Sugar Dish Me

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Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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Lightened up breaded baked little chicken bites tossed in delicious buffalo wing sauce, wrapped with quinoa and fresh veggies in a leaf of buttery lettuce. Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps make a delicious light lunch or dinner – like a salad you can eat with your hands!

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Update October 2017! These Crispy Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps have remained the top recipe on Sugar Dish Me since 2014! They’ve been pinned nearly 1 million times and thousands of readers have made this recipe with ease, success, and great reviews! 

***Picky significant others that need to lay off the cheeseburgers love them as much as the health food bloggers that have been sharing this recipe with their Instagram followers for the last 3 years.

That’s when you know you’ve made a good-for-you meal that you can call a success! 

There’s loads of feedback in the comments and I’d love to hear from you – successes, struggles, little recipe tweaks here and there – it’s all helpful when I am making new content for you! There are also even more lightened up comfort food goodies if you scroll past the recipe. Enjoy!***

I think hot sauce might be the greatest condiment ever invented. Buffalo sauce is definitely the best thing to ever happen to chicken.

It is.

Keeping it real here you guys: I cannot be held responsible for the words that end up in this post today because I think I had like 1.6 hours of sleep.

You might just wanna do that thing where you scroll to the end and read the recipe because run-on sentences, grammatical errors, and spell-checks on words I could spell since I was 10 are definitely happening here today.

Last night Betty and Charlie were possessed by the lunar eclipse blood moon and decided that 2:30 a.m. was the perfect time to run around and have a dog party. Also 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.

AND because of the lunar eclipse blood moon, I’d set my alarm for 5 a.m. so Evan and I could go camp in the driveway and watch the coolness unfold.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Recipe

So after the dog party persisted and my head spinning around like the exorcist while yelling in my best demon voice for the puppies to go lay down did not work, I gave up and got up.

Did you guys traipse around in the dark and catch the eclipse? We tried, but that’s the other thing that has started my day off like a total train wreck: At 5:45 a.m. Evan and I stood in the driveway in the cool pre-dawn air peering through the trees at the smoky cloud-covered moon. It was about 2/3 of the way covered and the stars lit up the other half of the sky.

We decided to come back inside and finish getting ready for school because the cool phases weren’t supposed to happen until 6:14 – 6:55. But.

When we went back out the clouds were thick and it started to sprinkle rain.

My kid had a lunar eclipse blood moon meltdown, because we all know it is Mom’s job to change the weather for cool astronomical (<<<— totally just typed astrological and had to Google my sleep-deprived vocabulary) events.

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wrap Recipe

So awhile back I made this Crispy Orange Chicken . It’s one of my favorite recipes I’ve ever shared. I decided it would be fun to switch it up and go all buffalo with the breaded baked chicken.

Suuuuch a good decision.

Then I wrapped it in soft buttery lettuce leaves with quinoa, fresh tomatoes, avocado, and light blue cheese dressing. You could go ranch, but I’m BC all the way.

The resulting Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps are lightened up, protein-rich, totally filling, spicy, yummy, buffalo goodness.

Oven Fried Buffalo Chicken

And now I have to make more coffee or I *might* fall asleep.

Fave Reader Tips:

“My father has as of late been determined to have a heart issue so I made this low cal supper for us the previous evening. He was raving about them and we ate every one of them! I did the chicken without bread pieces for much all the more low carb. Likewise, I included slashed green onion for another touch of flavor. Unquestionably going to be a standard dish I will be making!”

“My husband took one look at the lettuce and decided he probably wasn’t going to like it. He then took one bite, then another, and another, and went back for more!! Thanks for this recipe. It was super easy and will definitely be on the regular meal rotation. The only change I made was to put the buffalo sauce and some garlic in the food processor to use as the the 30 minute marinade. So good!! I also liked that it was really easy to switch up the marinade for our 3 year old that does not like spicy food. I was able to add those chicken pieces right on the same pan.”

If you love lightened up comfort foods, you should also try…

Buffalo Turkey Sliders

Lightened Up Cheesy Broccoli Potatoes!

Buffalo Turkey Sliders are one of the best little appetizers I ever made! Juicy little turkey burgers loaded with your favorite wing sauce spice, topped with melty cheese, crisp lettuce, and your choice of blue cheese or ranch dressing!

Lightened Up Cheesy Broccoli Potatoes are a household favorite! Baked potatoes covered in crisp steamed broccoli and smothered in a lightened up cheese sauce

5.0 from 20 reviews
Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
 
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Spicy buffaloed oven fried chicken bites wrapped in buttery lettuce leaves with tomatoes, quinoa, avocado, and blue cheese dressing. Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps are a healthy and filling lunch or dinner your whole family will love. Note that prep time includes 30 minutes for the chicken to marinate.
Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
  • ½ cup buffalo sauce, plus a little more for drizzling over the finished chicken if you prefer
  • 2 cups plain panko bread crumbs
  • 4-6 large soft leaves of lettuce (I used Boston Bibb Lettuce)
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • ½ cup diced tomatoes
  • ½ cup diced avocado
  • blue cheese (or ranch) dressing & scallions to garnish
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 and lightly grease (I used cooking spray) a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.
  2. Toss the chicken in the ½ cup buffalo sauce, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Pour the breadcrumbs into a shallow dish. Coat each chicken piece evenly and place them on the prepared baking sheet. The baking sheet will get pretty crowded -- it's okay.
  4. Bake for 30 minutes. You can toss the baked chicken with the extra buffalo sauce if you like.
  5. To assemble the wraps, fill each leaf of lettuce with quinoa, tomatoes, and avocado. Top with the crispy baked buffalo chicken, drizzle with the blue cheese, and sprinkle with the green onions.
  6. These are also a delicious cold lunch if you prepare the chicken ahead of time and refrigerate it before serving.

 

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps are fast, fresh, and healthy! This easy recipe has been featured on many healthy living sites, and has been #1 since 2014!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. I am using a Kindle.
    I am not a computer person–I just went from dial-up to Wi-Fi five months ago when I got the Kindle.
    So I am assuming there is something I could do but don’t know how. There is one of two adds that keep me from seeing your print–one is–UGG that completely covers the screen.
    Thanks for trying to help.
    Nancy

    Reply

    • Hey Nancy! I’m so sorry it’s causing you trouble! If you view it horizontally on a tablet that will work a little better and I’ll let my ad manager know there are intrusive ads. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention!

      P.S. Here is a link to a feed reader called bloglovin. You can follow me here and read without ads 🙂 http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/4235865

      Reply

  8. I did this yesterday and it was a hit with my family. Love that it fills you up without feeling stuffed. With two lettuce wraps each person was good enough to feed our family. Thanks for posting!!

    Reply

    • Hey Kori! The servings are listed in the recipe card; this will serve 4 – 6 depending on how full you like your wraps. I usually opt for a little less filling and more wraps so the lettuce will more easily hold it all together.

      Reply

  18. Thanks for the recipe! Making right now….you list buffalo sauce twice, one for marinating the chicken,, what is the other sauce for? Maybe drizzling over the cooked chicken?

    Reply

    • Hi Jane!! Yes – for drizzling at the end but actually it’s a typo! What’s funny is that this is the most-viewed recipe on my site and has been pinned hundreds of thousands of times. I get emails from readers that have made these all the time, photos and all, but you are the first person to ever catch the error and point it out! Fixing it now — THANK YOU! And I hope you enjoyed these 🙂

      Reply

    • Hi Kaeley! I don’t provide nutritional information because products and assembly can vary so widely. I personally track them with My Fitness Pal and just add the ingredients individually. How much you can stuff into your wrap will depend on the size of your lettuce leaves. Do you like more quinoa? Less? To give you a good start, 4 ounces of boneless skinless chicken breast is about 160 calories. My wraps usually have about 1 1/2 ounces of chicken. Cooked quinoa is about 140 calories per 1/3 cup. I’d say my wraps usually have about half that. So for the chicken + the quinoa I’m looking at about 130 calories per wrap before I add in all the veggies and factor for the bread crumbs. Definitely a light and filling meal!

      Reply

  22. This was absolutely delicious! I made this when we had a couple of friends over, and everyone was obsessed! I’ll definitely be making these again 🙂 I tracked my ingredients on My Fitness Pal and it came out to be right around 130 calories/serving. Can’t go wrong there, especially considering how delicious they are. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

    • Hi Brittany! I’m so glad you enjoyed these! Thanks for leaving your calorie count — that’s super helpful for people reading through the comments for tips — and thanks so much for your awesome feedback! Happy Healthy Cooking!

      Reply

  24. hello just wanted to thank you for this recipe. I have a 10 yar old son who is crazy about Red Hot. He is going to love this and I have a feeling it will be a school lunch favorite for him. The added bonus is that the hot sauce is on the inside so it will be mess free!!!

    Reply

  25. Love, Love this recipe Heather. I will be sharing it with my readers today. I have a weekly meal plan tip for my readers and this recipe will be perfect. I will be sure to include a link so they can come visit your blog.

    Reply

  26. My dad has recently been diagnosed with a heart problem so I made this low cal dinner for us last night. He was raving about them and we ate them all! I did the chicken without bread crumbs for even more low carb. Also, I added chopped green onion for another touch of flavor. DEFINITELY going to be a regular dish I will be making!

    Reply

  27. Heather, this looks so good!!! I love buffalo chicken ANYTHING!!! I shared this in a Recipe Roundup on my blog, Plus Size to Downsized!!! Thanks so much for the great ideas!

    Reply

  29. My father has as of late been determined to have a heart issue so I made this low cal supper for us the previous evening. He was raving about them and we ate every one of them! I did the chicken without bread pieces for much all the more low carb. Likewise, I included slashed green onion for another touch of flavor. Unquestionably going to be a standard dish I will be making!

    Reply

  30. Made this recipe for dinner tonight and it was a hit. Family raved about the beautiful appearance and of course the spicy taste of the Buffalo chicken. No panko crumbs so I substituted crushed shredded wheat!! No butternut lettuce -used Romaine. No matter, the creamy avocado, ranch dressing and tomatoes were a great compliment to the spicy chicken. This recipe is a winner and make again to impress company!! Thank you!

    Reply

  34. I made this tonight for dinner after finding the recipe on Pinterest while searching for low fat dinner ideas. It was very tasty & easy to make which I appreciate. My fiancé liked it (which is saying a lot because he’s not exactly a fan of this health kick I’m on) and my teenage daughter really enjoyed it as well. I’ll be making this again and again. Thank you!

    Reply

  35. My husband took one look at the lettuce and decided he probably wasn’t going to like it. He then took one bite, then another, and another, and went back for more!! Thanks for this recipe. It was super easy and will definitely be on the regular meal rotation. The only change I made was to put the buffalo sauce and some garlic in the food processor to use as the the 30 minute marinade. So good!! I also liked that it was really easy to switch up the marinade for our 3 year old that does not like spicy food. I was able to add those chicken pieces right on the same pan.

    Reply

  37. My husband asked if we could try some low carb recipes sometime and I found this one on Pinterest. I’ve been experimenting for quite some time with healthier meal options due to his heart problems and found a winner. We were both pleasantly surprised, especially on how filling it is! Definitely a repeat meal in the future.

    Reply

    • Hey Kara! So glad you enjoyed! Nutritional info really varies. There are a bunch of variations posted by readers on this thread; some leave off the quinoa, some choose not to use avocado (obviously that would increase the fat content), etc. I love My Fitness pal for entering recipes though; especially recipes I am going to use often. I’d recommend that since it’s easier for you to enter HOW you made yours serving size, etc. Hope that helps! Thanks so much for reading!

      Reply

  48. I’ve been looking for healthy-but yummy recipes to help me in my journey to better myself. I can not wait to try these for my meal prep since chicken wings are my weakness! lol

    Reply

  53. Made these tonight without the quinoa and added some red onions and omg delicious. Will definitely be making these again.

    Reply

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