Easy Baked Buffalo Chicken Recipe

This Buffalo Chicken Recipe is a fun and delicious anytime dinner made with just a handful of simple ingredients including juicy chicken breasts, hot sauce, honey, garlic, and butter. Ready in under 30 minutes, enjoy this low-carb and gluten-free baked buffalo chicken with all your favorite sides or chop it up and add it to this reader-favorite Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe.

The BEST Baked Buffalo Chicken

Bold, healthy, and bursting with delicious buffalo flavor, this buffalo chicken recipe is easily one of my all-time favorite chicken recipes. Made with super simple ingredients like chicken breasts, hot sauce, butter, honey, and garlic, it’s easy to enjoy this chicken plain, tossed in your favorite salad, baked in pasta, thrown on a pizza, or wrapped in a tortilla with crunchy veggies and healthy greens.

And, just like my baked buffalo cauliflower, slow cooker buffalo chicken dip, or buffalo turkey meatballs, these juicy baked buffalo chicken breasts come with all the same incredible flavor as sticky buffalo wings – minus the mess.

Simple Ingredients

For the full list and amounts of ingredients in this baked buffalo chicken recipe, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.

• Chicken – I love both chicken breasts and chicken thighs but in keeping things on the lighter side, I chose to make this recipe with breast meat. I did not feel the need to sear my chicken breasts before baking. If you decide to use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, this is a step that I would recommend.
• Olive oil – Simply drizzle your chicken breasts with olive oil and toss well to coat.
• Salt, pepper, and other seasonings – Since we’re planning to coat our chicken breasts in buffalo sauce I left the seasoning and spices simple with just salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder.
• Buffalo Sauce – Prepare your own homemade buffalo sauce or purchase your favorite store-bought sauce. Before I started making my own this Wing-Time Buffalo Wing Sauce was my go-to.

What is the Best Hot Sauce for Homemade Buffalo Sauce?

Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, hands down. Used in all my buffalo sauce recipes, including this Easy Buffalo Cauliflower Recipe and these Buffalo Turkey Meatballs, Frank’s Red Hot is easy to find in most supermarkets or on Amazon. Affordable, flavorful, and just the right amount of spicy, it tastes great plain or mixed with cheese, protein, or vegetables.

How to make this easy buffalo chicken recipe

To make this super flavorful chicken you’ll need the following tools and equipment: digital meat thermometer, 9×13 baking dish, mixing bowls and measuring cups, and kitchen tongs.

Step 1. Make your buffalo sauce

Making your own buffalo sauce is easy, requiring just a few ingredients. You can, of course, always buy store-bought buffalo sauce, but I find that it’s easier to make my own.

The main ingredients in this buffalo sauce include,

• Hot Sauce
• Melted butter
• Fresh garlic
• Honey
• Onion powder
• Fresh lime juice

The most well known hot sauce used for buffalo wings, buffalo dip, or buffalo sauce is  Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (which also happens to be my favorite). Hands down, Frank’s has the best tang to spice ratio and is probably the hot sauce that has been used to make your favorite restaurant buffalo sauce.

Now, you also need butter. After all, that’s what makes buffalo sauce so finger-licking good! Typically, the hot sauce to butter ratio is 2 to 1. In this recipe, however, we’re going to be making our sauce with less since we start out by coating our chicken in olive oil and we’re adding honey. Too much butter would be overkill, but feel free to add as much or as little as you like.

All those other ingredients? Technically, they’re optional, but I highly recommend you add them to your sauce. The garlic and onion powder add a greater depth of flavor, the honey helps balance the spice and the lime (or lemon) juice really helps all the flavors POP!

How do you make buffalo sauce?

It’s super easy. Basically, grab a bowl, add all the ingredients, mix it all together, and season to taste. Does it have enough salt? Pepper? Is it sweet enough?

Step 2. Preheat oven and prepare chicken

Preheat oven to 400°F and spray a large 11 x 8-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Add the chicken breasts to your baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, to season.

Pour your prepared buffalo sauce (or store-bought buffalo sauce) over the top of the chicken breasts. Thoroughly coat each chicken breast in sauce (I like to use kitchen tongs to rotate each chicken breast 1-2 times).

Step 3. Bake 

Tent your baking dish with foil and transfer it to the oven. Bake, covered, for 20 minutes. Then uncover and continue to bake for an additional 5-15 minutes, or until internal temperature registers 160°F as measured with a digital meat thermometer.

Remove from the oven and allow your chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

What to Serve with Buffalo Chicken

For starchy sides, I love to serve this recipe with creamy cheesy Instant Pot mac and cheese, garlic roasted potatoes, or (my personal favorite) baked sweet potatoes.

Cut the carbs and serve it with cauliflower mashed potatoes, cauliflower rice, or zucchini noodles, instead.

But what about vegetables? Fortunately, buffalo sauce (especially when a little ranch dressing is served with it on the side) pairs well with all kinds of veggies. Try roasted carrots, cauliflower, or roasted brussels sprouts. Of course, you can never go wrong with a fresh green salad, so let’s not forget that.

Tips and Tricks

Buffalo Sauce: This recipe makes approx. 1.5 cups of buffalo sauce. You may pour it all onto your chicken and bake OR reserve approximately 1/2 cup for serving (careful not to cross-contaminate with raw chicken).

Prepare ahead: You can also prepare this recipe ahead of time and allow your chicken to marinate overnight. Combine the chicken breasts, olive oil, salt, pepper, and prepared buffalo sauce in a gallon size zip-lock bag and refrigerate until ready to bake.

To make keto-friendly – Omit the honey. Top with mozzarella cheese, instead.

How do I know when my chicken is cooked?

Poultry should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F as read by a digital meat thermometer and allowed to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Cooking times will vary depending on the size and thickness of your chicken breasts.

More Healthy Chicken Recipes,

• Easy Baked Pesto Chicken Recipe
• Baked Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
• Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe
• How to Cook Chicken Breasts
• Chicken Stock Recipe (How to Make Chicken Stock)
• Moo Goo Gai Pan Recipe

If you try this easy baked buffalo chicken recipe, please leave me a comment and let me know! I always love to read your thoughts and feedback!