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Buffalo Chicken Tacos are a fun new spin on taco night and ready in about 30 minutes! Crispy taco shells are filled with shredded buffalo chicken and topped with crunchy shredded lettuce, cheddar cheese, and a homemade blue cheese dressing.
These crispy Buffalo Chicken Tacos are perfect for a weeknight dinner or game-day party.
Need more ideas for taco night? Try my BBQ Chicken Tacos or Air Fryer Tacos next!
Table of Contents
Why We Love This Buffalo Chicken Tacos Recipe
- Buffalo flavor – Buffalo sauce isn’t just for wings! It’s crazy good on tacos, Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese and Buffalo Chicken Pizza.
- A unique spin on taco night – We love taco night, and regular ground beef tacos are delicious, but sometimes it’s fun to mix it up.
- Make ahead – You can prepare the sauces and cook the chicken and taco shells in advance so everything is ready to go when it’s time to eat!
- Homemade sauces – You can certainly buy bottled buffalo sauce and bottled blue cheese dressing, but they are super easy to make and I promise they taste so much better!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Butter – Adding melted butter is what helps make the hot sauce flavor more mild. Feel free to adjust the amount to your liking.
- Minced Garlic – Freshly minced garlic is best, but you can also use the kind in a jar.
- Hot Sauce – You can use any regular hot sauce to make buffalo sauce.
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Cooked and Shredded Chicken – Perfect use for leftover chicken, a rotisserie chicken, crockpot shredded chicken, or Instant Pot shredded chicken.
- Blue Cheese Sauce or Dressing – You can buy this at the store, but it is so easy and even better made from scratch! To make this recipe, you will need mayo, buttermilk, fresh chives, minced garlic, and blue cheese crumbles.
- Crispy Taco Shells – You can buy these at the store or make your own using flour tortilla shells using my recipe below!
- For Topping – Shredded lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese, blue cheese, ranch dressing, chopped cilantro, and extra buffalo sauce for dipping.
How To Make Buffalo Chicken Tacos
See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Homemade Taco Shells (Optional) – Fold taco-size flour tortillas in half and use toothpicks to hold them in a taco shell shape. Heat some oil in a pot heavy then fry the tortillas on both sides until they are crisp and slightly puffy. Remove to a paper towel-lined sheet pan and set aside.
Blue Cheese Sauce – Mix together the blue cheese sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
Make Buffalo Sauce – Melt butter in a skillet or saucepan and saute the garlic for about 30 seconds. Whisk in the hot sauce, cider vinegar, and Worcestershire then bring to a boil and remove from heat.
Add Chicken – Toss the sliced or shredded chicken in the buffalo sauce and set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Assemble Tacos – Place a little of the buffalo chicken into each taco shell. Top with shredded cheese, and lettuce and drizzle with blue cheese sauce and top with chopped cilantro. Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
These tacos are great topped with avocado, finely shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, or thinly sliced celery.
For side dishes, Mexican Rice is always a good idea with tacos. Or lean into the buffalo sauce flavor and serve alongside carrot sticks and celery with extra blue cheese sauce or Ranch dressing.
Storage
Store leftovers separately in airtight containers in the fridge. Chicken can be saved for up to 4 days and blue cheese sauce can be stored for up to 6 days. If you are making the homemade fried flour taco shells, these are best the day of, as they tend to get soft when stored.
Expert Tips
- Store-bought Buffalo Sauce – To make for an even easier assembly you can purchase your favorite hot wing sauce and use that to toss with your chicken.
- Use Leftover Chicken – This is a great place to use up leftover rotisserie or roasted chicken. If you don’t have any leftover chicken you could cook and shred 2-3 chicken breasts for this recipe.
- Taco shells – if you’re uncomfortable with the frying part, you can simply heat tortillas and enjoy these as soft tacos, or purchase prepared crispy taco shells.
- Taco Holders – Taco night can get messy with tacos laying flat and spilling out all the toppings. Try these taco holders – they keep your tacos standing upright and are double-sided to hold 2 tacos or 3! Or really make it fun with these adorable cactus taco holders!
More Buffalo Chicken Recipes
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta
- Buffalo Chicken Salad
- Cheesy Baked Buffalo Chicken
- Buffalo Chicken Sandwich
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
For the buffalo sauce
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- ½ cup hot sauce
- ½ tablespoon cider vinegar
- Dash Worcestershire sauce
- 3 cups cooked and shredded chicken heated
For the blue cheese sauce
- ½ cup mayo
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons fresh chives chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
For serving
- ½ head iceberg lettuce shredded
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Hot sauce or wing sauce
- Chopped Cilantro
- 12 Crispy taco shells or homemade crispy flour shells (see recipe below)
Instructions
Blue Cheese Sauce (Optional)
- In a small bowl whisk together mayo, buttermilk, chives, garlic and blue cheese. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired. Set aside until ready to serve, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.
Crispy Taco Shells (Optional)
- Fold taco size flour tortillas in half and use 3 toothpicks to hold them in a taco shell shape (see image).
- Line a baking sheet with a few layers of paper towels and set aside.
- Place a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat and add 2-inches of oil. Heat oil to 350℉ (oil will sizzle with a few drops of water).
- Using metal tongs, fry the tortillas in the oil for about 15-30 seconds per side, until crisp and slightly puffy. Transfer to the paper towel-lined sheet pan. *Note – it doesn't take long so watch closely. Cook time will vary depending on the temperature of the oil and thickness of the tortillas.
Buffalo Chicken
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Whisk in the hot sauce, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Toss the shredded chicken with the sauce. Cover to keep warm and set aside.
Taco Assembly
- Assemble the tacos by placing approximately ¼ cup of chicken in each taco shell or soft tortilla. Add your favorite toppings, like shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, etc. Drizzle with blue cheese sauce (optional, instructions below).
