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Alright guys, I have got a good one for you…Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad.
Seriously, this one is going to rock the blog world. Well….at least I think it should.
Anything involving Buffalo Sauce rocks. No questions.
Buffalo Chicken is a very much-loved food around here. Every time I make it for my Dad he say’s “You could sell this stuff. We need to open a restaurant devoted to all things Buffalo Chicken.” Really he say’s it every time…..and I love it!
After all, the reason I love cooking so much is seeing how people react to my food. It is the best when someone loves something! And I know something is good when I get my dad’s stamp of approval. Don’t get me wrong he will eat just about anything, but for him to say something is really good, means it is really good. He is kind of a toughy.
No joke, this is the best quinoa salad out there. I mean guys, it is Buffalo Chicken.
It’s healthy, quick and super simple. That right there is enough reason to make this. I added some broccoli and carrots for crunch and some blue cheese just cause well, blue cheese is delicious and in my opinion you can not do buffalo sauce without some blue cheese.
It’s just awesome. Perfect snack, lunch or dinner. I am kind of obsessed.
Really if you are out of quinoa you are going to want to go to the store. Now!
Cause I am pretty sure you need to ditch all other previous plans for dinner for tonight and make this. It is just too good not to make.
Ok…here’s how you do it….
First, the quinoa……..rinse and drain the quinoa. Add to the pot with water and bring to a boil. Cover and turn heat to low……Cook about 20 minutes until all water is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with fork!
The buffalo sauce dressing…..yuuummmmmm. In a small bowl, whisk olive oil, hot sauce, and seasoned salt. Set aside.
The chicken……Heat a medium sized skillet on medium-high heat. Add 1 T. olive oil and saute the broccoli for about 5 minutes. You want it a little soft, but still crisp. Remove from pan and set aside. Add the chicken to the same pan and cook for about 5 minutes until cooked through. Add 1/4 C. of the buffalo sauce dressing until the chicken absorbs most of it.
Assembling….When everything is ready, add the quinoa to a big bowl and toss in chicken, broccoli, carrots, shredded cabbage, and buffalo sauce dressing. Toss to combine the dressing and all the chicken and veggies. Mix in the blue cheese and half of the green onions. Toss again. Serve warm with extra blue cheese crumbles and green onions on top!! YUM!
Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad with Broccoli
Servings: 2 as a main
Calories Per Serving: 1207 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
Buffalo Dressing
- 1/2 cup hot sauce I recommend Franks
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
Salad
- 3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 3/4 cup shredded carrots
- 3/4 cup shredded cabbage
- 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles plus more for garnish
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 4 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, make the buffalo sauce dressing. In a medium bowl combine the olive oil, hot sauce, and seasoned salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Heat a medium size skillet over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and cook the chicken for about 5 minutes or until cooked through. Add 1/4 cup or so of the buffalo sauce and cook until the chicken absorbs the sauce. Add the broccoli and cook 3-5 minutes or until the broccoli is tender. Remove from the heat.
- In a large salad bowl, toss together the cooked quinoa, chicken, broccoli, carrots, shredded cabbage, and as much of the dressing as desired. Add the blue cheese and half of the green onions. Toss again and serve warm with extra blue cheese crumbles, the remaining green onions, and avocado.
Seriously, go make this now. You’ll be so happy your did!
Shared with: Inside BruCru Life, Lil Luna, Chef In Training, Buns In my Oven, Foodie Friday Friends, Tidy Mom, Taste and Tell, Cheerios and Lattes, Somewhat Simple, Mom on Timeout, I Heart Nap Time, Fine Craft Guide, The Country Cook, Whipperberry, Chef In Training
This post was originally published on March 6, 2013
Made this last night… it was amazing! Just not certain why so much oil. It didn’t add too much for me, so next time I will cut it in half 🙂
YA! I am so glad you like this and great idea with the oil, I will have to try that!
Do you know the calories/fat/protein for this? What would a serving be?
I honestly have no idea, but a serving would be 6 or 7 seven quinoa bites + 1/4 of the salad. Sorry I was not of more help! Hope you love this!
Thank you so much. My husband and I love this recipe. I would normally never comment on a website, but this recipe was so good, I had to thank you. We could eat this every day and it is so healthy. I am a big fan of quinoa, but haven’t found too many great recipes. I don’t think this one can be beat.
Aw wow! Thank you!! I am so happy you guys loved this!! That makes my day!!
Seriously….this is genius. All of my faves in one dish, and never thought to put them together myself! I cut back a little on the oil, and added more Franks (I like it hot hot hot!). I had to restrain myself from digging into the rest I am saving for dinner tomorrow! Great recipe- a must try for anyone that is debating it.
Thanks for such a nice comment stephanie!! I am so happy you love this! You reminded me I need to make this again!
I will definitely be making this soon! It looks very similar to the Buffulo chicken bowl I get at Protein Bar which I LOVE. I’ll be making it with blue cheese, but none for the hubby – hes not a fan of blue cheese. Thank you so much for sharing, can’t wait to try it!
I hope you love it!! PS. Blue cheese is the best! Your husband is missing out!
I tried this last evening and it was AWESOME. Can you tell me the nutritional value on this recipe? I tried to calculate it and I got almost 550 calories per 1 cup serving is that correct?
Just found this on Pinterest and am literally eating it right now. I have never made quinoa before, but there was a huge bag of it in the pantry. I only had the Asian chili hot sauce, but still, this is soo yummy!
YA! I am so glad you like this! Thanks for letting me know me know!
Oh my goodness! I made this last night and I can’t wait to get home to eat the leftovers! I tweaked it a little by putting in celery, and using red onions (I had them on hand). I also subbed out most of the oil with chicken stock to make it “healthy” It was so good!
Ya! I am so glad you loved this! What a good idea subbing the oil for chicken stock!
Great recipe! I linked it in my blog. Stop by sometime to check out my gf/df recipes!
Thanks so much, I am so happy you like it!
Do you need to use all that oil?
No. You can use less, but be ware the the less oil you use the hotted the sauce will be. Also, you can just use less of the sauce on the quinoa. It really does not need all of it. We just like things extra saucy!
My 1st Quinoa recipe, just made this it’s delish! Ready to continue on the Quinoa adventure! Thanks for sharing this!
I am so glad you liked this!! I have some more quinoa recipes in the works so check back!
Love your recipes , just wish you added the calories per serving. Thanks
I am so glad you like my recipes! I wish I could provide the calories, but at this time it is just to hard for me to do.
I made this tonight for dinner. Left out the cabbage because I had none, and used fresh mozzarella in place of blue cheese. It was very good!
YA! I am so glad you liked this!
I made this tonight and it was very tasty! It was a bit oily so maybe next time I will use less oil for the sauce and I used celery instead of broccoli it was great!!
YAY! I am so glad you like this!! Thanks for letting me know!
Just made this for dinner tonight and it is FANTASTIC!!! Thank you!!!
So glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know!
This is amazing. Amazing. This was my first foray into the world of quinoa, and it is certainly not my last. Nor is it the last time I will try a recipe from your fabulous blog. I live very close to my office, and I made this on my lunch break. It was quick and easy to throw together. I was blown away by how good it was, and with the nutrition counts. I calculated the nutrition, and it is about 200 calories per serving (if the recipe is 4 servings), 5 g of fat, 25 protein and 12 carb. You cannot beat it! I brought my assistant a serving for her lunch, and she was also blown away. I can hear her scraping the bowl as I type this. You have a gift, my friend.
Thank you!! I am so glad you loved this!!! I love your comment! it is to nice!!!! Thanks so much for letting me know how much you enjoyed this!