Buffalo Chicken Salad
An easy buffalo chicken topping—made with rotisserie chicken as a shortcut—plus a creamy, spicy Ranch-style dressing makes Rach's salad in an iceberg "bowl" crave-worthy.
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- ½ to ¾ cup hot sauce (Rach's go-to is Frank's RedHot)
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup chicken bone broth or stock
- 1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed, then remove the meat from bones and pull the meat into small pieces
- 2 cups Mexican crema or sour cream
- 2 cloves garlic, pasted
- 1 cup finely grated cotija cheese
- ¼ cup chopped chives
- One small handful cilantro or parsley leaves
- 2 serrano or jalapeño peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped
- 2 limes, juiced
- 2 heads iceberg lettuce, cored, halve top to core-end and trim rounded sides so slabs sit flat
- 2 cups smoked blue cheese or blue cheese crumbles
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 to 4 small ribs celery with leafy tops, finely chopped
- 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced on bias
Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, add butter and melt, swirl in the garlic, add hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, stock and bring to a bubble, add the chicken and heat through then lower the heat to simmer.
For Ranchero Cream Dressing, combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth. If desired, transfer to a squirt bottle with top trimmed.
Place slabs of lettuce on plates and top with buffalo chicken, then top with dressing, blue cheese crumbles, carrots, celery and scallions.