Delicious Crispy Paleo Buffalo Chicken Salad made with simple ingredients for an easy, healthy and Whole 30-friendly salad idea!
When I was in high school, I used to work at a salad place 3-4x week. I lived to make food even at a young age. My favorite part was guessing what someone would order and getting to see what everyone’s preferences are for their meal. I sound crazy – I know! But it really was one of my favorite parts of working there. Kind of like why I’d love to work as a cashier at the grocery store one day and see what everyone gets.
One of the most popular salads people ordered was this buffalo chicken salad. It had crispy buffalo chicken tenders with blue cheese crumbles, carrots, celery and most got it with ranch or blue cheese dressing. Then you’d get some crunchy tortilla strips right on top and it was the best texture combo ever.
This recipe is a bit of a healthier version of that. The ingredients are all paleo and whole 30 (just don’t add cheese to the salad). Plus this dish comes together so easily for a quick meal! Jord is obsessed. We also add in some bacon too for extra flavor and goods.
Let me know if you guys try this recipe! I hope you love it as much as we do.
How to make oven-baked paleo buffalo chicken salads:
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders
- Tapioca or arrowroot flour
- Garlic powder
- Smoked paprika
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Mild or hot buffalo sauce
- Romaine lettuce
- Blue cheese crumbles (or a dairy-free cheese works – anything you want)
- Chopped carrots and celery
- Cilantro
- Ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing
How to make a healthy crispy buffalo chicken salad:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet/grease with a little oil
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour and spices
- In another medium bowl, add the buffalo sauce
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towel (don’t skip this or chicken won’t be as crispy!) then gently dip each piece into buffalo sauce then into the flour mixture, back into the buffalo sauce and back into the flour and add to baking sheet
- Drizzle chicken with olive or avocado oil
- Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes (bake time will vary based off size of breasts) and flip 1/2 way through cooking
- Slice chicken and add to salad with desired toppings!
A few of my other favorite paleo dinner ideas:
Delicious Paleo Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Boats
Oven-Baked Paleo Veggie Chicken Nuggets
The Best Crispy Oven-Baked Paleo Fish Tacos
The Best Crispy Oven-Baked Paleo Fish Tacos
Delicious Vegan Pumpkin alla Vodka Sauce (paleo)
Delicious Crispy Paleo Buffalo Chicken Salad
Delicious Crispy Paleo Buffalo Chicken Salad made with simple ingredients for an easy, healthy and Whole 30-friendly salad idea!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 18 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
Yield: Serves 3-4 1x
Ingredients
Crispy Buffalo Chicken:
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders
- 1/2 cup tapioca or arrowroot flour (you may need more)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup mild or hot buffalo sauce
Salad:
- Romaine lettuce
- Blue cheese crumbles (or a dairy-free cheese works – anything you want)
- Chopped carrots and celery
- Cilantro for garnish
- Go-to ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet/grease with a little oil
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour and spices
- In another medium bowl, add the buffalo sauce
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towel (don’t skip this or chicken won’t be as crispy!) then gently dip each piece into buffalo sauce then into the flour mixture, back into the buffalo sauce and back into the flour and add to baking sheet
- Drizzle chicken with olive or avocado oil
- Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes (bake time will vary based off size of breasts) and flip 1/2 way through cooking
- Slice chicken and add to salad with desired toppings!
Notes
*Store leftovers in fridge for 5 days
Reilly
Hi! I followed this recipe to a tee using tapioca flour and for some reason the coating was an extremely slimy/weird consistency after baking for 20 min. Any clue why this would happen? I ended up throwing back in the oven and broiling for a bit which helped to make the top coating crunchy, but the bottom part was still a bit funky/sticking to the pan. Thoughts?
Rachel
oh no! likely the chicken was too wet and slimy and didn’t have enough tapioca flour!
Amy
Same happened to me. I did dry the chicken and used way more flour than the recipe called for. It was just slimy and stretchy. Can you post a video making this? I really wanted this to work
Rachel
yes! it is on tiktok actually 🙂
Jasmine
Followed all the instructions. Checked comments and made sure I had enough tapioca flour and also made sure the chicken was dried extremely well. Patted it down and it was not wet at all. Still came out super slimy🤷🏻♀️