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Home » Chicken » Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

by Sarah Olson on January 29, 2020 | Updated October 23, 2020 19 Comments

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collage of buffalo chicken recipes for pinterest
close up of chicken in buffalo sauce in the slow cooker, with wooden spoon dipping in.
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

Forget the wings and make a big batch of shredded slow cooker buffalo chicken. Pile on hamburger buns for an easy dinner or game day feast.

We LOVE using buffalo sauce (Frank’s Red Hot Sauce) in our crockpot for recipes such as our Buffalo 15 Bean Soup and our game day favorite buffalo chicken dip.

shredded buffalo chicken in slow cooker with ranch and buns on the side.

What is Frank’s Red Hot Sauce?

  • Frank’s Red Hot Sauce is a cayenne pepper sauce that is used in
    “buffalo” flavored recipes.
  • This sauce does have a spicy kick to it, adding butter in the mix and ranch or blue cheese dressing topped on the final dish can cool the heat.
chicken breasts, ranch dressing mix, butter and bottle of buffalo sauce in slow cooker (all in packaging still).

How to make buffalo chicken in the crockpot:

  • Chicken – Boneless chicken breasts or thighs work the best for shredded chicken though bone-in breasts, thighs or drumsticks will work in this recipe.
  • Ranch Dressing Mix – You can use the salad dressing mix or the dip packet, both work the same in this type of recipe.
  • Frank’s Red Hot Sauce – Look for the original sauce NOT the premade buffalo wing sauce, for we are adding the butter and seasonings ourselves.
  • Butter – I use an entire stick of salted butter in this recipe
3 chicken breasts in slow cooker with ranch mix, buffalo sauce and a stick of butter on top.

How long to cook:

  • Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.
  • Or on HIGH for 4 hours.
cooked chicken breasts in buffalo sauce (unshredded).

Why add butter?

  • The butter not only adds flavor it helps tone down the vinegar flavor and the spiciness.
shredded chicken in slow cooker with buns, ranch, and wooden spoon on side.

How to serve buffalo chicken:

Shred the chicken with two forks then serve one of these ways:

  • Serve on hamburger buns or slider buns with chips or carrot and celery sticks on the side.
  • Over baked or mashed potatoes.
  • Over steamed rice.
  • Toss with cooked pasta.
close up of chicken in buffalo sauce in the slow cooker, with wooden spoon dipping in.

How to make this meal lower in carbs:

  • Serve alone with celery sticks and ranch.
  • Pile on lettuce wraps or low carb tortilla wraps.
shredded buffalo chicken on bun with ranch and chips

More buffalo chicken recipes for your slow cooker:

  • Slow Cooker Buffalo Ranch Drumsticks
  • Slow Cooker Buffalo Wings
  • Slow Cooker Buffalo 15 Bean Soup
  • Slow Cooker Buffalo Ranch Chicken Dip
  • Slow Cooker Buffalo Baby Back Ribs
  • Slow Cooker Hot Chicken
plated buffalo chicken sandwiches

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close up of chicken in buffalo sauce in the slow cooker, with wooden spoon dipping in.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

4.74 from 15 votes
Chicken slow cooked with buffalo sauce, ranch mix and butter!
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: buffalo chicken
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours
Total Time: 6 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 241kcal
Author: Sarah Olson

Equipment Needed:

  • Slow Cooker – 4 quart or larger

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 12 oz. Frank's Red Hot original sauce (look for the original sauce, not the one labeled wings)
  • 1 oz. ranch dressing packet dip mix works too!
  • 1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick)

For Serving:

  • hamburger buns (or slider buns) toasted
  • ranch or blue cheese dressing
US Customary – Metric

Instructions:

  • Add the chicken breasts to the slow cooker.
  • Sprinkle over the ranch dressing (or dip) mix.
  • Pour over the Frank's Red Hot Sauce.
  • Add the cube of butter on top.
  • Place the lid of the slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours.
  • When the cooking time is up, take two forks and shred the chicken.
  • Serve over buns and top with ranch or blue cheese dressing. (see my notes below for other serving ideas)

How to Video:

Recipe Notes:

What are other ways to serve buffalo chicken?
  • Serve on rice, mashed potatoes or on a baked potato.
  • Toss with pasta.
  • To make this lower in carbs serve with celery and ranch on the side or serve in lettuce or low carb tortillas.
Can I use a different cut of chicken?
Yes, any cut of chicken can be used such as boneless chicken thighs, or bone-in thighs, drumsticks or breasts.
Must I use the butter?
You can leave it out but note adding the butter cuts on the spiciness and the vinegar flavor.
Nutritional values are just for the chicken and sauce (hamburger buns not included in the values)

Nutrition:

Calories: 241kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 103mg | Sodium: 1802mg | Potassium: 420mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 389IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg
Made this recipe?I want to see your photos! Tag me on Instagram @themagicalslowcooker
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    Filed Under: Appetizers, Chicken, Dinner Tagged With: buffalo, butter, Chicken, crockpot, ranch, slow cooker

    Comments

    1. Alissa says

      January 25, 2021 at 3:37 pm

      Can I use the wing sauce for this? I got the wrong one

      Reply
      • Sarah Olson says

        January 25, 2021 at 5:15 pm

        I’m sure it will still be good!

        Reply
    2. Christina Bishop says

      January 13, 2021 at 9:37 am

      5 stars
      So delicious, my family loves this recipe, even the kids love it! I have mine in lettuce cups with a few blue cheese crumbles. The others are theirs in a bowl and added a variety of toppings like cheddar cheese, ranch dressing, and my daughter added cream cheese and mixed it up like a dip and ate it with a few tortilla chips. Very versatile and a hit!

      Someone mentioned the recipe being too salty. You could always use unsalted butter to help a little.

      Reply
    3. Keisha says

      January 9, 2021 at 3:22 pm

      What type of sandwich bun do you recommend? Do you recommend toasting the bun?

      Reply
      • Sarah Olson says

        January 9, 2021 at 5:22 pm

        You can use any bun, some times we will use Kaiser buns. And yes, toasting them is a good idea.

        Reply
    4. Joleen A Jorge says

      November 30, 2020 at 3:20 pm

      5 stars
      I made this yesterday! It will now be on our rotation. It is excellent! I put a few cilantro leaves on top. YUMMMMM!

      Reply
    5. Samantha Hernandez says

      October 29, 2020 at 4:29 pm

      5 stars
      I just made this! It’s good but the liquid really went away. I cooked on high for 4 hours. The video shows way more liquid even though I followed it exactly, how do I make it more liquidy?? (at least for next time)

      Reply
    6. Lynne Casey says

      September 23, 2020 at 6:49 am

      Can this be made in an instapot?

      Reply
      • Sarah Olson says

        September 23, 2020 at 7:53 am

        I don’t see why not.

        Reply
    7. Elizabeth says

      September 17, 2020 at 11:14 am

      Hey Sarah! I made this recipe and put the chicken in quesadillas and we dipped them in homemade ranch. SO GOOD! I found that we wanted the chicken to be a bit juicier so I added an extra half cup of Franks and it was perfect!

      Reply
      • Sarah Olson says

        September 17, 2020 at 1:04 pm

        Yum! Thanks for the tip.

        Reply
    8. Megan says

      May 9, 2020 at 8:10 pm

      Can you leave out the ranch packet if you want more of a blue cheese flavor by adding crumbles or dressing afterwards?

      Reply
      • Sarah Olson says

        May 10, 2020 at 8:53 am

        You can but the ranch packer really adds flavor. I would add blue cheese crumbles or dressing for serving.

        Reply
    9. Bonnie says

      May 5, 2020 at 4:06 pm

      1 star
      Flavor is good, but it’s way too salty! Unfortunately, this is a miss for us.

      Reply
    10. Pauline Spivey says

      February 1, 2020 at 12:50 pm

      I I like your reciepes

      Reply
    11. Rhondew says

      February 1, 2020 at 9:38 am

      What if my husband doesn’t like hot spicy foods? How can I tame it down?

      Reply
      • Sarah Olson says

        February 1, 2020 at 10:08 am

        Hi! I read this on Frank’s website: For a milder wing sauce recipe, vary the ratio of Frank’s RedHot® to butter. For example, in our standard traditional Buffalo Wings recipe using 2 1/2 lbs. chicken wings use: 3 parts butter, 2 parts RedHot® (1/2 cup butter: 1/3 cup RedHot)

        I suggest adding less of the hot sauce than I used. Still will be plenty of sauce. And make sure to have ranch to help tone down the heat too.

        Reply
    12. Mark says

      February 1, 2020 at 9:06 am

      5 stars
      Hi Sarah,

      I made your buffalo drum stix earlier this week…and was planning on making those for the Super Bowl and told everybody about it. They are excited.

      My question is that recipe called for 4 lbs of chicken and this one calls for two. I will definitely need 4 lbs of chicken. I would like to try this recipe so should I double it??

      I have a 5 quart slow cooker. When I made the buffalo drum sticks there was still quite a bit of sauce left in the end so am a bit concerned about doubling it…but thought I would ask.

      BTW, when I first tried the sauce I thought what a great base for a soup. I’m glad you have a soup recipe to try, too!

      Thank you for your time.

      -Mark

      Reply
    13. Diane Leroux says

      February 1, 2020 at 8:13 am

      Merci bonne recette

      Reply

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