These macro-friendly Buffalo Chicken Bowls are loaded with quinoa, sweet potato, buffalo chicken, carrots, pickled onions, avocado, and homemade ranch. They’re big on flavor and clock in at 58g of protein and about 8g of fiber per serving.
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If you’re looking for a healthy, flavorful lunch or dinner option, these buffalo chicken bowls are IT. They’re so tasty, loaded with both protein and fiber, and the perfect meal prep lunch or dinner option!
Looking for more loaded bowl recipes? We’ve got you. Check out these chicken gyro bowls, mojo chicken bowls, and turkey burrito bowls.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s meal prep-friendly – these bowls are REALLY easy to meal prep. Simply make each component and then store together in meal prep containers for a quick grab and go option or separately for quick assembly when you’re ready to enjoy.
- You can’t beat the macros – the protein and fiber content in this recipe is BANGING. If you have lofty goals around those numbers, this recipe is going to help you reach them.
Buffalo Chicken Bowl Ingredients
You’ll need a handful of easy-to-find ingredients for this recipe, and you likely already have a couple of the ingredients in your kitchen. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Buffalo sauce – we opted to make our own buffalo sauce by combining a hot pepper sauce (like Frank’s Red Hot) with melted butter. If you want to follow suit, go for it, but if buying pre-made buffalo sauce works better for you, feel free to go that route instead.
- Ranch – same as above! We made our own, but feel free to grab a bottle of store-bought ranch if you’d like.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Make it dairy-free – to make this meal dairy-free, use this homemade ranch recipe instead of the one provided in this article, + skip the homemade buffalo sauce and grab a store-bought dairy-free one instead.
- Make it gluten-free – this recipe is 100% gluten-free as written.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Bowls
There are several steps to follow in order to properly prepare each component, but each is extremely simple. Follow along below for the full how-to.
Step 1: For the pickled onions, add the thinly sliced red onion, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper to a jar. Affix the lid, then shake to mix the ingredients. Store in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
Step 2: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Toss the potatoes in the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 40 minutes, or until just starting to brown.
Step 3: Make the buffalo sauce by combining the hot pepper sauce and butter. Then, season the chicken with the salt and pepper, toss with the buffalo sauce, and when the sweet potatoes have 25 minutes of baking left, add the chicken tenders to the oven to bake at 375°F for those 25 minutes, then roughly shred with two forks.
Step 4: While the sweet potatoes and chicken cook, make the ranch dressing. Add the Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, dried dill, garlic, and salt to a bowl and whisk until combined.
Step 5: Plate with an even amount of the quinoa, potatoes, chicken, carrots, avocado, pickled onions, and chives across 4 bowls – garnish with the additional salt, pepper, buffalo sauce, and ranch dressing as you like.
Recipe Tip
- I make my quinoa with 1 ½ cups of liquid for every 1 cup of quinoa (a little different than what most packages call for). I’ve found that using a little bit less water makes for a far fluffier (and less mushy/soggy) quinoa.
How to Serve
Serve these macro-friendly buffalo chicken bowls as-is for the most satisfying lunch or dinner.
How to Store
If you’re enjoying these buffalo chicken bowls for dinner (or the same day you make it), simply store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
If you’re meal prepping these bowls for the week, you can go one of two routes when it comes to both storing and reheating:
Assemble the day of – if you choose to go this route, simply prepare each component, store them separately in the fridge, and then build the bowls at lunch or dinner time each day. If you’d rather your sweet potatoes, quinoa, and/or chicken warm (though it’s all completely delicious cold as well), feel free to heat it up. This option is great if you work from home!
Assemble right away – alternatively, you can prep each component, then store the bowls fully assembled in 4 food storage containers in the fridge. This allows you to QUICKLY grab a lunch and head out the door. If the thought of cold quinoa, sweet potatoes, and/or doesn’t do it for you, store those components in a separate container, heat them, and then add them to the rest of the ingredients before enjoying.
Frequently Asked Questions
These buffalo chicken bowls are REALLY well balanced, and, if you can tolerate all of the ingredients, a GREAT, healthy option to include in your diet.
A focus on protein, fiber, and healthy carbs and fats helps to keep this bowl a really healthy option.
Meal Prep Lunch Recipes
If you tried this Buffalo Chicken Bowl or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Macro-Friendly Buffalo Chicken Bowl Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pickled Onions:
- 1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
For the Sweet Potatoes:
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the Chicken:
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup hot pepper sauce, like Frank's RedHot
- 2 pounds chicken tenders
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the Ranch Dressing:
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon dried dill
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Bowls:
- 3 cups cooked tri-color quinoa
- 2 cups julienne carrots
- 1 avocado, sliced
- Extra buffalo sauce, for serving
- Ranch dressing, for serving
- ¼ cup chives, cut on a diagonal, for serving
- ½ teaspoon salt, for serving
- ¼ teaspoon pepper for serving
Instructions
- For the pickled onions, add the thinly sliced red onion, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper to a jar. Affix the lid, then shake to mix the ingredients. Store in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Toss the potatoes in the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 40 minutes, or until just starting to brown.
- Make the buffalo sauce by combining the hot pepper sauce and butter. Then, season the chicken with the salt and pepper, toss with the buffalo sauce, and when the sweet potatoes have 25 minutes of baking left, add the chicken tenders to the oven to bake at 375°F for those 25 minutes, then roughly shred with two forks.
- While the sweet potatoes and chicken cook, make the ranch dressing. Add the Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, dried dill, garlic, and salt to a bowl and whisk until combined.
- Plate with an even amount of the quinoa, potatoes, chicken, carrots, avocado, pickled onions, and chives across 4 bowls – garnish with the additional salt, pepper, buffalo sauce, and ranch dressing as you like.
Nutrition
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