Buffalo Chicken Bites with Blue Cheese Dressing

What is Buffalo Chicken?

Let’s get one thing cleared up once and for all—Buffalo chicken refers to Buffalo, New York, not buffalo the animal. And as for the rest of the history of Buffalo chicken wings, it’s all pretty murky. Like so many other American classics, there are quite a few origin stories for Buffalo wings, and it’s almost impossible to know which one is true. They emerged in the late ‘50s or early ‘60s, and took a cut of chicken—the wing—that had previously been considered waste and made it into the most popular and expensive cut. Usually a little spicy, Buffalo wings are deep-fried without batter, then tossed in a sauce (classically based on Frank’s RedHot sauce and butter) and served with creamy blue cheese dressing and celery sticks for dipping and cooling off all that heat.

Messy, spicy, tangy, and communal, they’re the perfect bar food, and thanks to our Buffalo chicken bites recipe—you can serve a riff on them at home, sans mess.

Why and How to Make Boneless Wings:

Because our Buffalo bites are not deep-fried, some may dispute the claim that this counts as a boneless chicken wings recipe. However, we think they totally count! We’re working with all of the classic flavors of Buffalo wings, we just made the whole process—the cooking AND the eating—a little easier.

We prefer these Buffalo chicken breast bites over classic bone-in Buffalo wings for multiple reasons:

1. No skin! Classic Buffalo wings are all about the skin, but chicken skin means lots of saturated fat, and we love to lighten things up when we can.
2. No deep-frying. A quick sauté in olive oil isn’t just tidier, it’s also healthier and will still yield satisfyingly crispy chicken bites.
3. No bones. Obviously since we’re using chicken breast pieces, these Buffalo chicken bites are boneless! This makes them way easier to eat—your party guests will thank you.

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Bites:

Ultra-easy chicken breast appetizers are a thing of beauty—great for people trying to follow a low-carb diet (including keto, Whole30 and even Paleo), but delicious enough to make the whole crowd happy. Our Buffalo chicken bites recipe is simple and quick—no deep-frying mess, and no chicken wing bones to contend with. Buffalo chicken bites are as simple as:

1. Cook the cubed chicken breast pieces (aka boneless wings) in a little olive oil until it’s cooked through and a little crisp on the outside.
2. Make Buffalo sauce! Just add your Frank’s RedHot Sauce (accept no substitute!), butter and spices to the chicken and stir until the Buffalo bites are fully coated in that neon red, tangy hot sauce.
3. Serve! With plenty of homemade blue cheese dressing, please, plus celery for a little crunchy freshness.

Tools You’ll Need:

• A large skillet or two medium skillets.
• Tongs are helpful for turning the Buffalo chicken breast bites as they cook.
• A wooden spoon for coating the chicken bites with Buffalo sauce.

Other Easy Appetizer Recipes:

With appetizers this good, who needs dinner?

• Baked Coconut Shrimp
• Caramelized Onion Dip Recipe
• Homemade Chicken Taquitos
• Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

How Was It?

Snap a photo of your Buffalo chicken bites with blue cheese dip and maybe even a video ofthe beautiful people you feed it to. Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!