Buffalo chicken bites are spicy, tangy and ready in under 15 minutes. These healthy spicy chicken bites are made in the skillet with simple ingredients you likely have on hand. These buffalo chicken chunks are great for meal prep or even as a game day snack.
Why you will love this recipe
- Quick and easy to make – these buffalo chicken bites come together in less than 15 minutes with very few steps. The chicken chunks cook on the stove in a large skillet in the buffalo sauce mixture, helping to give the chicken so much flavor. The hardest part about this recipe is cutting the chicken into cubes.
- Simple, healthy ingredients – you likely have everything you need to make these spicy chicken bites in your pantry and fridge right now. For this recipe, you make your own buffalo sauce, but you could also use store bought buffalo sauce to make it even easier. This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, paleo, Whole30 and low carb.
- Versatile – use the skillet buffalo chicken in so many ways! Serve as an appetizer (with toothpicks), on wraps or salads or as a main dish with rice or potatoes.
Ingredients
- Boneless, skinless chicken – you can use chicken breast, chicken thighs, chicken tenders or even turkey breast for this recipe.
- Hot sauce – I recommend Franks Red Hot but you can use any hot sauce you have on hand. If you want a slightly less spicy hot sauce, I recommend Texas Pete.
- Avocado oil – avocado oil helps to coat the chicken to ensure that it doesn’t stick during cooking and replaces the butter in traditional hot sauce recipes. If you want a more authentic flavor, you can use melted ghee or butter (not dairy free).
- Spices: Dried chives, dried parsley, garlic powder, salt, dried dill – I like to use my homemade ranch seasoning mixture to give the buffalo chicken bites even more flavor. You can use this combination of spices or your favorite ranch seasoning mixture (you will need about 1.5 tablespoons).
How to make buffalo chicken bites
Start by preheating a large skillet over medium heat.
While the skillet is preheating, cut the chicken up into bite size pieces (about 1-1.5 inch cubes).
Make the buffalo sauce by combining the hot sauce, avocado oil and spices in a bowl. Pour buffalo sauce over the chicken.
When skillet is hot (check to see if it’s hot enough by sprinkling some water onto the pot, if it sizzles immediately It’s ready). Add the buffalo chicken mixture and spread it out into a single layer.
Let the chicken cook 5 minutes without touching it at all. After 5 minutes, stir and continue to cook 4-5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
If there is a lot of liquid left in the pan, remove the chicken with and cook the sauce for 1-3 more minutes to evaporate off some of the liquid. Add the chicken back in and stir well. Serve immediately.
Top tips
- Use sharp kitchen shears or a knife and a plastic cutting board to cut up the chicken. I recommend using a plastic cutting board so that you can sanitize it in the dishwasher after cutting the chicken on it.
- Cut the chicken into 1-1.5 inch chunks. It’s important to cut the chicken into relatively the same size chunks to ensure they cook evenly in the pan.
- If there is a lot of liquid left in the pan after the chicken is fully cooked, remove the chicken and simmer the sauce 2-3 minutes to thicken it slightly before adding the chicken back and stirring. This helps intensify the flavor and doesn’t make the buffalo chicken bites runny with sauce.
- Usually, I can tell that the chicken is fully cooked by cutting a piece in half with the metal spatula (or a knife), it cuts apart easily and is fully cooked inside (not pink). Be sure to check the internal temperature of the biggest chunk of chicken with an instant read thermometer. Chicken should be cooked to 165F at the thickest part.
- You can easily double the recipe (just be sure to cook it in two batches or use two skillets so that the chicken doesn’t crowd the pan).
How to serve spicy chicken bites
- As an appetizer or snack dipped in ranch or blue cheese dressing with celery and carrots. Be sure to serve with toothpicks for easy dipping.
- On salads
- In a wrap with lettuce, tomato, and ranch dressing
- As the main dish alongside rice, mashed potatoes, quinoa, cauliflower mash and your favorite veggies for a super simple meal.
Common questions
What is the best hot sauce to use to make homemade buffalo sauce?
- Everyone is going to have a different idea of what the best hot sauce is for buffalo sauce, but I prefer Franks Red Hot Original hot sauce. I like Franks because it’s very traditional but also because it has great ingredients. The ingredients for Franks Red Hot are: aged cayenne red peppers, vinegar, water, salt and garlic powder.
- Budget friendly tip: You can find a Franks dupe at Aldi that is so budget friendly and has almost the exact same ingredients. The Aldi version does have some xanthan gum so if you are staying away from gums, this won’t be an option for you.
- Another great option is Crystal Hot Sauce (the ingredients are just aged red cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar and salt.
- You could also use Texas Pete which has more vinegar and is less spicy or whatever your favorite hot sauce is.
Can you use store bought buffalo sauce?
Yes! If you would like to use store bought buffalo sauce instead of making your own, you certainly can! Some of my favorites are Primal Kitchen Buffalo Sauce and New Primal Buffalo Sauce. These are both dairy free and so delicious!
Are these healthy buffalo chicken bites crispy?
No, there is no breading on these buffalo chicken bites so the chicken doesn’t get crispy when cooked on the stove.
Because there is no breading, they cook up really quickly and reheat well too! These skillet buffalo chicken chunks are very healthy swap for buffalo chicken wings, as they are skinless, pan seared (not deep fried) and have a very healthy homemade buffalo sauce.
What is the best chicken for making skillet chicken cubes
Any kind of boneless, skinless chicken will work well for this recipe. I like to use chicken tenders (since they are already in thin strips, this makes the prep work of cutting the chicken into bites super simple) or boneless, skinless chicken thighs because they are the most flavorful and forgiving if you slightly overcook them. Plus chicken thighs are budget friendly.
You can use boneless, skinless chicken breast, thighs, chicken tenders, or even turkey breast.
Are boneless buffalo chunks spicy?
Yes, since the buffalo bites have a hot sauce based sauce on them, they are spicy. However, you can control the heat based on the hot sauce you use (Texas Pete is milder in spice than Franks). You can also offset some of the heat by adding more fat to the recipe (replace 1 tablespoon of hot sauce with another tablespoon of avocado oil).
You can also add maple syrup or honey to the sauce to help offset some of the heat.
Want to make these buffalo chicken chunks spicier?
If you want to add more spice to the skillet buffalo chicken bites, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper flakes to the sauce (start with 1/4 teaspoon).
Storing leftovers
- Fridge: Store leftover chicken buffalo bites in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: You can freeze leftover chicken for up to 3 months. Be sure to let the chicken cool completely before freezing. Freeze in a freezer safe bag or container and label it with the name, date and use by date.
- Be sure to defrost the chicken in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Reheating instructions
- Stove – reheat in a skillet over medium low heat, covered. Add an additional 1 tablespoon of water or hot sauce to the skillet to ensure the chicken doesn’t dry out.
- Microwave – microwave on high for 1:30-2 minutes.
Substitutions
- Boneless, skinless chicken – you can use chicken breast, thighs, tenders or turkey breast. You can also make buffalo turkey meatballs (or buffalo chicken meatballs) if you only have ground chicken or turkey.
- Hot sauce – use whatever hot sauce you have on hand. You can also use a store-bought buffalo sauce instead of making your own buffalo sauce.
- Avocado oil – you can also use olive oil, melted ghee or butter in place of the avocado oil.
- Spices – If you don’ have one of the spices on hand, you can simply omit it.
Love spicy food? Try these other buffalo inspired meals
Dairy Free Buffalo Chicken Dip
Buffalo Cauliflower Salad with Tahini Ranch Dressing
Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Thighs
Buffalo Chicken Bites
Guided Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken
- 1/2 cup hot sauce
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 tbsp dried chives
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp dried dill
Instructions
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.
- Cut the chicken into cubes (about 1-1.5 inch chunks). Add the chicken to a bowl.
- Combine the hot sauce, avocado oils and spices in a bowl. Stir well then pour the buffalo sauce over the chicken cubes.
- When the skillet is hot, add the chicken and buffalo sauce and move the chicken to to one layer in the skillet then don't touch the chicken for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, stir the chicken and cook 4-5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- If there is a lot of liquid left in the skillet, take the chicken out and cook the chicken 1-3 more minutes until thickened. Return the chicken to the skillet and stir well.
Notes
- Use sharp kitchen shears or a knife and a plastic cutting board to cut up the chicken. I recommend using a plastic cutting board so that you can sanitize it in the dishwasher after cutting the chicken on it.
- Cut the chicken into 1-1.5 inch chunks. It’s important to cut the chicken into relatively the same size chunks to ensure they cook evenly in the pan.
- If there is a lot of liquid left in the pan after the chicken is fully cooked, remove the chicken and simmer the sauce 2-3 minutes to thicken it slightly before adding the chicken back and stirring. This helps intensify the flavor and doesn’t make the buffalo chicken bites runny with sauce.
- Usually, I can tell that the chicken is fully cooked by cutting a piece in half with the metal spatula (or a knife), it cuts apart easily and is fully cooked inside (not pink). Be sure to check the internal temperature of the biggest chunk of chicken with an instant read thermometer. Chicken should be cooked to 165F at the thickest part.
- You can easily double the recipe (just be sure to cook it in two batches or use two skillets so that the chicken doesn’t crowd the pan).
- Fridge: Store leftover chicken buffalo bites in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: You can freeze leftover chicken for up to 3 months. Be sure to let the chicken cool completely before freezing. Freeze in a freezer safe bag or container and label it with the name, date and use by date.
- Be sure to defrost the chicken in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- Stove – reheat in a skillet over medium low heat, covered. Add an additional 1 tablespoon of water or hot sauce to the skillet to ensure the chicken doesn’t dry out.
- Microwave – microwave on high for 1:30-2 minutes.
