Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Don’t know what’s for dinner? These Buffalo Chicken Tacos are here to the rescue! Filled with homemade crispy baked buffalo chicken strips, you can have dinner ready from prep to table in under an hour.
Ever make a new recipe for dinner that you love so much, you end up making it again the next day because you couldn’t stop thinking about it?
One of the running jokes in food blogging is once a recipe is up on the blog, you don’t make it again because you’re too busy making the next recipe.
That statement is partially true; there are some recipes like my haluski or balsamic chicken with tomatoes that I make over and over.
But then other recipes I make only once a month or even every other month. Mostly because I’m busy making new recipes.
Then when I’m repromoting posts on social media, I think “hey I should make that again!” These Buffalo Chicken Tacos need to be in rotation more because they’re so easy to make.
Anything involving buffalo chicken such as my buffalo chicken mac and cheese usually gets made more often than other dinner recipes, mainly because the sauce is so easy – butter, hot sauce, and ranch.
Plus I almost always have boneless skinless chicken thighs in the freezer.
I debated on how to cook the chicken. Do I use shredded like rotisserie chicken? Do I chop and fry on the stove?
Then I thought about how I order buffalo chicken sandwiches at restaurants. More often than not they’re served with breaded chicken strips.
That’s what inspired me to make homemade buffalo chicken strips with Panko breadcrumbs and a zesty buffalo sauce from scratch.
To make them slightly healthier, I opted to bake them instead of frying in oil using the same technique as my baked buffalo chicken wings with the roasting rack.
This allows the heat to circulate underneath, creating crispy chicken tenders for your tacos.
Since the chicken only takes 20 minutes to bake in the oven or 10 minutes in the air fryer, you can have your buffalo chicken tacos prepped and ready to eat in under an hour.
And although these are pictured as tacos, sometimes I’ll make a buffalo chicken taco salad, similar to my chicken fajita salad but with taco ingredients.
Ingredients For Buffalo Chicken Tacos
You’ll need the following ingredients to make your buffalo chicken tacos recipe:
- Flour: Helps create a crispy golden coating
- Garlic powder, onion powder, and salt: Seasonings for the chicken
- Egg: Gives the breadcrumbs something to stick to
- Panko breadcrumbs: Gives the homemade chicken strips a crunchy breading.
- Chicken: Use 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast or 2 chicken thighs
- Butter, hot sauce, and ranch dressing: Used to make homemade buffalo wing sauce
- Tortillas: I used flour because they’re larger, but you can use corn tortillas for street tacos
- Lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese: Used to garnish your tacos. You can also turn it into a salad.
What are Panko breadcrumbs?
Panko is a Japanese-style breadcrumb that is more coarse than standard breadcrumbs, and because they are slightly larger crumbs, there is more crunch in every bite.
They’re the key to making the breading extra crispy.
You can usually find a box of Panko in your grocery store with the regular breadcrumbs. If not, check the Asian aisle.
You can also use crushed up cornflakes as a substitute.
If you do decide to use regular breadcrumbs, which are finer in size, you may not need as much as it’s called for as there will be more breadcrumbs in the measuring cup.
How To Make Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Here’s how to make your recipe for buffalo chicken tacos:
- Prepare dredging station by combining flour, spices, and salt in one bowl, egg in a second bowl, and breadcrumbs in a third bowl.
- Dredge chicken in flour then egg then breadcrumbs.
- Bake at 425F for 15-20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165F.
- Stir together butter, hot sauce, and ranch dressing then toss chicken in sauce.
- Assemble tacos as desired.
Tacos are best eaten the day they’re made. However, you can refrigerate leftover chicken strips for up to 4 days. Reheat in air fryer or oven for 5 minutes or until crispy again.
How To Make Buffalo Chicken Tacos In Air Fryer
Too hot for the oven? Want to cook your chicken even faster? Make your buffalo chicken tacos recipe in the air fryer!
Cook at 400F for 10 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165F. You may need to do this in two batches depending on the size of your basket.
What To Serve With Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Now that your spicy chicken tacos are ready, serve it with green onion saladas a cooling side dish or homemade Spanish rice to stick with the taco theme.
Buffalo Chicken Tacos FAQ
Yes! Cook them as directed on the package then toss with buffalo sauce.
Yes! Use bottled sauce instead of homemade to make prep easier.
More Buffalo Chicken Recipes
Can’t get enough spicy chicken? Check out these other buffalo chicken recipes:
Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Don’t know what’s for dinner? These Buffalo Chicken Tacos are here to the rescue! Filled with homemade crispy baked buffalo chicken strips, you can have dinner ready from prep to table in under an hour.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast or 2 chicken thighs, cut into 3-inch strips
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup Louisiana-style hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons ranch dressing
- 4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
- 4 romaine lettuce leaves
- 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. Line a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan with foil and set a wire rack on top. Lightly grease wire rack.
- In one wide shallow bowl, combine the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. In a second bowl, lightly beat the egg with a fork. In a third bowl, add the breadcrumbs.
- Dip one chicken strip into the flour mixture then shake off the excess. Next add it to the beaten egg, letting any excess drip back into the bowl. Finally, coat both sides in the breadcrumbs. Place on the wire rack. Repeat until all of the strips are coated.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and the internal temperature is 165F.
- Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the hot sauce, ranch dressing, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.
- Toss the chicken strips in the sauce then assemble tacos with the tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese.
Air Fryer Directions
- Lightly grease air fryer basket with cooking spray. Add dredged chicken in a single layer without overcrowding (you'll likely have to do this in two batches).
- Cook at 400F for 8-10 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165F. Toss in sauce then assemble tacos as directed.
Notes
- Instead of making tacos, you can also make a big dinner salad. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces then cook as directed.
- Enjoyed this recipe? Check out my Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese, Buffalo Chicken Chili, and Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings.
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First published October 22, 2015
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I’m only half joking when I say you could put buffalo sauce on an old shoe and I would eat it. I can’t get enough! And Buffalo Chicken Tacos? Brilliant! Making these ASAP.
Baked crispy chicken is seriously one of my favorites and I use all kinds of coating! Love this buffalo chicken taco idea.