Buffalo chicken rice bowls
All the tangy heat of buffalo wings, with cool celery, crunchy carrots and blue cheese, in a bowl that actually counts as dinner.
- 30 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.12 a serving
- 510 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ lb chicken breasts
- 2 stalks celery
- 2 green onions
- 2 carrots, peeled
- 2 cups romaine lettuce
- 2 tbsp butter
- ⅓ cup hot sauce, a vinegary cayenne-style one
- 2 packages microwave rice pouches, 8.8 oz pouches
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles (optional)
From your pantry
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 510 calories, 43 g protein, 47 g carbs and 16 g fat, and costs about $3.12 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No romaine lettuce? Green leaf lettuce or iceberg lettuce or butter lettuce works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No hot sauce? Sriracha works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Cut the chicken into 1-inch : each breast into strips, then cut across the strips, keeping your fingertips curled under.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Dolly’s tip: If the chicken is slippery, 15 minutes in the freezer firms it up and makes it much easier to cut.Wash the board and knife with hot soapy water, then the celery and green onions.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
Dolly’s tip: Raw chicken juice on the board would end up on vegetables you eat raw, so this wash matters.Cut the carrots into short sticks: them crosswise, then each piece into quarters.
Halve. Halving means cutting something into two equal pieces. Even halves cook at the same speed, so one doesn’t dry out while the other finishes.
How you’ll know: The two pieces look like mirror images of each other.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Lengthwise. Lengthwise means cutting along the long side, from stem to tip, which gives long pieces. Crosswise is the other way, straight across the middle, which gives short, round ones.
How you’ll know: Lengthwise halves of a zucchini look like two little canoes; crosswise pieces look like coins.
the romaine into bite-size pieces.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
the chicken with the salt and garlic powder.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Heat the oil in a large over medium-high heat until it , then add the chicken in a single layer.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Medium-high heat
Cook for 3 minutes without , until underneath, then stir and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until cooked through.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Food safety: Chicken is done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Turn the heat to low, add the butter and hot sauce, and until the butter into a glossy orange sauce.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Low heatTimer: 1 min
Dolly’s tip: Buffalo sauce is just hot sauce and butter. More butter makes it milder and richer.Heat the rice pouches in the microwave as the packages say.
Timer: 1 min 30 sec
Divide the rice and romaine among four bowls, top with the chicken and its sauce, and add the celery, carrots, green onions and blue cheese.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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