I love buffalo wings. But as an entrée for a large group of people – no way! So, when I was deciding what to a fix for a recent picnic get-together at our home, I decided to forgo the usual way to serve buffalo chicken, thus saving everyone the mess, stains on my cloth napkins, and everyone multiple trips to our bathrooms to wash their hands. So, with ease of preparation, serving, and eating I came up with this recipe.

Now don’t get me wrong. I still make buffalo wings when I am hungry for the real thing. But even then, I don’t deep fat fry them the way they do in restaurants. I bake them and then introduce them to the sauce. (See my recipe under the clever title Buffalo Wings on this site.) I also bake the heck out of the wings to the point of being almost over done. Because I hate wings that are technically cooked but are still stringy, chewy, and basically hard to eat. And, if truth be told, I usually use chicken drumettes or if I use the whole wing, I remove the tips. And I must say, my baked chicken wings are fantastic! Give that recipe a try too.

I also have another recipe that might interest you – Buffalo Chicken Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing. (Really the precursor to this recipe.) (And since I failed to take a picture of the chicken bites for this post, you can get a bit of an idea how they look by viewing that recipe.)

And while I’m still on the subject of chicken wing recipes, for a change of pace, you might want to try my Sweet & Sour Chicken Wings. These wings are by far the best Chinese style chicken wings you will ever eat. I promise you! And they are easy to prepare. But back to this recipe. (I mean really, that’s the reason you are visiting this site to begin with!) (And I do apologize for blathering. I just get so carried away when I’m talking about food! And so excited to share recipes with you!) Anyway…..   

This way of serving buffalo chicken is easy to prepare, easy to serve, and just plain easy to eat. And delicious. Not too spicy, but with enough flavor to keep almost everyone happy. So, I hope you will give this dish a try next time you get a buffalo craving.

Well, it’s sunny again today in the north sound region of the great state of Washington. There are a few clouds over the Cascade Mountain range, so all the snowcapped peaks that we can usually see appear to be in hiding. But they’ll come back. They always do. And bless them for that.

And bless you for being interested in cooking for yourself and your family and friends. Too many people these days rely on restaurant food or prepared food that they can purchase at a grocery store. They simply don’t know what they are missing. Because nothing beats good home cooked food.  

And on that happy thought, as always, peace and love to all.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (about 1 lb.) cut into bite sized pieces

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

granulated garlic

1 T. unsalted butter, melted

1 T. Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (no substitution allowed), or more to taste

½ tsp. fresh lemon juice

Place chicken pieces on a lightly greased rimmed baking pan. Sprinkle with a bit of salt, pepper, and granulated garlic.

Bake in a pre-heated 425-degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the pieces are fully cooked. (Don’t overbake.) Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium sized bowl; add hot sauce and lemon juice.

When the chicken has finished baking, remove from pan with a slotted spoon and add to the bowl with hot sauce mixture and stir until well coated. (You don’t want to add the liquid that’s left in the pan to the hot sauce mixture. But you do want to save the juices for the next time you make chicken soup!) Serve the bites warm with Blue Cheese Dip. (Recipe below.)

(If you prepare the chicken ahead of time, remove from oven, add to sauce, cool, and refrigerate. When ready to serve, warm in microwave.)

BLUE CHEESE DIP

1 c. blue cheese crumbles 

½ c.  sour cream

¼ c. mayonnaise

1 T. buttermilk 

1 T. freshly lemon juice

¼ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, preferably a couple hours before you want to serve the dip. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

If you like a smoother dip, you can place half of the mixture in a food processor, and whirl it till smooth.