Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

This recipe could not be easier. There are only 4 ingredients and you simply layer three of them in your slow cooker in the morning, go to work, come home, shred the meat, wait a little longer and then voila: your main course is ready! If the thought of turning on your oven in the summer has you placing a regular daily order at your local pizza joint, this may be the perfect solution. This recipe makes a lot of chicken, but it’s so versatile that you can use it to make tons of different meals. I photographed the chicken served on a roll as a sandwich but you could also use it to make quesadillas, top baked potatoes, add protein to mac & cheese, pile on a pizza, fill lettuce wraps (a low carb option!), etc. The possibilities are endless! *Update: I also mixed some of my leftovers with a little bit of light blue cheese dressing, microwaved it and ate it as a dip with baked tortilla chips and veggies. It was awesome!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may be looking at these ingredients in shock. I’m a Buffalo girl, and as I’ve said before, we do not serve Buffalo chicken with ranch dressing here. It is simply not done. Blue cheese or go home. My loyalty to this unwritten rule prevented me from making this recipe for months, but I kept seeing it all over Pinterest and I admit I was intrigued. Finally a few weeks ago I had dinner at my mom’s house and wouldn’t you know, she made this recipe. It was delicious. I immediately felt torn between my taste buds (which were jumping for joy) and all that I know to be true (Buffalo Chicken + Ranch = NO). I’ve decided to rationalize my enjoyment of this recipe by pointing out that dry ranch seasoning is really not the same as ranch dressing. Plus, the overall flavor of the dish does not taste like ranch dressing. The packet is basically just mix of seasonings that adds to the yummy profile of flavors in the dish but does not taint the chicken like ranch dressing would. Right? I did drizzle some blue cheese dressing over the top on my sandwich for good measure and it was perfect. Hopefully I don’t get run out of town for this…

Love all things Buffalo chicken? I’m here to help! Try my Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas, Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Bake, Buffalo Chicken Pizza, Buffalo Wing Hummus, Buffalo Chicken Wonton Cupcakes, Buffalo Cheese Bread, Buffalo Chicken Lasagna Roll-Ups, Buffalo Chicken Wraps and more!

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Yield: 12 (1/2 cup) servings Ingredients: 3 lbs raw boneless skinless chicken breasts (the original recipe used frozen breasts, but I used them unfrozen, so it appears you can do either)

12 oz bottle of Buffalo wing sauce (I used Frank’s Wing Sauce)

1 oz packet of dry Ranch mix (I used Hidden Valley)

2 tablespoons light butter Directions: Place the chicken breasts in your slow cooker . Pour the bottle of wing sauce over the top of the chicken. Sprinkle the packet of ranch mix over the top of the wing sauce. Place the lid on your slow cooker. Cook on low for 7-9 hours until meat shreds easily. Remove meat and shred it using two forks. Return shredded meat to the sauce and add the butter. Stir to combine. Continue to cook on low for another hour so the meat can soak up the sauce. Serve however you like! MyWW SmartPoints per (1/2 cup) serving: (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com) Green: 3 SmartPoints/ Blue: 1 SmartPoints/ Purple: 1 SmartPoints Weight Watchers Points Plus:

3 per serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com) Nutrition Information:

175 calories, 1 g carbs, 0 g sugars, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 28 g protein, 0 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com) Source: My Kitchen Apron

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