Baked Buffalo Chicken Bites

You know what phrase I really, really despise? Man food. Ugh. Just typing makes me want to burn my bra and picket something. I hate the concept that a woman is more feminine if she orders a salad. Or a man is more manly if he orders a hamburger. Commercials like these make me want to leap up and throw my sports-watching, beer-drinking fist through the TV.

Why can’t a hamburger be feminine? Why can’t a salad be masculine? And honestly, why does it even matter? It’s just all silly, really.

So in an effort to break down some food-related gender stereotypes, let’s toss a little bit of “man food” (OH GOD, NOT AGAIN) onto Wholefully. As if my copious bacon use hasn’t been a big enough indicator that I have pretty decently sized hunk of tomboy in me, let’s throw some buffalo sauce on it.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Bites

These little balls of cheesy, spicy, chicken-y goodness just flat-out rock. If you know much about me, you know that I am not a huge fan of spicy foods. On the spice-o-meter my tolerance level falls somewhere between a newborn and a baby lamb.

Because baby lambs like it mild, dontcha know?

Thankfully, these bites are totally spice-level customizable. If you are like me, toss in a 1/4 cup of the baby lamb level buffalo sauce and call it a day. Have the tolerance of a fire-breathing dragon? Buy some suicide sauce and throw in 1/2 cup or more. And then keep those suckers far away from me.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Bites

Let’s talk about the blue cheese yogurt dip. Because really, the whole point of eating something spicy is to balance it out with something cool and refreshing. Enter blue cheese yogurt dip. This stuff is so good that I caught Babyface sticking his finger in the bowl more than once. Even if you don’t take the time to pull together the baked buffalo chicken bites, I highly recommend taking 5 minutes and making this dip. Eat it with celery. Eat it with crackers. Eat it with a spoon. Trust me, you will not be sorry.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Bites

We had these for dinner (served with a side of celery sticks and beer-soaked fries), but these would make an amazing appetizer. For a dinner-sized portion, I rolled them into 12 balls, but you could easily make a few dozen smaller, one-bite balls.

 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Bites with Blue Cheese Yogurt Dip

Baked Buffalo Chicken Bites with Blue Cheese Yogurt Dip

Yield: 12 dinner-sized bites or 30 appetizer-sized
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Packed full of spicy flavor, these Baked Buffalo Chicken Bites are a healthy way to celebrate game day. Donโ€™t forget the blue cheese yogurt dip! Itโ€™s life-changing. (Inspired by Pennies on a Platter and Bobby Flay)

Ingredients

For the Blue Cheese Yogurt Dip:

  • 1 cup 2% Greek yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons finely-chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
  • 1/4 cup finely-diced red onion
  • Salt and pepper

For the Buffalo Chicken Bites:

  • Cooking spray
  • 3 cups chopped cooked chicken (about two large chicken breasts)
  • 1/4-3/4 cup buffalo wing sauce, to taste
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 bunch green onions, white and pale green parts chopped
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Mix all the dip ingredients together well. Stash in the fridge while you prepare the chicken.
  2. Preheat oven to 350°. Place a baking rack in the middle of a baking sheet, spray with cooking spray and set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a food processor, combine chicken, wing sauce, cheese, green onions, and cream cheese. Pulse until well combined and no large chunks of chicken remain.
  4. Mix panko and a pinch of salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Form chicken mixture into 2-1/2″ balls (for dinner-sized) or 1-1/2″ balls (for appetizer-sized). Roll the chicken balls in the panko and place in a greased cookie sheet.
  5. Before cooking, spray the tops of the balls with cooking spray. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until tops of bites are brown and crunchy. Serve with celery sticks and the dip.

Notes

If the blue cheese yogurt dip is too thick to dip, just add a little water to thin it out.

Straight out of the oven, these tend to fall apart when dipped, wait 5-10 minutes before serving and they'll solidify nicely.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 appetizer servings Serving Size: 3 bites
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 263Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 965mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 18g

At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.

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40 Comments

  1. These look absolutely wonderful. I just made some Buffalo Chicken Meatballs, that were so good – I am gonna have to try these bites real soon.
    Your blog rocks! I am a new follower and look forward to more recipes/ ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. So I just had to tell you – I made these for dinner tonight – delicious! My husband was a little skeptical when I told him we’d be having “baked buffalo balls” (because I was an idiot and didn’t call them “bites”) but he really liked them – me too! I’m super glad I made enough to have leftovers later in the week.

    1. HAHA! I actually wrote that as the post title at first and then changed my mind. ๐Ÿ˜› I’m glad you liked ’em!

  3. Do you think this would also work using ground turkey? It seems like the cooking time/temp would be sufficient enough, at least for the smaller bites.

    1. Hmm, I’m not sure. I think the texture of the chopped up chicken is pretty important. If anything, I would pre-brown the turkey and then try mixing it with the other ingredients. Or use turkey meat from a roasted bird! ๐Ÿ™‚

      1. Thanks. Yeah, wasn’t sure about how the texture would work either. Just trying to think of something to use for the ground turkey I have in the freezer!

  4. Finally commenting because this is on our dinner menu this week ๐Ÿ™‚ I’m going to use Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo sauce. My roomie made some home-made garlic croutons which I plan to crush up instead of buying panko bread crumbs. I’ll let you know how it goes!

  5. I didn’t bring a lunch today, so if you wanted to Pony Express a batch of these this way, my quasi-vegetarian fannie will make a meat exception ๐Ÿ™‚ They look DELISH.

    I think there is “girl food” and “boy food.” I always think of steak as masculine…

    xoxo

  6. You’re making me say “omg” a lot recently. Before I cared/realized what’s in my food or where it came from I used to love to go out for spicy boneless buffalo wings. I NEVER EVER EVER understood girls who eat salads for dinner when they go out then sneak a few bites of “man food” from their boyfriend/husband. The guys hate that as well! Also, I recently made my own ranch dressing which was super easy. I’m going to post a recipe soon!

  7. My inner sociology nerd is coming out! We discussed these very concepts in my gender class in college. There is nothing inherently “man” about hamburgers or “woman” about salad. It’s all in the label we assign to it. If we start breaking the mold, slowly, slowly the labels will change. Nerdiness aside, this meal looks fabulous! I wonder if I can vegetarian-ize it? I might try it with some tempeh. I’m a sucker for all things buffalo sauce. Bring on the heat! ๐Ÿ˜‰

    1. That is so cool! Although I’ve often wondering if the labels is derived from actual nutrition needs. Men out doing manual labor, need more protein and fat (meaty stuff!) to recover. Obviously that is all out the window nowadays.

  8. WOW, these look incredible! I can’t wait to try them! My favorite buffalo sauce is Franks, but it is much spicier than a baby lamb could handle!

    And beer soaked fries? Details please!

    I make a really similar dressing to this with feta cheese instead of blue that is very good! Love using yogurt as the base.

  9. Oh, and regarding the “man food” thing (in case it wasn’t evident by my love for buffalo wings), I love that you wrote this. Sometimes when we go out to eat, Doug will order a salad or a chicken sandwich and I’ll order a burger or nachos or something, and the person who brings our food almost always puts the salad in front of me, and the burger in front of Doug!

  10. Where do you get buffalo wing sauce? I’ve never seen it, is it near the BBQ sauces?

    I’m totally making this! I love super spicy buffalo wings and Doug loves blue cheese, so I’m pretty sure this pairing was made for our marriage. ๐Ÿ™‚