In case you're looking for healthy but delicious dinner inspiration, look no further than these fresh, beautiful Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps. You can have these in under 30 minutes, making them a really easy weekend meal with the family or a weeknight meal after a long day. I prefer to make buffalo chicken at home rather than buying them ready-made or getting them from a restaurant. The reason for this is when you buy buffalo chicken outside, it usually is fried and layered with lots of butter. The truth is, neither of these are really needed in order to make a beautiful and flavorful dish.
Secondly, making a buttermilk blue cheese dressing at home is also so rewarding - and again - much, much healthier.
I enjoy making buttermilk at home, rather than buying store bought, because I can make the exact quantity I need without worrying about having to throw away any unused buttermilk. Guess how easy buttermilk is? All you need is one cup of whole milk and 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. Leave it outside on a counter to sit for 15 minutes, and you'll see that the milk will start to curdle (as well as become room temperature)!
After your milk has transformed into buttermilk, add some full-fat Greek yogurt (trust me) and some strong blue cheese, salt, and a touch of pepper to make your decadent blue cheese dressing. It is that simple. Set it aside in the fridge to let the flavors marry and cool.
To me, boiling chicken is the easiest, most bullet-proof way of cooking chicken and getting a very juicy, tender result. I like to use chicken thighs and legs since they render a juicier cut, but you can just as easily use chicken breast for this process, as well. After a chicken has cooked through in boiling salted water, be sure to preserve the water and use it as a stock or base for a soup in a different recipe - you can even freeze it until you're ready to use it.
The chicken should be cooked well enough, and not too much, that you can pull it apart into shreds using just two forks. The final result will look just like the picture on the right - it may not seem super appealing, but don't be fooled - throwing this chicken into the buffalo sauce allows it to absorb all the flavors without losing any of its soft, moist texture!
Finally - the last, and very easy part - of making the sauce. Take a few tablespoons of butter and add it to Frank's Red Hot sauce and mix together until you have a lighter, creamier version of the original. I don't add much more to this, but you can always add garlic powder or more cayenne pepper if you're looking for a bigger zing. Throw the cooked chicken and make sure everything is evenly coated before layering it onto the lettuce wraps, garnishing, and eating!
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