put them under the broiler for a bit! I hope this helps for next time! xTieghan
Made it last night, LOVED it!
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you Val! Tieghan
Just enjoyed this for dinner – used jalapeños, lettuce and chives from my garden and it was delicious! That goddess dressing will last another couple meals too, and it’s been forever since I had baked chicken that tasted that good. Thanks for a great meal! Xo
Amazing! I am really glad this turned out so well for you, Mary! xTieghan
Love this recipe!! It has graced the weekly rotation on numerous occasions. Only things I did different was add an egg to the buffalo sauce to make the panko stick to the chicken more and didn’t use the radishes. Fabulous salad and perfect for summer!!!
Yes!! So glad this turned out so well for you Lauren! Thank you so much!! xTieghan