Buffalo Chicken Bites

Enjoy spicy wings but prefer not to hassle with prepping them — or worse, pay 50 cents each at a restaurant? Get all the flavor you love with less work and expense in these tasty Buffalo Chicken Bites.

Serve these tasty bites of chicken with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing. So good for dipping! Make a big batch so you can enjoy extras the next day on a Buffalo Chicken Salad. This is a great easy recipe to add to your monthly meal plan.

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Jump to:

• Why Make This
• Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• FAQs & Recipe Costs
• How to Use Leftovers
• Tell us what you think!
• Buffalo Chicken Bites

My kids love wings. Heck, I love wings. But it’s a bit of a production to make them at home and a fair amount of cost to enjoy them at Pizza Port (they do make the best ones!).

So, I’ve found a DIY solution that is sure to deliver in flavor, cost, and ease: Buffalo Chicken Bites.

Cut tender boneless, skinless chicken breast into generous “bites”, coat them in butter and seasonings, and bake in the oven. The resulting nuggets are packed with flavor with very little work.

Why Make This

It’s easy. You can easily prep a batch of these in about fifteen minutes. While they bake, you can prep the rest of the meal.

It’s meatier. Let’s face it, while wings are indeed delicious, there isn’t a whole lot of meat to them. Enjoy a full bite of tasty with these Buffalo Chicken Bites.

It’s less messy. Perhaps the mess is part of your attraction to wings, but if it’s not, the easy eating of these tasty morsels is a more than compelling reason to make them.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:

chicken – I like to use boneless skinless chicken breast because it’s the same price as other cuts of chicken, even the bone-in variety, at my local ALDI. You can use breast or thigh, whichever you prefer. Boneless will be easier and quicker to cut into bites.

hot sauce – Frank’s Red Hot Sauce is traditional for Buffalo chicken, but you can use other hot sauces. Just saying. Use more than my recommended tablespoon if you’d like things a bit spicier.

butter – I use dairy butter, but you can use dairy-free butter or margarine as well as olive oil if you prefer.

spices – Garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and cayenne pepper give just the right amount of flavor and heat. Feel free to use more cayenne if you want your chicken a bit spicier.

Blue cheese dressing and celery sticks – Blue cheese dressing and celery are traditionally served with wings, but you can choose a number of different sauces for dipping, such as Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing if you prefer.

Variation

Buffalo Chicken Tenders – if you prefer, you can use chicken tenders instead of cubed chicken in this recipe. Follow the same instructions, just adjust the baking time to make sure the tenders are cooked through.

Got leftovers? Consider using them in this buffalo-style chicken dip.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here’s how to make Buffalo Chicken Bites:

1. Place the chicken cubes in a medium bowl. Drizzle with the butter and hot sauce. Toss to coat.

2. Sprinkle the spices over the chicken, tossing to coat. Allow the flavors to blend for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Transfer the chicken to the lined baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with dip and celery.

Promptly store leftovers in a covered dish in the fridge and consume within 4 days.

Freezing instructions

Buffalo Chicken Bites can be frozen before or after cooking.

• To freeze before cooking: Place the chicken, cooled butter mixture, and spices in a labeled, ziptop freezer bag. Massage to distribute the seasoning around the chicken pieces and place in the freezer for up to 6 weeks. When ready to cook, thaw the package on a tray in the fridge and proceed with the recipe.
• To freeze after cooking: Cool the cooked chicken and place in a labeled, ziptop freezer bag. Chill thoroughly in the fridge and then transfer to the freezer. When ready to serve, thaw the chicken and serve cold or reheat in the microwave, stovetop, air fryer, or oven until hot.

FAQs & Recipe Costs

Recipe Costs

Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.

• chicken – $1.79
• butter – $0.20
• hot sauce – $0.13
• spices – $0.10

While your costs may vary depending on where and how you shop, you can expect to pay about $2.09 for a big batch of Buffalo Chicken Bites, about $0.52/serving.

How to Use Leftovers

Avoiding food waste is a great way to save money and time. Why prep more food when you’ve got good stuff that needs eating? Consider these recipes for repurposing any leftovers or make a double batch to make these recipes easier to make later in the week!