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Jul 13
294

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

This recipe could not be easier. There are only 4 ingredients and you simply layer three of them in your slow cooker in the morning, go to work, come home, shred the meat, wait a little longer and then voila: your main course is ready! If the thought of turning on your oven in the summer has you placing a regular daily order at your local pizza joint, this may be the perfect solution. This recipe makes a lot of chicken, but it’s so versatile that you can use it to make tons of different meals. I photographed the chicken served on a roll as a sandwich but you could also use it to make quesadillas, top baked potatoes, add protein to mac & cheese, pile on a pizza, fill lettuce wraps (a low carb option!), etc. The possibilities are endless! *Update: I also mixed some of my leftovers with a little bit of light blue cheese dressing, microwaved it and ate it as a dip with baked tortilla chips and veggies. It was awesome!

To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may be looking at these ingredients in shock. I’m a Buffalo girl, and as I’ve said before, we do not serve Buffalo chicken with ranch dressing here. It is simply not done. Blue cheese or go home. My loyalty to this unwritten rule prevented me from making this recipe for months, but I kept seeing it all over Pinterest and I admit I was intrigued. Finally a few weeks ago I had dinner at my mom’s house and wouldn’t you know, she made this recipe. It was delicious. I immediately felt torn between my taste buds (which were jumping for joy) and all that I know to be true (Buffalo Chicken + Ranch = NO). I’ve decided to rationalize my enjoyment of this recipe by pointing out that dry ranch seasoning is really not the same as ranch dressing. Plus, the overall flavor of the dish does not taste like ranch dressing. The packet is basically just mix of seasonings that adds to the yummy profile of flavors in the dish but does not taint the chicken like ranch dressing would. Right? I did drizzle some blue cheese dressing over the top on my sandwich for good measure and it was perfect. Hopefully I don’t get run out of town for this…

Love all things Buffalo chicken? I’m here to help! Try my Buffalo Chicken EnchiladasBuffalo Chicken Quinoa Bake, Buffalo Chicken Pizza, Buffalo Wing Hummus, Buffalo Chicken Wonton Cupcakes, Buffalo Cheese Bread, Buffalo Chicken Lasagna Roll-Ups, Buffalo Chicken Wraps and more!

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

This easy, 4-ingredient Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken is super versatile for lunch, dinner, or meal prep!

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs raw boneless skinless chicken breasts, the original recipe used frozen breasts, but I used them unfrozen, so it appears you can do either
  • 12 oz bottle of Buffalo wing sauce, I used Frank's Wing Sauce
  • 1 oz packet of dry Ranch mix, I used Hidden Valley
  • 2 tablespoons light butter

Instructions

  • Place the chicken breasts in your slow cooker. Pour the bottle of wing sauce over the top of the chicken. Sprinkle the packet of ranch mix over the top of the wing sauce. Place the lid on your slow cooker. Cook on low for 7-9 hours until meat shreds easily.
  • Remove meat and shred it using two forks. Return shredded meat to the sauce and add the butter. Stir to combine. Continue to cook on low for another hour so the meat can soak up the sauce. Serve however you like!

Notes

To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
MyWW SmartPoints per (1/2 cup) serving: (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
Green: 3 SmartPoints/ Blue: 1 SmartPoints/ Purple: 1 SmartPoints
Weight Watchers Points Plus:
3 per serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
Nutrition Information:
175 calories, 1 g carbs, 0 g sugars, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 28 g protein, 0 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)
Source: My Kitchen Apron

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

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294 comments on “Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken”

  1. Yum!I love buffalo chicken!

  2. This sounds really good! I just bought a new crockpot today!!! Are there any specific brands of wing sauce that you think are better than others?

  3. Wow that sounds amazing and super easy!!! Thank you

  4. I have it in the slow cooker right now!! Thanks Emily, it looks delicious!

  5. This looks so good – I’ve never tried franks wing sauce… is it really spicey or mild? I have two small kids so trying to figure out if this would be ok for them…

  6. Funny, I was just craving a sloppy joe kind of sandwich, and I think this will satisfy my craving!

  7. I have made this recipe for years, minus the butter. It is really good with mustard based wing sauces if you do not like it really hot. Perfect share for everyone….

  8. I love this buffalo chicken…I make it a lot! I think a TBSP of vinegar adds a nice bite to the sometimes ‘bottled’ taste from the sauce.

    • Thanks for the tip!

    • I made this with one packet of ranch 2x chicken and sauce (Franks wing) and it turned out uber salty and I love salt. Had to rewarm with a potato (to suck up some of the salt) and added vinegar and it was much better

    • Did you use the packets of ranch DIP mix or ranch DRESSING mix? From previous experience with different recipes, the dip mix is much saltier than the dressing mix. I always use the dressing mix. Hope this helps.

  9. I agree with you on the ranch. Am from NY originally and you just might be arrested if you served ranch with anything buffalo flavored! Living out west now, I always have to ask for blue cheese.

    Love your site! Just happened to stumble upon it and there are a bunch of things I can’t wait to make.

    • Haha, I’m glad someone knows what I’m talking about. Let me know what you make first! 🙂

    • I make a version of this but I use the laughing cow bleu cheese wedges instead of ranch mix (also because there is SO much MSG in that mix…) and sometimes also add reduced fat bleu cheese crumbles after it’s done 🙂 I also leave out the butter myself. 🙂

    • I’m a fellow Buffalonian and agree with you, Ranch and Buffalo anything is just WRONG! Gotta be blue cheese! I’m always looking for easy Crock-Pot recipes. I can’t wait to try this!

    • This sounds great! Love trying new crock pot recipes. Makes getting home from work and prepping dinner for the family less stressful! Completely agree with the Ranch and Buffalo comment. I hate going out of town and seeing Buffalo chicken on the menu and seeing it served with Ranch instead of Bleu Cheese.

  10. Make this today. It was very salty so next time I will try only a half pkg of the ranch dressing.

  11. Great recipe and thanks to the other posters on other suggestions for the recipe 🙂

  12. Another great recipe Emily! I halved it and it came out terrific. I had it for dinner on Arnold’s Sandwich Thins and plan on having more of it for lunch tomorrow over lettuce.

  13. It’s in the crockpot now!!! Can’t wait to try it!

  14. Someone else asked this too….is the wing sauce less spicy/hot than the Frank’s hot sauce? I’ve been using the hot sauce for recipes like this and sometimes it’s just too hot!

  15. So good… just made this tonight! 🙂 Any other suggestions I can do with this? I have a lot left over since I live alone…. I had it in lettuce wraps tonight, going to make a spicy version of a taco salad tomorrow night… Besides putting it on a bun like pictured, any other ideas?

  16. I love that you said “bluecheese or go home” hahahahaha from one buffalo food blogger to another I can TOTALLY appreciate this!

    I make a buffalo chicken wrap that this chicken would be perfect in – YUM!

  17. Quick and easy and very delicious have left overs to use for pizza’s or a dip. Thanks!

  18. it’s just finishing up in the slow cooker…I used frozen breasts…LOVE how easy it was! Can’t wait to taste 🙂

  19. I also used frozen breasts and it was o simple and Delicious! Anxious to try out your other recipes… 🙂

  20. This is super delicious! I had it as a sandwich the first night and then made buffalo chicken nachos with it the next. Thanks for another amazing recipe!

  21. This is super delicious! I had it as a sandwich the first night and then made buffalo chicken nachos with it the next. Thanks for another amazing recipe!

  22. This is in my crock pot right now. My house smells like hot wings. I can’t wait to try it. Going to use the leftovers in your buffalo bits too.

  23. Made this tonight! I am loving your site! Thanks for sharing all of your recipes. I just came back from Walmart and took your shopping list with me. I have so many things I want to try.

  24. Can not wait to try this! I have all of the ingredients in my kitchen!

  25. I see the recipe calls for a 1oz packet of ranch….is that supposed to be a 16oz packet?

    • Never mind. I looked at the packet again and I see that it says it MAKES 16 fl oz and that the net weight is .4 oz. Thank you. In the process of making this right now. I forgot to start it this morning though because I was running late to work so I am going to try cooking it for 4-5 hours on high versus the 8 on low. Fingers crossed

    • Haha, a pound of ranch seasoning would be a LOT of seasoning 😉

      Let me know how the shorter cooking time worked out!

  26. Made this tonight using Louisiana buffalo wing sauce but it was way tooooooo spicy to even eat! Perhaps the Louisiana is hotter than Franks? My husband loves super spicy food and even he resorted to peanut butter sandwiches instead. Such a shame as I was really looking forward to this.

    • I didn’t find this to be very spicy at all using the Frank’s wing sauce so I am going to assume the Louisiana sauce is WAY hotter.

    • Well then I might just have to try it again using the franks 🙂

    • Definitely do! Sorry it didn’t work out with the Louisiana sauce :/

    • I make Wing Sauce (usually don’t buy it, but I did for this recipe!) using regular Hot Sauce by putting it in a ramekin, putting a slice of butter in it and pouring some sauce on it, then I microwave it for maybe 15 seconds, and repeat to taste.

      Long Story Short – Try adding butter to your too spicy meat, reheat it (or melt the butter beforehand) and it should cut down the heat.

    • Try adding plain Greek yoguart to help cut down the heat. 

  27. This is cooking in my crockpot as I type. Only a few hours left! Can’t wait to try this!

  28. Looking forward to trying this over the weekend. I am a complete spice weenie so am thinking buffalo sauce will be too spicy, so I was thinking of trying a sweet smokey bbq type of sauce. Does that sound horrible with the ranch mix to you?

    • Applesass- my sis in law halved the recipe as it is only her and my brother. Instead of 6 oz of sauce, she did 4 oz chicken stock and 2 oz of sauce mixed together and then poured it over. There was some kick but not as much. (my brother added additional sauce to his sandwiches as he likes spicy!) You can start with 5 oz to 1 oz and see how that goes.

    • Thanks for the suggestion, Jennifer! I wouldn’t have thought of that. I will give it a try and since my hubs likes things spicy he will like having a choice in the matter. 🙂

  29. I was super excited to try this (and did today), but my husband and I found that it wasn’t too spicy but had a sour bite that was overwhelming. I was looking forward to leftovers, too, but ended up tossing it :(. Also, way too spicy for our 21 month old. I’ll have to check out your other slow cooker recipes for next time instead. (i used three chicken breast, the packet of ranch and franks buffalo wing sauce)

    • Three chicken breasts? I think you may have misread the recipe – it’s supposed to be three pounds of chicken breasts! If you only made it with three breasts then I’m sure the sauce WAS overwhelming! Oops.

  30. I think it’s three pounds, not 3 breasts.. Could have been the problem. Sounds good to me! You could also make your own wing sauce, super easy and yummy.

  31. In the crock pot now and smells soooooooo good. Thanks for posting this!

  32. I found mine to be really salty, looking at the recipe I used the whole pack of ranch dressing, but did not check to see if a whole pack is 1oz or not, I was figuring it was the franks that made it overly salty, will make again but maybe try a different wing sauce and skip out on the ranch all together, not sure what caused the saltiness.

  33. I’ve made this twice now (I’ve halved it each time). It’s amazing! I’m addicted to Frank’s sauces and this recipe is perfect for my addiction!

  34. This looks like something even I can make, dumping a few ingredients into the crock pot is my kind of cooking! Can’t wait to try it

  35. It is too salty…but still good. I’d like to cut the saltiness a little…ideas anyone??

  36. I thought it was fantastic! Mine wasn’t too salty or too spicy.. Just right! 🙂 I do have a really high spicy tolerance though. I can’t wait to make this again, I see this becoming one of my staple recipes. There are so many things you can do with it!

  37. in the crockpot now…mouth watering just thinking about it!
    Your site and recipes are fabulous!! We had the Taco Cups last night and they were fantastic!
    Thanks!

  38. Sounds so good – What if I was only to use about 1 pound of chicken, how much of everything else do you think I should use?

  39. I made this and it was delicious! My store didnt have Franks wing sauce……which sucks, but I used Texas Pete wing sauce. I may even try the franks thick sauce hot sauce next time (and there will be a next time):) …..do u think that will work? I just love the salty taste of franks.

  40. Made this today and it was fantastic! DH bought the store brand sauce (non-mild) so I cut it w/ chicken broth so my kids would eat it since they don’t like really spicy foods. Can’t wait to play w/ the left overs. I think it’ll be a keeper.

  41. just tried this today. It was amazing…Put it in the crockpot and let it cook over nite. shredded this morning. had for lunch in a fat free tortilla with reduced fat cheese as a quesadilla. i can only say….amazing. this recipe is a keeper. thank you for posting such wonderful recipes.

  42. super fantastic recipe. loved it. put it on to cook all nite and shredded it this morning. for lunch I used it in a fat free flour tortilla with reduced fat cheese to make a buffalo chicken quesadillo. I can only say…..amazing. thanks for posting this fabulous recipe.

  43. I made this last night and it was amazing!

  44. I make pulled pork in the slow cooker and we never get it anywhere else.
    I’ll admit, the ranch dressing is throwing me because I’m a die-hard blue cheese with buffalo gal.
    That said however, I love new things and this looks delicious.
    My husband and one of my daughters will only eat ranch with buffalo so I’m
    going to try this in the next few days (looking forward to it 😉
    Thanks!

  45. Made this yesterday and we had it for dinner last night.
    It was wonderful, just the right kick!
    One of my kids used a tortilla and shredded jack cheese and the rest of us had it on hamburger buns with a side of sweet corn. (I used blue cheese dressing on mine too 😉
    Great addition to our limited menu. Seems when two people like one thing, the other two don’t, but this was a hit with all so that was a bonus.

    *(I had said in my comment above this follow-up that we never get pulled pork anywhere else now but my husband pointed out that we do get pulled pork from a local bbq place on the very rare occasions that family visits from out of town… I stand corrected 😉
    Thanks again!

    • Haha, I’m glad you were able to get past the ranch seasoning too…it was a hurdle for me :P. Happy to hear it was a hit with the whole family!

  46. I made this for dinner last night. Unfortunately, I was too tired to eat, so I just put it away, packed a serving for lunch, and went to bed at 7pm (my life is super exciting). I was looking forward to trying for lunch today, so my expectations were high, and it totally lived up to them. It was the best lunch I’ve had in a very long time. I expected it to be tasty, but it was really, really, really tasty. Buffalo anything is my kryptonite, and this hit the spot perfectly.
    I’m glad I used extra hot sauce- otherwise I’m sure I’d be driving home to eat it with a spoon out of the container right now.
    Will definitely make it again, both with the extra hot sauce for DH and me, and with milder sauce for entertaining.

  47. This is so great, INCREDIBLY easy, it has already become a go-to-recipe. I actually threw this together yesterday for an impromptu gathering – cooked it on High, and it was done in 3-4 hours – love that a crock pot recipe doesn’t have to take hours and hours to cook. I add more sauce than the recipe calls for, and less ranch mix (I thought it was too salty). This is so good on regular buns, or whole wheat thin buns, or even as a dip with crackers. I think I will have a 3-pound-bag-of-chicken in my freezer at all times! This is the BEST ever – thank you!!!!!!!

  48. I have tried about 10 of your recipes since finding your site about 3 weeks ago. Every single one of them have been perfect. This was the first one I tried and my family loved it. I froze some of the meat and used it later in a “cupcake” with a litle blue cheese. Thanks for all of the recipes!

  49. I am so happy I found this blog! I’m trying this recipe tomorrow to kick off football season ( my husband is a Bills fan!). We love all things buffalo flavored, but my husband is so picky. I’m talking no condiments, no spices, no vegetables or fruits with certain textures, etc. You have no idea the relief I had when I saw that this contained only 4 ingredients. Thank you so much!

  50. I live in Chicago but am originally from Binghamton. I’m going to make this to have while we watch the Bills/Jets on NFL Sunday Ticket. I’ll follow your lead and have a little bleu cheese dressing on top. Can’t wait! Let’s go, Buffalo!

  51. I tried this recipe of yours tonight and it was so good! I wanted to thank you for writing and sharing your low calorie recipes with us all. It is greatly appreciated. (: And I am so happy I found this blog!

  52. Super yummy! Thank you for a great recipe!

  53. I made this tonight for supper. It was very very salty tasting.. Why?!?!!!

  54. This is hands down my fav recipe. I make it so much!!! Love it!!!!!

  55. Just tried this with precooked chicken in a Dutch oven on the stove for 10 minutes after sauces boils since I didn’t have time for the crockpot way. Omg its so good!

  56. Made this tonight. Cooked on high for about five hours. The chicken shredded itself when I stirred it. Toasted a wheat bun, drizzled a little ranch on top and added pepperjack shredded cheese. Yum!! Thank you 🙂

  57. Made this tonight after it was cooked, I added some chopped up celery. It gave it a great crunch and the laughing cow blue cheese was a great addition as well! Thanks for the recipe!!!!

  58. so delicious… made it last night for dinner. My 3 year old who will never touch chicken, ate his whole plate and some.

  59. This was simply AMAZING and easy to make, made this along with zuchhini totes and the whole me was AMAZING!!! Thank yoi for all these great recipes

  60. Don’t have ranch seasoning could I pour some ranch dressing in???

  61. This sounds delicious – LOVE buffalo chicken. However, I don’t have a crockpot. Any ideas of temps/times for trying to make it in a standard oven?

  62. While this sounded quite good, my family found it to be too salty. Any suggestions on being able to tone down the salt?

    • Since there was no salt added to the recipe, I would suggest that you check your wing sauce before adding it (also, I don’t know if there’s a lower sodium ranch dressing packet out there). One old standby I’ve found to work is if you have a pot of anything and you taste and find it too salty – add a half of a peeled potato. The potato will soak up salt.

  63. Love this recipe! It’s so simple to make and my husband liked it with some blue cheese crumbles thrown on top. We’re going to try leftovers wrapped in a tortilla with some cheese. Thanks for sharing all your great recipes.

  64. Made this for the first time Saturday(11/3/12)! Terrific! I used Jim Beam Wing Sauce (isn’t as hot) and didn’t need to add the butter. That saved a few grams of fat and didn’t detract anything (I don’t think) from the taste. KEEPER(and I’m recommending to lots of friends to check this blog!)

  65. Wow, this came out extra spicy – which I actually like. Sent my husband to the store for the ingredients and he came through on the Frank’s wing sauce, but the Hidden Valley Ranch, he got the spicy ranch. Whoa! mouth is on fire, but not complaining.

    Thanks for the recipe – cheap and easy!

  66. I’ve made chicken this way with bbq sauce – SO simple and delicious! Smells amazing when you return home from work, too!

  67. Made this for dinner today and it was wonderful. I did omit the butter. I used Texas Pete buffalo sauce and served on mini Hawaiian sweet rolls with some coleslaw for the kids to cut some of the spice and both my kids loved it! If there are any leftovers I am going to use for spring rolls.

  68. Made this for dinner today and it was wonderful. I did omit the butter. I used Texas Pete buffalo sauce and served on mini Hawaiian sweet rolls with some coleslaw for the kids to cut some of the spice and both my kids loved it! If there are any leftovers I am going to use for spring rolls.

  69. This was my first recipe that I have tried from your website. I like the idea of the chicken in the crockpot and it shredded really nice. I did think it was very very salty and I did not add any salt. I will omit the ranch packet next time.

  70. Anytime you need to shred cooked meat like chicken breasts or a roast…. just toss them in a stand mixer, turn it on low and in a few minutes you’ve got perfectly shredded chicken! No fuss and it’s easy to clean up!

  71. Anytime you need to shred cooked meat like chicken breasts or a roast…. just toss them in a stand mixer, turn it on low and in a few minutes you’ve got perfectly shredded chicken! No fuss and it’s easy to clean up!

  72. I am making this now. All we had was the Frank’s Red Hot, but my fiance loves that sauce for his homemade wings so I figured I’d give it a try for this recipe. I did add a little dark brown sugar to offset the spiciness/kick and I didn’t have the dry packet ranch, just light hidden valley ranch. I put a couple drops of that in there and mixed it all around. Hoping it comes out well!

  73. Soo good! I had it for dinner last night & lunch today! I put it on an 8″ whole wheat tortilla with a light swiss laughing cow cheese wedge & half of an avocado …it mellowed out the spiciness (my grocery store only had 1 kind of buffalo sauce & it definitely has a kick to it) & made it incredible!

  74. Does it matter if you use buttermilk dressing mix or the original?

  75. Love this recipe. Have made it 3 times now – once for a group of hungry teenage boys who loved it. No leftovers!

  76. Yum! I put this in the crockpot last night – 3.5 hours on high. My grocery store only had Texas Pete Buffalo Sauce, but I’m sure it will be similar. I used a 2lb package of chicken breast and 8oz of sauce (and, of course, about 2/3 the ranch packet). I wish I’d used a bit more sauce – while plenty juicy, mine doesn’t seem to be as saucy as your photo. Other than a little taste test, I haven’t eaten it yet – it’s for dinner tonight! We plan to put it in low-carb tortillas with lettuce and blue cheese crumbles (for me, at least. DH will, embarrassingly, be using ranch). Thanks for the recipe!

  77. What kind of bun did you use for this?? Thanks!

  78. my brother used it in an omlette and said it was amazing!

  79. blue cheese is just chunky ranch. except that when your trying to dip your wings in blue cheese, it leaves chunks in the cup that get thrown away.

  80. Emily, made this recipe yesterday and there was a problem …. No leftovers! Great recipe. Easy and they kept going back for more. Love your blog.

  81. Made this for the first time. IT WAS GREAT!!! Thank you thank you thank you for this!!!!!!!!!!!!

  82. Thank you so much for this! It was wonderful and my husband loved it.

  83. This was absolutely amazing. Only thing is is that I didn’t use 3 lbs. of chicken. Only 2 pieces since I’m only feeding myself. And from there I used not half the bottle of franks wing sauce but enough for it to coat, and sit in a good amount in the crock pot. Same with the ranch packet, I didn’t use a whole lot. It all worked out though, and after I shredded the chicken I added some tartar to the leftover sauce to thickin it a little.

  84. Has anyone doubled this recipe? I need it to feed a bunch of people and I just want to make sure if I double everything it will come out ok.

  85. Just put this in the crock pot and calculated the points…I’m getting that it’s 4 points not 3, has anyone else noticed this or am I inputing some wrong numbers? :/

  86. Just put mine in the crockpot on high for 4 hours. Hoping i come home from work with it easy to shred! 🙂 gunna use it in lettuce wraps! Let you know how it turns out!

  87. Made this tonight, but didn’t get it started until 4 o’clock. I sprayed my cast iron dutch oven with cooking spray, browned the chicken quickly on each side on the stove over medium/high heat. Then added other ingredients, covered with lid and finished cooking in a 325 degree oven for a 2 hours. Next, I removed from oven and placed on stove eye heated to warm while I shredded meat. I shredded the meat directly in the pot. The sauce cooked down quickly and was ready in about 30 minutes. It was fabulous! A big hit with all the family. I served it with sweet potato fries. Thank you, so much.

  88. I made this today and my family LOVED it!! My 12 year old even ate it. Thanks for the amazing recipe 🙂

  89. How long would you recommend cooking it if the crock pot was set on High?

  90. Making this for dinner tonight! 🙂

  91. Is the 3 P+ just the chicken? Or the bun as well?? Thanks!!

  92. So good! I made this and day one we had on buns. Day 2 I fried onions in a pan, added the leftover chicken, mixed in canned diced tomatoes with cilantro, green chili’s and rolled them up, topped with enchilada sauced and mex cheese. It made 2 full pans of corn tortilla enchilada’s. Not sure on the points for that but WOW, good good good!

  93. Do you have any idea how to adapt the recipe to use Frank’s Hot Sauce instead of the Wing Sauce? My family loves everything spicy, and we are not too found of Frank’s Wing Sauce. My fear with using the sauce instead of the wing sauce is that it could turn out runny.

    • I just made this today and I used the Frank’s Hot Sauce instead of the Wing Sauce and I didn’t change anything except I did make sure to use the butter because from what I was told by a waitress once was that the wing sauce just has butter added to the franks hot sauce…It wasn’t runny at all, the chicken soaked up the sauce and it is delicious!! Thanks for the recipe Emily!

  94. I used Texas Pete Fiery Sweet sauce on this. It was SO GOOD. Not traditional Buffalo flavor, but delicious nonetheless. We will be making this again VERY soon. Thanks for the great recipes! 🙂

  95. In the crockpot now and my apartment smells deliciously buffalo 🙂 out of curiosity, what does the butter do for the recipe?

  96. For all those wondering, as I did, regular Frank’s Red Hot sauce works great if you can’t find the wing sauce. According to the Frank’s website, the regular hot sauce is actually MILDER than the wings sauce: http://www.franksredhot.com/info/faq. I added a T of apple cider vinegar, and served on buns topped with reduced fat crumbled blue cheese. Delish!

  97. You shouldn’t need the butter if you use a ready made buffalo sauce, but if you use the regular hot sauce (Red Hot if you’re using Frank’s) you do. Simple buffalo sauce is typically just butter and hot sauce. Franks bottled buffalo sauce has butter in it already.

  98. Going to try this for the Super Bowl tomorrow! Does the recipe call for ranch DIP or DRESSING mix tho?

  99. It’s not the Ranch mix that makes it salty. That only has like 150 mg of sodium. The wing sauce has a TON. 460 mg in a Tablespoon!! I am going to have to re-tool the recipe.

  100. Made this today with just chicken and Frank’s Wing Sauce. Delicious! Put it on flat out bread with a little pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese and YUM!!!

  101. Absolutely delicious!! Made if for the Super Bowl and it was a big hit. I added some garlic and Frank’s hot sauce and served with blue cheese on top of the sandwiches. Thanks for the recipe!! 🙂

  102. Excellent and SO easy…I will definitely be taking this to some picnics.

  103. This was soooo good! I just wanted you to keep up the great ideas.

  104. WONDERFUL!!!!! I used Sweet Baby Ray’s marinade/sauce 16oz. bottle, and it came out perfect. Just the right amount of heat(medium) for my family. This is a keeper as my picky husband told me. We also added low fat sharp cheddar cheese ontop of our sandwich. Just fantastic. Thanks so much Emily!! No one ever guessed this was low cal.

  105. This is in my crock pot right now. My house smells yummy !!! Can’t wait to try this!!!

  106. Emily, just put this in the crock pot! I was wondering, I have probably 2.5lbs of chicken in there and I only had 8oz of buffalo sauce, do you think it will still turn out ok? Also, is the chicken supposed to be submerged in the sauce? Mine isn’t, it is more like sitting in a puddle of buffalo lol, although the chicken does have sauce and now ranch sprinkles covering it! THanks!

  107. SUPER EXCITED TO TRY THIS RECIPE! I THINK I’LL USE MY FAVORITE SAUCE FROM BUFFALO WILD WINGS! I AM ALREADY ANTICIPATING HOW *YUMMY* THE AROMA WILL BE THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE! 😀

  108. Thoughts…better to make the whole batch and freeze half or cut the recipe in half? It’s just me eating on it, so I don’t need 12 servings! Thanks.

  109. I made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious!! My 12 year old son loved it. I had it as a lettuce wrap and he had his as a quesadilla! I’ll be making this again!

  110. Made for dinner tonight….delicious!! We chopped up celery put on top like relish, & used 80 cal buns. Will definitely make again!

  111. I will definitely be making this very soon! I used your nutritional information to double check how many points using my WW calculator, and using that information it says it is 4 points. Not a big difference but just wanted to share. This recipe sounds yummy! Can’t wait to make it!!

  112. Great Recipe. I only had the Franks hot sauce so I mixed butter with hot sauce (equal amounts – just depends on how hot you like it) and then put chicken in to the pot. I also added about 2 cloves of minced garlic.

    This will become a regular in our household!

  113. I’ve made this several times now and my family loves it! My husband also adds a Laughing Cow low-fat blue cheese wedge, spread on the bun, to our sandwiches! I eat my chicken on a long piece of romain lettuce – it has a nice rib that holds up while you eat. YUM. Thanks!

  114. This was not bad, but extremely salty! I do think it was the ranch dressing mix I used and I will definitely try the recommendation to use 1/2 a packet of ranch next time. I really see the potential in this – the chicken was so tender and I love Frank’s Red Hot. I ended up making a wrap with the chicken and added lots of mixed greens and low-fat blue cheese crumbles.

  115. I loved it on a Hawaiian sweet roll YUM

  116. I’m making this right now. Started it a little late, though. Put it in the slow cooker at 11:45am and used frozen chicken breasts. It’ll be a late dinner! Also, ranch and buffalo go great together. I really don’t like blue cheese. But I’m from California and we put ranch on everything. Ranch and pizza is the best 🙂

  117. Good morning. I’m planning to make a batch of this to have on hand for the holiday weekend, but I was wondering if I should use the Hidden Valley Ranch dip or dressing mix. I know from past experience that they’re quite different. Can’t wait to try this, it looks fabulous! Thanks!

  118. Delicious. I put one serving over broccoli slaw and added 2 tbsp fat free blue cheese dressing for a 4 point plus dinner! Was so good and filling!

  119. Made this last night. Boyfriend and I were very impressed. Thank you for sharing!

    I do have to add though, I’ve always been a ranch girl, since I have this pesky blue cheese allergy. Ah well.

  120. This is a fav Go To recipe for us. I’m working hard on losing weight for my health and happiness and love your blog thank you for the help. I use this so many ways but for when u want crunchy bites this is delish served in celery sticks with a lil bleu cheese drizzled on top. (cause ya Im on board with the No Ranch rule)

  121. I bought Texas Pete’s Wing Sauce..just as good.

  122. I have this in the slow cooker right now! My sister made it and said it was delicious. Thanks for all of your great recipes Emily!

  123. Instead of using a packet of dry ranch, I added some bleu cheese laughing cow wedges after I shredded the chicken. Depending on how many cheese wedges you use, it will will affect the points plus value, but it is so delicious and not too salty.

  124. !You know, they do have dry blue cheese packages, right next to the Ranch. I believe made by Kraft. A perfect solution for the anti–ranch problem. Sounds really yummy….can’t wait!

  125. Has anyone tried to freeze this? If so, did you cook it then freeze it? Thanks!

    • I made this and froze it about 4 months ago. I’m just cooking for one so even after eating it all week I ended up freezing over half. I portioned it into snack bags and put them all in a freezer bag. I just defrosted one and added it to some mac and cheese and it’s perfect!

  126. I want to make this as just a dip for a party.. would I need to do anything different? Anyone else use this as just a dip?

    • I have made something very similar for a dip…
      Use one 8oz stick of cream cheese (softened), half a cup of the same buffalo sauce, half a cup of ranch dressing and one can of chicken (drained, and I always shred mine with a fork).
      I’d double this if you’re having a lot of people.
      It’s delicious!!! Some call it “crack dip” in our family because it’s so good, you can’t stop eating it!

  127. I’ve just discovered your blog and your rule about Ranch and Buffalo chicken is soo funny! I’m a Long Island girl who has transplanted to Atlanta. They eat pizza here dipped in ranch. My kids believe it’s ok to dip pizza in ranch. It offends me on every level. So I get you. Although, I admit to eating buffalo chicken with ranch pretty often. 🙂

  128. YOUR RECIPE DOES NOT FRIENDLY PRINT!!!!!!!

  129. IF YOU CAN NOT PRINT IT WHY PUT FRIENDLY PRINT????????????

  130. Hi! Hopefully you’ll still see this…
    Have you tried making this with ranch dressing instead of the powder stuff? I’m interested in finding out how I could substitute those…

    Thanks 🙂

  131. This was delicious! I even did a blog post about it here: http://ow.ly/sxu4A

  132. In over 47 years of married life, I can count on one hand the meals that were a complete disaster. And this was one of them! It was awful! My husband gave up half-way through the meal and said it just wasn’t worth the calories – and there aren’t too many of those either! Waste of time and good chicken.

  133. In my crock pot now. Smells SOOOOOO yummy! Can’t wait to eat it later!

  134. This was terrible! My husband wouldn’t eat it – said it wasn’t worth the calories. This is my second negative review of this dish; the first one wasn’t published. No wonder it has so many good reviews!

    • I do not moderate comments before they are published and I did not delete your previous comment. I actually see it right now. It’s obvious that you must have really wanted to make sure I knew you hated it since you came back to further post about how horrible it is to drive your point home. I’m sorry you didn’t like it, but lots of people do. Your original comment made me feel awful, so I suppose you got what you wanted. Have a great day!

  135. I have made this a dozen or so times my husband and I love it and it is so easy to prepair….I have used all different types of wing sauces and haven’t been letdown yet. Also because we are on a tight budget I make my own dry ranch dip at home and use it instead it’s way cheaper and taste the same

  136. This is absolutely a staple in our house now…the only thing I changed is I use Frank’s kickin BBQ sauce as it is a little less spicy.
    Thanks so much!
    Doreen

  137. Me and my wife make this quite a bit and use Ken’s Buffalo style sauce…just the chicken and sauce, no butter…very low cal and delicious!!

  138. Would you be able to tell me what the serving size is for the nutritional information you provided? Thank you so much!

  139. Cooking for about 30 this weekend. How many do you think this serves and can it be increased evenly or would you need to reduce the liquid?

    • The recipe yields 12 (1/2 cup) servings. I’ve never tried tripling it so I’m not sure – let me know how it turns out!

  140. Made tonight! Fantastic flavor! Gluten free naturally as well- Awesome!!

  141. I just found dry blue cheese mix at wegmans!

    • Thanks! Love Wegmans. I just found Campbell’s Buffalo Chicken sauce in a pouch to just dump in with the chicken and let it cook, and I usually use Ken’s Blue Cheese dressing on top, but I’ll check this out the next time I’m at Wegmans.

  142. This is in my crockpot now! I also replaced 2 the boneless skinless breasts with a couple of chicken leg quarters. Otherwise breast meat tends to be rather blah from all day slow cooking. Since we like spicy, I used a whole 26 oz bottle of Franks Red Hot sauce (not wing) and only 1/2 pkg ranch dressing mix. About 4. 1/2- 5 lbs of bird total. Too easy. If my sauce ratio fails, I’ll let ya know. But I can drink Frank’s Red Hot, I adore it. Thanks for sharing!

  143. i’ve had my eye on this recipe for months. finally made it yesterday.

    i made my own ranch mix – that packet stuff is scary – mix was easy to make and great to have on hand., i used 8oz wing sauce(Archie Moore’s and Wing Time-Medium) plus 4oz low sodium chicken broth. the Wing Time sauce is much lower in sodium than other brands on the shelf, though a bit higher in calories than others(bear in mind if you use this brand and are counting PP on WW.)

    i shredded the chicken at the 6th hour of cooking on low. we sat down to dinner approx 30min after that. plenty of liquid, not too salty, just the right amount of buffalo tang.

    thanks for this recipe. i look forward to making it again.

  144. I made this for the first time today. Delicious! My husband just started WW, and he loved it, too. I didn’t thaw the chicken, and it turned out great. We drizzled Opa Litehouse blue cheese made out of Greek yogurt. Excellent. We love Emily Bites in this house. Thank you for making the Weight Watchers plan so much easier!

  145. I made this for a tailgate party this past weekend. I more than doubled it. I have a large crockpot and it was full to the top. It was a huge hit! Nobody could believe it was only 3 points and everybody….including the non-dieters wanted the recipe! I also made some 1 point coleslaw to go with it. For 4 points I had a great meal and didn’t feel deprived at all! Thanks for this great recipe!

  146. How mamy servings does it make? How much is one serving?

    • Serving information is listed directly below the recipe title in the recipe section of the post 🙂

  147. I’m wondering if anyone has tried to freeze the leftovers? It could make a great, quick meal if so.

  148. I just found a post from someone that did freeze it! Thanks!

  149. What is the serving size on this 3 ounces?

    • Hi Jami, the serving info is located directly under the recipe title in the recipe section of the post! 🙂

  150. omg! I am sorry I missed it!

  151. Prepped and ready to go for tomorrow morning! Can’t wait to try after work!!

  152. Put this mixture into egg roll wrappers!! So delicious. Onto making French dip cups (all-time favorite) 🙂

  153. Hi, what would you say the serving size is for this dish?
    Thanks for sharing!

    • The serving information is located directly under the recipe title in the recipe section of the post. 🙂

  154. How can you scale down the recipe? I don’t want to use 3lbs of chicken. Maybe just one pound.

  155. Thanks for the recipe! Made it for a superbowl party and everyone liked it 🙂 It was soo easy and I used half the ranch packet just like some comments mentioned. I love how low fat it is and I plan to make this regularly in the future.

  156. This is one of my all time favorite Emily Bites recipes! My favorite thing to do is put the 1/2 cup chicken with shredded lettuce and 2 tbsp of Lite Blue Cheese Dressing for a Buffalo Chicken Salad. For 5 pp (not counting the lettuce) it’s so filling and yummy!

  157. I made this with Frank’s RedHot Original only because I had it at home. I loved it, but the rest of my family found it too spicy. I served it on slider buns with fresh made cole slaw. Yummy! I know you have said that Wing Sauce is milder, but other comments made it seem like if you add the butter, which I did, it is the same spice level as the Original. What do you think? Is it milder, or should I try another brand?

    • You can try a different brand and see if that makes it milder. For people who want it less spicy I would usually just recommend that they mix in some blue cheese dressing (or ranch I suppose) to their serving – that should cut the spice and also be delicious 🙂

  158. Fantastic recipe! I love pulled pork and was looking for something a bit lighter when I ran across this recipe. I added some chopped celery and onion, probably a cup or so of each, and used a 5 oz. bottle of Tabasco wing sauce and a cup or so of Franks Original because we like it spicy and saucy. I also used a pound of well trimmed thighs and 2 pounds of breasts. Skipped the ranch because I hate ranch dressing. I serve them with bleu cheese crumbles to top them off if desired. I’m making this later on this week and I’m going to throw in 2 or 3 chopped serranos. (The hotter the better for us) The left overs freeze great. It’s nice to have when something easy and tasty you can just grab out of the freezer.

  159. Liked your recipe a lot. Looking forward for some more mouth watering recipes. Keep up the good work.

  160. Hi there, I would love to make this but what is the dry Ranch mix? Is this something common in Australia, Perth? Haven’t been cooking with anything like that and would love to try this recipe. Thank you

  161. Is there a way to work in cream cheese maybe 30 minutes before it’s done to make the sauce a little creamier, similar to buffalo chicken dip? Will it spoil anything with the recipe adding any?

  162. What is the serving size? I pointed this on weight watchers as well and to get down to 3 points a serving I had to show as the recipe makes a total of 14 servings – but I don’t want to have to make it and measure out and divide by 14 before I can decide to make it! 🙂

    • Hi Debra, serving information is located directly under the recipe title in the recipe section of each post. Hope that helps!

  163. Thank you for a delicious recipe. All three of us enjoyed it and that is an accomplishment! A tip I saw on youtube – you can put the cooked chicken in a standing mixer, regular blade, and it will shred beautifully in about 15 seconds. You do have an extra bowl to wash, but I think it is worth the time saved in hand shredding 3 lbs of chicken.

    You are batting 4 for 4 (Beef and Barley Soup, Bubble Up Chicken Pot Pie, Bubble Up Pizza Casserole and this recipe). You are now my prime go-to spot when recipe planning.

    Grace

    • Yes, I’ve used that tip before! I usually shred it with forks when I make it in the slow cooker anyway because it basically just falls apart by itself and I super hate dishes, but it definitely works if you prefer it! 🙂

      I’m so happy you are loving the recipes!!

  164. I am so excited to try this. I have 3 lbs. of chicken breast tenders. Do you know if I can use those or does it have to be breasts? I wasn’t sure if any slow cooker time would need to be adjusted. Thanks for your fantastic recipes!

    • That should work! They might take less time to cook but I think they’ll probable be fine either way.

  165. Is this still 3 points with the new weight watcher program?

    Also, thank you for the recipe!! I tried it last night, and it was amazing! I added diced red peppers and red onion, I loved it!

  166. I made this for supper tonight and it was awesome!

  167. How long would it take with the crock pot setting on High? (or is that not recommended?) Thanks in advance!

    • I haven’t cooked it on high, but I usually adapt by cooking something on high half as long as it would cook on low. Try it for 4 hours and see if it’s cooked through!

  168. I am cooking for a large crowd and going to make this. Do you have any idea how many people this recipe will serve

  169. How much is your serving size?

    • 1/2 cup. The serving info is listed directly under the recipe title in the recipe section of the post 🙂

  170. Made this today and it’s delicious and so easy!

  171. I made this tonight and this was one of the best pulled chicken sandwiches I have ever made! This dish is amazing and my family is still raving over it! It is so juicy and perfect for Football Sunday. We ate it on buns and I served oven roasted cauliflower for a side. Thanks so much for the delicious meal…and your very tasty recipes. I will surely be making this again. 🙂

  172. Made this is was delicious.

  173. I have my first shot at this recipe cooking in the slow cooker now, but it appears I should have read the comments first. I used Frank’s Red Hot sauce instead of the wing sauce, so this may turn out interesting!

  174. Despite my inadvertent error on the sauce, the chicken turned out delicious! I seriously love it! I already had one serving on a sandwich and one serving on a salad. This recipe will become a staple for me. Thanks!

  175. I actually started making this a lot so I figure I should probably comment! A couple things:
    – I only use like 1/4 of the dry ranch dips stuff and I think that’s definitely all it needs
    – Make sure you use Franks WING sauce and not the typical Frank’s sauce

    I’m obsessed with franks and this is so easy to make so I basically make it all the time. I do have one question though – it tends to come out a bit watery at first. Is that normal? Anything anyone does to fix this?

  176. Just made this today! Do you think I can freeze whatever I don’t use in the next few days?

  177. Well this should be interesting to see how this turns out. I did not notice that it said to use Franks wing sauce and I used the hot sauce so it’s gonna have some kick to it. It has been in about 6 1/2 hours now and smells great.

  178. Excited about the new freestyle program. Can’t wait for Saturday weight in day. Congrats on the new baby!

  179. OMG – I’ve been using your blog for recipes for over a year and it wasn’t until I read this one that I realized you were a Buffalo girl – me too! Ranch with chicken-wing-flavored anything is just the worst 🙂

  180. Do you think that this can be made in the instant pot? Maybe add some chicken broth?

  181. Hi, I am new to WW and when i put these nutrition facts in the calculator its still coming up to 3 points. How did you get the 1 point for freestyle? thanks in advance

    • Hi Natalie,
      With recipes it is best to use the WW recipe builder as it doesn’t count the values for zero point foods (like chicken breasts). Of course these foods still have calories, carbs, fat, etc so if you enter the nutrition info into the points calculator you will get a different SP total. Hope that helps!

  182. Can you take less cooking time if you use 5 smaller chicken tenderloin meat instead of 3 breasts?

  183. Before WW I made this all the time minus the butter!! It’s delish!!!!! so glad it’s low points!!!
    You can even put on tortillas!

  184. I haven’t got the Ranch dressing mix (UK), how can I substitute?

  185. Amazing!! Family loved it! Came out perfectly! Thanks Emily for another awesome recipe!!

  186. This is the first recipe of yours that I have found and it was delicious … love the simplicity and great taste! Can’t wait to try your other recipes! 🙂

  187. Hi Emily!
    Can I put the crockpot on high to split the cook time?

  188. I know this is an older recipe, but it is 100% my go-to meal. I must make this 3x a month year-round, and recommend it to everyone. Not only is it my favorite meal, but it’s the easiest thing it the world to make! 

  189. We made this for the first time this past weekend, and my whole family LOVED it!! It was sooo good. We made it exactly as written (well, a little less chicken we had about 2.25 lbs) and it was amazing. Such a good flavor, and we love how versatile it is. I’ve tried several of your recipes and loved them all but I am bad about forgetting to leave a comment, but I had to make sure I came to leave one for this as we all loved it so much!! This will be a regular in our house, thank you!

  190. Have you ever tried this in the instant pot? 

  191. The only Franks wing sauce I find has zero calories or fat. Is this the right sauce? It really just tastes like regular franks. Just checking because I’m thinking it would change the calories and fat in the recipe? Thank you!

  192. I’ve made this in the past and it’s delicious! I plan on making it again soon, but I’m struggling to figure out what sides I should serve with it? Any suggestions? Thank you! 🙂

  193. Love this! Wondering how I can turn this into a dip with some cheese!

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