Mmmm, Buffalo Chicken: crispy chicken with creamy ranch dressing and a kick of hot sauce, it's a family-favorite around here. Buffalo Chicken is delicious on a sandwich, or it can also be served in a salad. Although traditional Buffalo Chicken recipes call for bleu cheese, my family much prefers it with ranch dressing instead. This recipe can be easily adapted to make it grain-free or gluten-free.
Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
Serves 4
2&1/2 cups loosely packed romaine lettuce
1 green onion
1&1/2 teaspoons of rice vinegar (I use Marukan brand)
1 Tb extra virgin olive oil
4 chicken thighs
1/2 cup white rice flour, arrowroot starch, OR Einkorn flour
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1 Tb refined coconut oil
8 slices of sourdough bread or your favorite gluten/grain-free bread
softened butter
6 Tb ranch dressing (recipe follows)
2 Tablespoons Louisiana hot sauce
salt and pepper
Prepare the ranch dressing (recipe follows) at least an hour before meal time.
Wash the lettuce well and spin it dry in a salad spinner.
Mince the green onion. Place it in a bowl with the rice vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, 2 pinches of salt, and one pinch of pepper. Stir it all together well. Set aside.
Debone the chicken thighs. There is a simple tutorial here that shows how to remove the bones. (I save and freeze the chicken thigh bones until I have accumulated enough of them to make a pot of homemade chicken bone broth.)
In a pie plate or (other wide, shallow dish), combine the rice flour (or arrowroot or Einkorn), paprika, garlic powder, mustard powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Stir to combine.
Dredge the chicken thighs in the flour mixture, coating all sides well.
Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tb refined coconut oil. Once the oil is shimmery-hot (but not smoking), add the chicken skin-side down. Cover with a splatter screen. Cook 4-6 minutes undisturbed, then flip the chicken and cook another 4-6 minutes, until fully cooked.
In the meantime, prepare the bread. Apply a light coating of butter to one side of each slice of bread. Then lightly toast the bread in a skillet.
Combine the lettuce with the rice vinaigrette. Toss to combine.
Once the chicken is done cooking, set it aside to rest for a few minutes. This will allow the juices to redistribute throughout the meat.
Assemble each sandwich as follows: Place the chicken on the buttered-side of a slice of bread. Drizzle the chicken with hot sauce. Top the chicken with the dressed lettuce, drizzle with ranch dressing, and top with the other slice of bread.
Slice each sandwich in half. Serve and enjoy!
Ranch Dressing
1 cup full-fat sour cream
1/2 cup raw milk kefir (buttermilk or plain whole milk yogurt could be substituted, but milk kefir gives the best flavor)
1 Tb fresh lemon juice (a lemon reamer works great for getting more juice from every lemon)
1 med garlic clove, pressed (or substitute 1/4 tsp garlic powder)
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp onion powder
3/4 tsp fine-ground celtic sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp dried dill
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl or 2-cup measuring cup. (Putting all of the ingredients into a 2-cup measuring cup saves on having to dirty many different measuring cups.) Whisk or stir well to combine.
If possible, make this dressing at least an hour before it will be consumed, so the flavors have a chance to meld.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. This ranch dressing will keep for at least a week. If separation occurs, just give it a quick stir before using it.
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