Buffalo Ranch Chicken Salad (Paleo, Whole30, Keto)
This Healthy Buffalo Ranch Chicken Salad is a delicious Paleo, Whole30, and Keto-friendly lunch. Perfect for meal prep! This Keto Buffalo Chicken Salad uses minimal ingredients, and it is jam packed with flavor (and a little heat)!
There are few things that go together better than buffalo and ranch. This buffalo ranch chicken salad is creamy, cool, spicy, and flavorful. If you love my Whole30 Buffalo Ranch Chicken Dip, then you will absolutely love this cold chicken salad version. It comes together in no time at all using minimal ingredients that you most likely have in your fridge and pantry. This meal is also packed with protein, and it is completely dairy free and soy free.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Ingredients Needed For Whole30 Buffalo Chicken Salad
Chicken – You can either use a rotisserie chicken, or you can make your own shredded chicken at home. More details on how to do this in a moment! I love to get rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods because they have minimal ingredients and are gluten free. Make sure to check the labels if you get a chicken from your local grocery store. Often times they have lots of other ingredients added!
- Feel free to turn this into Buffalo Shrimp Salad and use chopped up cooked shrimp instead of chicken!
- You can also use canned chicken for chicken salad! Just make sure to drain it first.
Celery
Carrots
Fresh dill – if you want to sub dried, simply use 1 tsp instead of 1 tbsp
Mayo – My favorite Whole30 mayo is Sir Kensington’s Avocado Oil Mayo. It is soy free and sugar free. If you’re looking for a great Whole30 Mayo recipe, check out this one from my friend Natalie over at Tastes Lovely. Immersion blender mayo is SO easy to make and more cost effective, too! Costco sometimes has large tubs of the Sir Kensington’s mayo or the Primal Kitchen Mayo, which is also paleo-friendly.
Ranch Dressing – In my opinion, Tessemae’s is the best Whole30 ranch dressing. You can also easily make Whole30 ranch at home using this Paleo Ranch Dressing recipe!
Hot Sauce – Frank’s Red Hot is a delicious Whole30 compliant hot sauce. It has just the right amount of heat!
You could also throw in some cooked pasta and make some amazing Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad!
How To Make Keto Buffalo Chicken Salad
All you have to do is chop up your veggies, shred your chicken, and combine everything in a big bowl. Stir well, and serve! It is that easy.
When you stir together the ranch, mayo, and hot sauce, it makes a delicious buffalo salad dressing. You could use this on any salad!
This is the BEST knife for chopping!
How To Boil Chicken For Chicken Salads
There are so many methods for making shredded chicken at home!
Poaching: To boil chicken for shredding, simply add 1.5 lbs of chicken breasts to a pot and fill with water to cover. Cover and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, remove the pot from heat. Let it stand for 15 minutes. Remove the chicken breasts and shred!
How to poach frozen chicken breasts:Â You can easily boil chicken breasts from frozen, it just takes a little extra time. Add the chicken to a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and let it simmer for about 15 minutes or until the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees.
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Breast: Simply place your chicken breasts in the bottom of the instant pot. Pour 1 cup of chicken broth over top. Lock the lid, turn the vent to sealing, and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes. Let it naturally release for 5 minutes, then release the steam. Now you’re ready to shred!
Slow Cooker Poached Chicken: You can also make delicious shredded chicken in your crock pot! Add the chicken breasts to the slow cooker and add 1/2 cup chicken broth and a little salt and garlic powder. Cook on high for 3 hours, or low for 5-6 hours. Ready to shred!
Tips, Tricks & FAQs
What to serve with chicken salad? You could make delicious paleo buffalo ranch chicken wraps using Siete tortillas (or tortillas of choice), or Buffalo Chicken Salad Sandwiches using my favorite Canyon Gluten Free bread. Alternatively, you can add a big scoop of this chicken salad to a bowl with greens, tomatoes, and cucumbers and add an additional drizzle of ranch.
How many carbs in chicken salad? This Keto chicken salad only haas 3 grams of carbs per serving (with 4 servings per batch). You can make it even lower carb by omitting the carrots!
How to store chicken salad: Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. I would not recommend freezing the prepared chicken salad, however you can make the shredded chicken and freeze that until you are ready to use it!
Other Buffalo Recipes To Try:
Healthy Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole
Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
If you try this Buffalo Ranch Chicken Salad and love it, the best way to say thank you is to leave a 5-star rating and review below! And don’t forget to share your creations on Instagram and tag me – I love to see what you’re making!
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Buffalo Ranch Chicken Salad (Whole30, Keto)
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken, either rotisserie, or make your own poached chicken breasts and shred! (Directions above)
- ½ cup diced carrots
- ½ cup diced celery
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped dill
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup mayo , I like Sir Kensington's Avocado Oil Mayo
- ¼ cup Frank's Red Hot, or hot sauce of choice
- 2 tbsp Tessemae's Ranch Dressing
Equipment
- bowl
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Serve on sandwiches, on lettuce wraps, or in a salad. Enjoy!
5 Comments on “Buffalo Ranch Chicken Salad (Paleo, Whole30, Keto)”
This was super yummy! My husband said he prefers this over regular chicken salad. I used Buffalo Wing sauce instead of hot sauce, since it was what I had on hand.
Yummy, will definitely be keeping this in my chicken salad rotation!
AMAZING! I love using this recipe to get in a few servings of veggies in the most delicious way! I chop up whatever raw vegetables I have…carrots, celery, bell pepper, onion, broccoli, cauliflower have all been so good in this recipe! I also like to swap the bowl for an avocado. 😉
Great take to work meal! Added it to a grilled cheese!Â
This was super yummy! I didn’t have dill so I used some green onions. Â