Buffalo Chicken Bites
Perfectly crispy on the outside, and moist and tender on the inside, these Buffalo Chicken Bites are the perfect appetizer to serve on game day! These bites are delicious on their own but married with a homemade creamy bleu cheese dressing, these buffalo chicken bites will become the star of any party!
Friends, I’m so excited to share this delicious Buffalo Chicken recipe! And perfect timing too, because football season has started!
Buffalo chicken is a classic game day food. If you aren’t making delicious appetizers (such as these buffalo chicken bites ?) for your football watching parties something needs to change!
Now, this recipe is a tad long, and the ingredient list is as well. But don’t let that scare you! They are really simple to make. If you want to to simply things, you can forgo making your own bleu cheese dip and just make the buffalo chicken and dip them in ranch or a store bought sauce of your choosing.
However, I LOVE the creamy bleu cheese dressing, so if I were you, I’d make it!
Let’s go over in finer detail how to achieve the perfect buffalo chicken bites! Let’s start with the bleu cheese dressing.
How to make Bleu Cheese Dressing
- Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of your food processor and mix until creamy and smooth. If you don’t have a food processor, use a blender.
- Refrigerate the dip until ready to serve.
I really like this dip because the flavor is present but not completely overpowering. The buffalo chicken + bleu cheese dressing is a perfect pairing.
Now that you’ve made the bleu cheese dressing, lets tackle the chicken.
How to make Buffalo Chicken Bites
- Begin by cutting the chicken into bite size pieces.
- Place the chicken in a large zip top bag. Add the buttermilk and salt to the bag.
- Place the buttermilk and chicken mixture in the refrigerator to marinate for 1-2 hours.
- Grab a small saucepan and make the hot sauce.
- Now make the flour mixture. Combine the flour, baking soda, cornstarch and 1/3 cup of the hot sauce (from the saucepan). Mix that until it resembles cornmeal. (Pictured above).
- Whisk the egg whites until they become frothy.
- At this point, you’ll have removed the chicken from the buttermilk mixture, and patted the chicken dry with a paper towel. Now that the chicken is ready, place a portion of the chicken in the egg white mixture (the egg whites act as a bonding agent for the cornstarch + flour mixture).
- Remove the chicken from the egg whites and immediately place in the flour + cornstarch mixture. Press the flour mixture onto each of the pieces of chicken. The photo below illustrates what they look like when you’ve finished coating them in the egg white mixture and then dredged them in the flour mixture.
- Heat oil to 350°F and place the chicken pieces in the hot oil. They will cook for approximately 4-5 minutes. Turn the chicken halfway through the cooking time. (When you’re frying foods in batches, you want to make sure the oil comes back to the appropriate temperature, in this case 350°F. The oil temperature drops when you place the food in it. I use my instant read thermometer to check the temperature of the oil).
- Transfer the fried chicken to a paper towel towel lined plate once they are done frying. (Pictured below you’ll see the chicken bites that have been fried. They don’t have the hot sauce on them yet).
- Once all of the chicken pieces have been fried, place the chicken in a large bowl and pour the remaining hot sauce over top. Toss to coat.
Why marinate chicken in buttermilk?
- Ultimately, the buttermilk tenderizes the chicken and adds some flavor.
- Yummy summarizes it well, “Because buttermilk is only slightly acidic, it is capable of tenderizing chicken without toughening up the meat like stronger marinating acids do (lemon and vinegar, among others). The enzymes present in buttermilk also help in breaking down the protein in the chicken, resulting in tender, flavorful fried chicken.”
- So if you plan on frying chicken, make sure you marinate the chicken in buttermilk beforehand! Marinate anywhere from 2-8 hours.
These Buffalo Chicken Bites are incredibly crispy, tender, and flavorful! It serves as the perfect finger food for game day!
Here are some more delicious game day food ideas:
Craving more? SUBSCRIBE TO SALT & BAKER to get new recipes delivered straight to your inbox! Simply enter your email in a subscription box located on the right hand side of the blog or scroll below the recipe and sign up there!
And stay in touch on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Buffalo Chicken Bites
INGREDIENTS
Bleu Cheese Dip
- 3 oz bleu cheese crumbled
- 2/3 cup mayo
- 6 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- pinch salt
- pinch garlic powder
Chicken
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks (about 2 large chicken breasts)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2/3 cup hot sauce (I used Franks)
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups cornstarch
- 3 teaspoons cornstarch
- 4 egg whites
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Bleu Cheese Dip
- Combine dressing ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Chicken
- Place the buttermilk, salt, and chicken in a large Ziploc bag. Refrigerate for1- 2 hours.
- In a small saucepan add the hot sauce, water, sugar, butter, and 3 teaspoons of cornstarch. Whisk over medium heat until thickened. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, 1 ½ cups of cornstarch, and 1/3 cup of the hot sauce mixture (from the saucepan). Mix until combined and it resembles cornmeal.
- Remove chicken from the buttermilk marinate and lightly pat dry with a paper towel.
- Toss a third of the chicken in the egg white mixture, making sure the chicken has been covered. Then transfer to the flour mixture and dredge the chicken until all of the pieces are coated (press to adhere the flour). Transfer the coated chicken to a plate. Repeat until all of the chicken has been dunked in the egg whites and dredged in the flour mixture.
- Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. The oil should register 350°F. (I use my instant read thermometer to check the temperature). Cook half the chicken at a time. Cook for 2 minutes, flip them over, and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Transfer fried chicken to a towel lined plate. Repeat frying for the second half of chicken. *Note, make sure the oil returns to the 350°F temp before adding the chicken to it!
- At this point, you’ll need to rewarm the hot sauce. Simply place it over low heat until it starts to simmer. Place the now fried chicken in a large bowl, pour the hot sauce overtop and toss the chicken until all of the pieces are coated in the sauce. Serve immediately with the homemade bleu cheese dressing.
RECIPE NOTES
Are there any substitutes for the buttermilk
You can use plain yogurt or milk. Just add 1/2 tsp of lemon juice to the milk (or yogurt).
Can you bake these and still attain the crispiness?
I suggest frying them. However, I haven’t baked these chicken bites before, so I can’t speak to how they’ll turn out…
These turned out really crispy (which we loved)!! The bleu cheese dressing was really good too. I suggest making it! We loved everything about these buffalo chicken bites.