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This Cheesy Baked Buffalo Chicken recipe is tender and juicy, with a big kick of heat cooled by creamy, melted cheeses. It’s all the flavor of wings without the mess!
Try These Buffalo Chicken Recipes Next: Buffalo Chicken Nachos, Buffalo Chicken Dip, and Buffalo Chicken Sandwich!
Why We Love It
Buffalo Chicken Wings are delicious and fun, but they are messy! Get all that buffalo wing flavor into a healthy meal that your family will want to eat with this baked buffalo chicken recipe.
Chicken breasts are topped with buffalo wing sauce, mozzarella and blue cheeses and baked to tender, juicy perfection. All the flavor of your favorite wings without the mess. You can serve them as a meal, or slice them up and make buffalo chicken wraps or lettuce wraps.
With only three simple ingredients, these Buffalo Chicken breasts are delicious and full of flavor. It pairs well with simple sides like Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes and Oven Roasted Broccoli.
Ingredients
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts – 4 breasts usually fit well in a 9×13-inch baking dish. You want them to be as even in size as possible, so you may need to lightly pound them or cut thicker pieces in half.
- Salt, Pepper, and Garlic Powder
- Buffalo Wing Sauce – I like Frank’s Red Hot brand Buffalo Wing Sauce; the buffalo sauce is already prepared and is different than a regular cayenne pepper sauce. Or, you can make your own sauce using hot sauce and melted butter in a pan on the stovetop. A 1:1 ratio works well but you can adjust the heat lever however you like.
- Mozzarella Cheese – freshly grated off the block.
- Optional Ingredients for Garnish and Serving – Blue cheese crumbles, sliced green onions, and ranch dressing.
Step by Step Instructions
- Prep – Preheat the oven to 400℉. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Chicken – If needed, pound the chicken breasts lightly so they are all even in size, then arrange them in the dish and season with salt and pepper.
- Smother – Pour the wing sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. If you like blue cheese, add some of that too.
- Bake – Slide into the over and bake for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked to 165℉.
- Garnish and Serve – Sprinkle blue cheese crumbles and sliced green onions for garnish and serve with Ranch of Blue cheese for dipping.
FAQs
Buffalo sauce was first served at a small family bar and restaurant in Buffalo, New York. It’s known as the home of the original chicken wing, and is still open today.
My favorite, and the only one I use, is Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce. It’s got an amazing flavor and is the right amount of heat.
Serving Suggestions
This chicken dinner goes well with starchy sides like Fluffy Mashed Potatoes, Baked Potatoes, or Easy Baked Potato Wedges. It’s also delicious with a simple side of pasta or Buttered Noodles.
I like adding some veggies – Frozen Vegetables (so easy and with one simple trick they taste so good) or some roasted asparagus. A nice Wedge Salad with Ranch or Blue cheese dressing is a great pairing as well.
Or, go traditional buffalo wings style and serve with carrot and celery sticks.
Expert Tips
- Spray the dish with nonstick cooking spray before adding the chicken for easy cleanup.
- I don’t find it necessary to season the chicken since buffalo sauce and the cheese have big, bold flavor. But you could season with a little salt, pepper and garlic powder if you like.
- I prefer to use chicken breasts, but chicken thighs would work just as well. Keep in mind that thighs have a higher fat content and since buffalo sauce is buttery, using thighs could make the final dish a little too greasy.
- Feel free to switch up with your favorite cheeses. If I’m out of Mozzarella, I’ll use cheddar cheese or white cheddar instead.
- Want to turn this into a veggie dish? Try swapping out the chicken for some buffalo cauliflower. Just make sure to blanch the cauliflower first.
More Buffalo Chicken Recipes
Buffalo Baked Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4 medium sized breasts)
- 1/2 cup buffalo hot sauce
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 cup freshly shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup Blue cheese crumbles optional
- Sliced green onions for garnish (optional)
- Ranch dressing for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place chicken breasts in a large ziploc bag or between two pieces of plastic wrap and lightly pound until they are of even thickness.
- Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cookie spray. Place chicken breasts in the dish side by side.
- Pour buffalo sauce on top of the chicken (use more or less to your taste).
- Top evenly with shredded Mozzarella cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and registers 165 degrees on a meat thermometer. (Depending on the thickness of the meat, this could take a few minutes longer).
- Let stand for 5 minutes, then serve garnished with blue cheese crumbles and sliced green onions.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
I added 2 tablespoons of ranch seasoning and a tablespoon of butter. it was divine!
That’s awesome Rachel! Thanks for stopping by.
Can you shred the chicken and make it into a dip?
You can – but you can also just make my Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe!
Love your recipes!! My go to site for sure 🙂
Thank you Alan! Love the comment.