This Crispy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich is a spicy and tangy twist on my OG “Fried” Chicken Sandwich. A healthy and delicious alternative to the fast food version!
Over the past few months, my recipe for “Fried” Chicken Sandwiches has become one of the most popular on my blog. I’m ecstatic that you all are loving this one as much as we do.
I’ve received a lot of requests for different versions of the original. It serves as a nice base recipe for tons of different flavor profiles. I have a lot of ideas in the works, and this one here is the first I’m sharing!
If you thought it couldn’t get better than a crispy, juicy chicken breast sandwiched between a fluffy bun–all while staying on track–allow me to blow your mind! I added hints of buffalo sauce throughout and then topped it off with a creamy slaw using my Light Ranch Dressing. Divine!
The good news is that if you’ve made my original recipe, this will be super easy for you. We’re just subbing in some Frank’s Wing Sauce for the almond milk to give it a tangy kick.
Make sure you buy the Frank’s actual Wing Sauce in the orange bottle. DON’T get the hot sauce in the red bottle–it’ll be too hot.
Definitely head over to my Instagram page (@litecravings) for a live tutorial of the breading and cooking process for the chicken. You can find it in my food, but I’ll also share it again in my stories today. I know breading recipes can be a bit tricky, so hopefully seeing me do it will help you out.
For a great topper, buy some coleslaw mix and add in a few tablespoons of Light Ranch Dressing. You could even add in some blue cheese to to the slaw if you like. Such a great combo.
How to Make A Crispy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich
Pound the chicken breasts out to even thickness. Pat chicken VERY dry with paper towels. I cannot emphasize this enough. If you’re running out of breading it’s mostly likely that you chicken isn’t dry enough. Set aside on a cutting board.
Create your breading station. In one bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch, and seasonings. In another bowl, whisk together egg and 2 tbsp wing sauce.
Whisk 1 tbsp of the seasoned flour into the egg/wing sauce mixture.
Coat chicken in seasoned flour mixture, then dust off until you only have a thin coating of flour on chicken. Set chicken aside.
Add1 1/2 tbsp almond milk to the seasoned flour blend. Mix the milk through the flour with a fork or your fingers until you see some small clumps of flour in the mixture.
Dip flour-coated chicken into egg mixture and let all excess drain off. Place chicken into seasoned flour mixture and press the flour into chicken. Gently shake off excess and set on cutting board. Let set for about 5 minutes. Then spray both sides of the chicken with cooking spray–enough to lightly coat the breading.
See all cooking methods in the recipe card
I’d love to hear from you if you make this recipe! It makes my day when you share your pics on Instagram and tag me (@litecravings). Don’t forget to use #litecravingsrecipes to make sure I see it. If I don’t get a chance to scroll through my tags quickly enough, I won’t see your post. I always make a point to look through the hashtags, though, so I’ll see it there!
Crispy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 2 tbsp Frank's Wing Sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp almond milk, divided (or skim milk)
- 1 large egg
- oil cooking spray
- 1/3 cup Frank's Wing Sauce
RANCH SLAW
- 1 cup coleslaw mix
- 2-3 tbsp Light Ranch Dressing
ADD-ONS (extra points/cals)
- 4 hamburger buns
- extra Light Ranch Dressing
- blue cheese crumbles
Instructions
- Pound the chicken breasts out to even thickness. Pat chicken very dry with paper towels. If you're running out of breading it's mostly likely that your chicken isn't dry enough. Set chicken aside on a cutting board.
- Create your breading station. In one bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch, and seasonings. In another bowl, whisk together egg and 2 tbsp Frank's Wing Sauce.
- Whisk 1 tbsp of the seasoned flour into the egg/wing sauce mixture.
- Coat chicken in seasoned flour mixture. Shake off all of the excess flour. Set chicken aside.
- Add 1 1/2 tbsp of milk to the seasoned flour blend. Mix the milk through the flour with a fork or your fingers until you see some small clumps of flour in the mixture.
- Dip flour-coated chicken into egg mixture and let excess drain off almost completely.
- Place chicken into seasoned flour mixture and press the flour into chicken. Gently shake off excess and set on cutting board. Let set for about 5 minutes. Then spray both sides of the chicken with cooking spray–enough to lightly coat the breading.
- See below for cooking methods. After the chicken patties are cooked, brush on remaining wing sauce. Serve immediately. If you want to to eat the chicken later, wait until you're ready to eat them to glaze with wing sauce. This will keep the coating crunchy.
- FOR ALL METHODS, make sure you let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes before eating. This will set the juices of the chicken and the breading.
FOR THE AIR FRYER (recommended method)
- Cook at 400F for 14-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken.
FOR THE OVEN
- Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400F for 15 minutes. Gently flip chicken, then bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
FOR THE SKILLET
- Add 2 tsp oil to a large skillet on medium heat. Swirl to coat the pan with the oil, then add chicken. Cook for 7-10 minutes, flip and cook for a remaining 7-10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Check the crust often to make sure it doesn't burn.
ASSEMBLE SLAW
- Mix together coleslaw and ranch dressing. Top each sandwich with about 3 tbsp of slaw.
Question! When you say to mix some of the seasoning into the egg/almond mixture, do you really mean in the egg/buffalo sauce mixture? Because it never says to put the milk in with the eggs. Thanks for any clarification!
Oops! I do. You use the hot sauce instead of the almond milk. I’ll update that now. Thank you for spotting that!
Step #5 says to “Add 1 1/2 tbsp of milk to the seasoned flour blend”. Should this read to add to the egg/buffalo sauce? ? I added the milk to the seasoned flour mix and it turned it into dough…. Had to remake the seasoned flour mix.
Hi Sean. You add the milk to the flour and then rake the fork through to form little clumps (that’s the key to those crispy craggy bits in a good fried chicken). I’m linking an IG video I made awhile back that shows the process with some tips. If you skip to 16:30 it’ll show how I add the milk to the flour. Hope it helps!
“Fried” Chicken Live
I am obsessed with these! I made them last week and I already added the ingredients to my grocery list again. These are TO DIE FOR!
Awww I’m so happy you loved these!!
We haven’t quite mastered the breading on this, but even when you get it “wrong” it still tastes so good!
Just to confirm: In the instructions, #3 should say “Whisk 1 tbsp of the seasoned flour into the egg/HOT SAUCE mixture”, correct?
We were lazy and used Bolthouse Farms cucumber ranch dressing for our slaw. Worked great!
Breading can be tricky! Glad you’re liking the flavor, though. And yes, I need to edit that typo. Thank you! And thank you for the review. 🙂
Hello from Canada! This recipe is delicious and we have made it on several occasions! Thank you for all your amazing recipes!
Thanks so much, Laura!
Geri, thank you for this delicious recipe! This was my first time making this recipe, and the juicy, crispy chicken sandwich with spicy Tabasco sauce was a sensation in my mouth. I think I’m addicted to this delicious sandwich meal. Thank you very much for sharing.Geri, thank you for this delicious recipe! This was my first time making this recipe, and the juicy, crispy chicken sandwich with spicy Tabasco sauce was a sensation in my mouth. I think I’m addicted to this delicious sandwich meal. Thank you very much for sharing.
Geri,
My husband and I just finished the most delicious crispy buffalo chicken sandwiches. Your recipe has the just the right blend of spices and the exact amount of heat. We’ll surely be eating this sandwich often.
Thanks so much for your great recipes.
Thank you, Jane! It’s one of my absolute favorites, too. Comments like these truly make what I do worth it 😀
In the ingredients list it calls for 1/3 cup of Franks, but reading the actual recipe I only see where you mix 2tbsp of that into the egg mixture. Where does the rest of the hot sauce go?
Hi Josh, if you read step 8 it says to brush the chicken with the rest of the sauce 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
My adult children, who are chicken sandwich connoisseurs, said this is the best chicken sandwich I’ve ever made. Thanks for the amazing recipe!!!
I will take that as quite the compliment coming from a family of Chicken Sandwich connoisseurs 😉 Thanks for sharing the love!
The flavor was really good, but the breading didn’t really work well for me. The flour mix was too clumpy and so when the chicken cooked in the air fryer, it was just hard/burnt clumps cooked on the chicken.
I’m sorry to hear that, Alex. Did you drizzle the liquid in and create small clumps with the fork? Like craggly-bit sized? If you pour all the liquid in one spot it’ll form a giant wet clump instead. Maybe I need to add a video to the recipe to show the technique?