Buffalo Chicken Bites

Dredged in a seasoned flour and fried until golden brown, Buffalo Chicken Bites are tossed with a quick and easy homemade buffalo sauce! Serve with your favourite ranch dipping sauce and veggies sticks. These are great as an appetizer for game day!

When it comes to finger foods and appetizers for game day or any other get-together, nothing beats Buffalo Chicken Bites! Then again, who could resist these Homemade Mozzarella Sticks, or these Baked Cauliflower Bites? And, when it comes to these types of chicken recipes, I have a lot for you to drool over. You can find them right here.

This is one of those recipes that I make just for myself. Whenever I find myself at home alone, especially at mealtime, I’ll make something just like this. My partner, John.e, is a vegetarian, so that’s one reason to prepare this dish when he’s away. Secondly, my daughter, McKenna, is very plain when it comes to food. If she’s going to eat chicken, she prefers to have chicken legs that are baked with just some salt and pepper. She’s not a huge fan of sauces.

I’m the complete opposite. I absolutely love sauces of all types. In fact, I’m like that old lady in the Franks Red Hot commercials – sauce on everything! Our fridge is never void of ketchup, barbecue sauces, spicy Asian sauces, and a few homemade sauces too, like this 10 Minute Teriyaki Sauce, or my Sweet and Sour Sauce.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE BONELESS CHICKEN BITES

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Chicken – You can use boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts. Since breast meat cooks much faster than thigh meat, cut the breast a little larger to avoid overcooking and drying out the meat. I prefer thigh meat, not only because I prefer dark meat in general, but because it just has more flavour.
• Flour – All-purpose flour will do the trick!
• Seasonings – You will need salt, ground black pepper, and onion powder.
• Hot Pepper Sauce – Use any hot pepper sauce you normally would, but I love to use Franks Hot Sauce.
• Butter – To avoid too much salt, use unsalted butter here.
• White Vinegar
• Worcestershire Sauce – This stuff is like a miracle worker when it comes to imparting flavour. Use it often to get really good results in most of your savoury dishes.
• Vegetable Oil – Optimum frying temperature for chicken is 350 degrees F. You can use vegetable lard or peanut oil as well.

WHICH CHOICE OF CHICKEN WORKS BEST?

For these Buffalo Chicken Bites, I would highly recommend boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I love working with chicken thighs. No matter what cooking method I throw at them, they always come out tender and moist. I’m also a fan of dark meat. I think it’s more flavourful. So, boneless, skinless chicken thighs are the way to go in my opinion.

You can certainly use breast meat for this recipe too. Because breast meat tends to cook faster than dark meat, you’ll want to ensure that the breast meat is cut into larger pieces. Breast meat can dry out rather quickly, especially if you’re planning to immerse it in hot oil. Using a larger piece of breast meat will ensure that it doesn’t become overdone and too dry. There’s nothing worse than dry breast meat!

Unlike chicken breast, you can cut the boneless, skinless chicken thighs into smaller pieces. They don’t have to be perfectly even. My rule of thumb is as follows: fry the thigh meat until golden brown. It’s really that simple.

HOW TO MAKE BUFFALO CHICKEN BITES

Measure the flour, onion powder, ground black pepper, and salt into a large resealable bag. Seal the bag and shake to combine. Add the chicken pieces to the bag of seasoning and shake well to coat each chicken piece. Set aside. Next, combine the hot pepper sauce, butter, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.

Add two inches of vegetable oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is fully heated to 350 degrees F, cook the chicken in batches until golden brown on both sides. This should take 4-5 minutes on each side. Once the chicken is cooked, transfer it to a paper-towel lined plate and set it aside.

Next, pour the sauce mixture into a large skillet over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a low boil and cook for 2 minutes. Add the cooked chicken bites and stir well to coat. Continue to cook, stirring the chicken pieces every minute or so until the sauce is reduced and thickened – approximately 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat. Plate and garnish. Serve immediately.

TIPS AND TRICKS

The most important thing you can do is make sure the oil is as close to 350 degrees F as you can possibly get it. If you have any doubts, I highly recommend you use a cooking thermometer. I have one like this. It clips to the side of the pot and you can adjust the heat accordingly to keep the temperature in check.

If the oil is too hot, the batter will darken much too quickly and might leave the chicken not properly cooked all the way through. If the oil is not hot enough, the chicken will sink to the bottom of the pot, some of the batter will soak off, and what’s left will be soggy and oily.

Don’t overcrowd the pot. Fry the chicken in batches. Adding too much chicken will cause the chicken to clump together, and it will also drop the temperature of the oil.

HOT PEPPER SAUCE

Often referred to as just hot sauce, there are literally thousands of varieties out there on the market. And, all of us who love hot and spicy food tend to have a favourite or go-to hot sauce we reach for every single time. I make my own hot sauce. One particular sauce I like to make is this Canned Cayenne Pepper Sauce. I grow lots of cayennes every summer, so I make a big batch of this and can it so that I have homemade hot sauce all throughout the winter.

Another option I like is my Dragon Fire Sauce. This one has some Korean influence, but don’t worry, the ingredients are super easy to find! In this particular case, I used Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. Frank’s hot sauce is thicker than most other hot sauces, so the end result will be a thicker sauce meaning it will stick to your chicken better. However, I always associate the flavour of buffalo wing sauce with Frank’s. I know you can buy prepared Frank’s Buffalo Sauce as well, so feel free to use it rather than making your own. I do enjoy Frank’s Buffalo Sauce, however, the homemade version is silkier and the flavour is more savoury. Either way will work!

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

If you’re much like me, you can be easily satisfied with just a plate of Buffalo Chicken Bites and a few napkins. However, if you are serving them as a meal, I would want to serve it with a few sides. Keep in mind that in the case of this chicken, it’s spicy. So, serve it with something light, refreshing, crisp, and plain.

Plain!? I can’t think of another word! What I mean is something with a subtle flavour. I would also consider serving it with a coleslaw. Anything spicy always pairs well with the cooling taste of a really good coleslaw! Everyone seems to like carrot and celery sticks with wings. Veggies will certainly help to cool the tongue if this chicken is too hot for you.

At the end of the day, you can serve it with whatever you want. I completely support serving whatever works for you – what about just a plate of well-seasoned fries? Yes! You cannot go wrong with a potato salad and I have about a dozen for you to choose from – click here to see them all!

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!