This Buffalo chicken lettuce wrap is made with marinated and breaded crispy chicken pieces, crunchy salad ingredients, creamy dressing, and crumbled blue cheese - all packed onto crisp lettuce leaves for a mouth-watering lunch or dinner option!
Lettuce wraps are a great way to lower your intake of carbs while still enjoying the same flavors and textures of a delicious wrap!
There are so many of you, different readers, here at the Yummy Bowl - some of you like to get straight to the recipe ingredients and instructions, and some of you love reading the full information with tips and tricks that I provide for the recipe.
There is a skip to recipe button in the top left corner along with a clickable table of contents list (just below) that will quickly take you to the part you are more interested in. Enjoy!
Jump to:
Ingredients
My few comments on the ingredients + don't forget to read the Tips section!
The full recipe and ingredients can be found in the recipe card below this post.
Breadcrumbs - You can use breadcrumbs from leftover bread (from home or a grocery store) or Panko breadcrumbs which usually provide additional texture and crispiness! Gluten-free breadcrumbs are also available for dietary requirements.
Chicken - I’ve used boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces of 1-2 inch thickness. You could also use chicken tenders or boneless skinless chicken thighs. Leftover shredded chicken from other meals or shredded rotisserie chicken mixed with buffalo sauce can also be used. Other lean meat like turkey is another option.
Lettuce - Choose a sturdy type of lettuce such as Butter lettuce, Iceburg lettuce, Boston lettuce, Bibb lettuce, or Romaine lettuce for the lettuce cups.
Salad ingredients - A combination of carrot, diced red onion, and celery stalks, have been combined for a crunchy addition to the wrap filling.
Marinade - Salt, pepper, minced garlic cloves, hot sauce, and melted butter are combined and used to marinate the chicken before breading and baking. You will want to have enough hot sauce leftover to coat the freshly baked chicken again is you enjoy an extra saucy and flavorful wrap. Frank’s or Valentia hot sauce is great for this recipe but any brand will do.
Salad dressing - Blue cheese dressing or a drizzle of ranch dressing is ideal for topping these easy buffalo chicken lettuce wraps. Use store-bought or homemade blue cheese dressing.
Blue cheese - Sprinkle some blue cheese crumbles over the top of the buffalo chicken mixture for extra creamy and tangy flavor.
Instructions
In a large bowl combine hot sauce, butter, salt, and black pepper. Add chicken and toss to coat.
(Or you can make a little extra sauce and keep it separately for later to drizzle over chicken once baked).
Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the fridge for 30 min.
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Dip each chicken piece into breadcrumbs. Arrange the chicken on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil keeping them apart from one another. Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes. Here you can toss the chicken in more hot sauce mixture (that’s what i did)
Meanwhile assemble the chicken wraps by combining carrots, red onion, tomatoes (optional) on top of lettuce.
Add chicken pieces, drizzle with ranch dressing or blue cheese sauce and serve.
Flavor and texture: chicken pieces are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Tossed in more hot sauce after baking adds more heat and the texture will change slightly.
Tips
- Feel free to use any sturdy kind of lettuce that will hold up under the weight of the filling. Mini Romaine lettuce is one of my favorites, but you could even use something like Butter lettuce, Boston Bib, or Iceberg lettuce - although it’s much larger and has a slightly bitter taste.
- Tossing the cooked chicken in additional hot sauce after it has baked is a great way to add extra flavor and more sauce to these lettuce wraps.
- Turkey breast is another option for this recipe and a suitable alternative to chicken breast.
- This recipe makes 7 buffalo chicken lettuce wraps. You could easily double this recipe if feeding a larger crowd.
- Make sure that you wash the lettuce well to eliminate any possible grit remaining, and pat very gently with a paper towel. You can prepare your lettuce leaves just before assembling the wraps so they are as fresh and crispy as possible.
- You can use leftover cooked chicken breast for this recipe, but then I recommend heating it for a few minutes only with the breadcrumb coating in the air fryer so that it doesn’t dry out too much.
- When cooking the chicken pieces raw, try to cut them into uniform sizes, so they cook evenly in the oven. Smaller pieces run the risk of cooking faster and drying out.
- If unsure whether the chicken is cooked properly, insert a food thermometer into the thickest section of a piece of chicken around the 20-25 minute mark. The thermometer should register 165F for the chicken to be safe to eat.
If you want to reduce the heat from the spicy chicken, use 3 tablespoons of melted butter instead of 2 in the marinade.
Freezing And Storing Instructions
These wraps are best enjoyed as soon as prepared due to it's breading. However, you can reheat these in an air fryer for 5 or fewer minutes. Stor in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.
You can freeze these too, but without the breading for u to 2 months.
FAQ
The best type of lettuce for lettuce wraps is the sturdy variety that has deep enough leaves to comfortably hold a good amount of filling without wilting from warm ingredients.
Rather skip any lettuce varieties that are floppy, thin, or wilt easily.
I’ve used boneless chicken breasts for these wraps that I’ve chopped into bite-size pieces to coat them in breadcrumbs which provides a delicious crunch to the filling.
You could also chop up boneless skinless chicken thighs for this recipe or even use leftover shredded buffalo chicken and skip the breadcrumb coating step in this recipe.
You’ll find a combination of buffalo chicken (crispy chicken pieces seasoned and coated in hot sauce), crunchy salad ingredients such as carrots, red onion, and celery, crumbled blue cheese, and blue cheese or ranch salad dressing. You can also add other favorite toppings such as creamy avocado, chopped green onions, lime juice, or other garnishes to the top of the lettuce.
Lettuce can be bought pre-washed for added convenience but if you are using a head of lettuce to make your wraps, first cut off the hard bottom stem of the lettuce head and then gently peel away appropriate-sized lettuce leaves.
Rinse the lettuce leaves under cold running water and transfer to a paper towel to gently pat dry.
More Breaded Chicken Recipes
ALL CHICKEN recipes.
Easy Wrap & Sandwich Recipes
I hope you'll enjoy this recipe, please leave a rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo of your food and tag me on Instagram @theyummy_bowl. I love seeing your creations!
Thank you for reading,
Love,
Julia
Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup gluten free breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs more texture and crispiness
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces 1-2 inches thick
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 2 garlic cloves minced (1 tablespoon)
- ⅓ cup hot sauce such as Frank's or Valentina
- 2-3 tablespoon butter melted (use 3 for not so spicy)
- 1 large head Butter lettuce boston bib or romaine lettuce
- 1 large carrot cut into matchsticks
- 1 large red onion finely diced
- Blue cheese or ranch dressing for serving
- Blue cheese crumbles for serving optional
- Celery stalks for serving
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes optional
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a large bowl combine hot sauce, butter, salt and black pepper. Add chicken and toss to coat. (Or you can make a little extra sauce and keeping it separately for later to drizzle over chicken once baked).
- Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the fridge for 30 min.
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Dip each chicken piece into breadcrumbs. Arrange the chicken on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil keeping them apart from one another. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple minutes. Here you can toss the chicken in more hot sauce mixture (that’s what i did)
- Meanwhile assemble the chicken wraps by combining carrots, red onion, tomatoes on top of lettuce. Add chicken pieces, drizzle with ranch dressing or blue cheese sauce and serve.
- Flavor and texture: chicken pieces are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Tossed in more hot sauce after baking adds more heat and the texture will change slightly.
Leave a Reply