Buffalo Chicken Bean Salad is tangy, savory, and packed with bold buffalo flavor! Cajun seasoned chicken is tossed with white beans, chickpeas, corn, crisp veggies, pickled jalapeños, and a buffalo dressing that’s both sweet and spicy.
Buffalo Chicken Bean Salad
If you love buffalo chicken dip, this buffalo chicken bean salad is going to be your new favorite lunch (or light dinner)! Tender, juicy chicken tenderloins are boldly seasoned and cooked to golden perfection. Then, they’re tossed with white beans, chickpeas, veggies, and salty pickled jalapenos. It’s all tossed with the best homemade sweet and spicy buffalo dressing that’ll seriously make your mouth water. Top it all off with some ranch dressing to help tame the tang, and you’ve got a pretty unbeatable salad!
Enjoy more filling salad recipes like Asian chicken salad, white bean salad, and Italian chopped salad.
How do I serve it?
You have a ton of options when it comes to serving. Usually, I just serve it in a bowl and enjoy it with a fork! You can also turn it into a party dip with some tortilla chips for dipping. Or, toss it on a tortilla or pita bread to bulk it up even more. For a lighter option, spoon it onto large lettuce leaves and serve as lettuce wraps.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Bean Salad
- Cook the chicken. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken with Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper until cooked through. Remove and set aside to cool completely.
- Make the buffalo dressing. Shake the buffalo sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, honey, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a jar until combined or whisk in a small bowl.
- Toss it all together. Toss the beans, chickpeas, corn, red onion, cucumber, bell pepper, and pickled jalapenos with the chicken.
- Add the dressing. Pour the dressing over top, then toss everything together.
- Enjoy! Taste and adjust seasoning if needed, then drizzle with ranch dressing just before serving, garnished with sliced green onions.
Storing
You can store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. This is an excellent meal prep recipe! Just note that the veggies won’t be quite as crisp after sitting with the dressing for a while, but it’ll still be tasty.
Ingredient Notes
For the chicken:
- Olive Oil – This is just used to cook the chicken.
- Chicken Tenderloins – For a quicker version, swap the cooked chicken for shredded rotisserie chicken. Toss it with the seasonings before adding it to the salad.
- Cajun Seasoning – I like to use a blend that has no spice to keep the sodium down.
- Other Seasonings – Garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper. If your Cajun seasoning has salt, you may want to omit the other salt!
For the salad:
- Buffalo Sauce – This is the most prominent flavor, so be sure to use a bottle that you already know you like the flavor of!
- Olive Oil – Avocado oil also works just fine.
- Lemon Juice – It’s really important to use fresh lemon juice for the very best flavor.
- Honey – Just a little is all you need to help cut through the tangy, spicy buffalo.
- Seasonings – Garlic powder, salt, and pepper compliment the bold flavors without overpowering them.
- White Beans and Chickpeas – Make sure they’re both well drained and rinsed before using. If they have liquid, they’ll make your salad pretty soggy/soupy.
- Corn – It can be fresh, frozen, or canned.
- Red Onion – If you want to tame the red onions, simply soak the chopped onion in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain and pat dry.
- Cucumber – I like to use English cucumbers. They’re crisp with basically no seeds.
- Bell Pepper – Any color you like works just fine!
- Pickled Jalapenos – Add more or less of these to control how spicy the salad is.
- Ranch Dressing – Add the ranch right before serving. If you add it too soon, it could water down the dressing instead of sitting nicely on top!
Enjoy!
~Nichole
Buffalo Chicken Bean Salad
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Pound Chicken tenderloins cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tsp No-salt Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Onion powder
- 1/2 tsp Smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
For the salad:
- 1/3 Cup Buffalo sauce
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 2 Tbsp Fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp Honey
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 1 15oz Can White beans drained and rinsed
- 1 15oz Can Chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 Cup Corn
- 1/2 Red onion chopped
- 1 Cucumber chopped
- 1 Bell pepper chopped
- 1/4 Cup Pickled jalapenos diced
- 1/3 Cup Ranch dressing for drizzling
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the chicken with Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper until cooked through and lightly browned.
- Remove and set aside to cool completely in a large bowl.
- Shake the buffalo sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, honey, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a jar until combined or whisk in a small bowl.
- Toss the beans, chickpeas, corn, red onion, cucumber, bell pepper, and pickled jalapenos with the cooled chicken.
- Pour the dressing over top, then toss everything together until well coated.
- Taste and adjust seasoning if needed, then drizzle with ranch dressing just before serving, garnished with sliced green onions if desired.
- Serve on pita bread with extra ranch or as a dip with tortilla chips if desired.
Notes
This buffalo chicken bean salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
