Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad

You wouldn't believe that buffalo sauce and healthy would actually go together until you make this buffalo chicken salad with quinoa.

Salad with quinoa? Some people think if there isn't lettuce it isn't a salad but that's not the case. And I love to use quinoa in my salads - from summer quinoa salad to roasted Thanksgiving salad to mango kale quinoa salad. All quite different, but all super tasty.

Who doesn't love buffalo sauce? From buffalo chicken wings to buffalo chicken pizza. The problem is most of those recipes aren't super healthy for you, so I came up with a "salad" where you get the flavor of buffalo chicken, but also eat something that is good for you.

Quinoa is one of those "hot" ingredients right now for being healthy so why not hop on the bandwagon with this buffalo chicken salad.

I'm always on the lookout for easy and healthy salads that we can eat at work during the week. Recently I've started to use quinoa more and more in my recipes, especially my lunch salads. I figured, combining quinoa with one of my favorite meals, buffalo chicken, was a good start to getting back into healthy mode. 

What makes this salad great, is you can make it and have for lunch for the whole week. I'm all about meals that last for longer than a day. So if you're looking for something that's healthy, but tastes good, go for this buffalo chicken quinoa salad!

Jump to:

• Recipe Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• Benefits of Quinoa
• Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
• Other Salad Recipes
• Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad

Recipe Ingredients

• Quinoa - the base of the salad that adds a lot of nutrients.
• Hot sauce - use your favorite brand.
• Olive oil - mellows the hot sauce slightly.
• Salt - enhances the flavor.
• Chicken breasts - can also use rotisserie chicken.
• Broccoli, carrots, green onions - the more vegetables the better.
• Broccoli slaw - store-bought coleslaw works too.
• Blue cheese - blue cheese and buffalo chicken just go together.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Cook quinoa according to package. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, whisk hot sauce, olive oil and salt. Set aside.
2. Heat medium skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes or until cooked through.
3. Add ¼ cup buffalo sauce dressing and then add broccoli and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. In a large bowl or container, mix the quinoa, chicken, broccoli, slaw, carrots and the buffalo sauce dressing. Add the blue cheese and green onions and toss. When serving, add some additional blue cheese and green onion if desired.

Benefits of Quinoa

As mentioned before, quinoa has become super popular and there is good reason for it. Some of the health benefits of quinoa include:

• Contains all nine essential amino acids.
• Has twice as much fiber as other grains which lowers cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose levels.
• Contains iron which keeps our red blood cells healthy.
• Has lysine which is essential for tissue growth and repair.
• Is rich in magnesium which relaxes blood vessels.
• High in riboflavin which improves energy metabolism.
• Contains a high content of manganese which is an antioxidant.

Pro Tips/Recipe Notes

• Rinse the quinoa before boiling which removes its natural coating called saponin, which can make it taste bitter or soapy.
• You can control the amount of heat by the type of hot sauce you use. I use Texas Pete.
• If your grocery store doesn't have broccoli slaw, just buy a bag of coleslaw.

Other Salad Recipes

• Fall Harvest Salad
• Summer Quinoa Salad
• Kale Sweet Potato Salad
• Veggie Grain Bowl
• Mango, Kale and Quinoa Salad

If you’ve tried this buffalo chicken salad or any other recipe on Chisel & Fork, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to see more tasty meals and anything else I'm up to.