Ah, football season.
Few things are more exciting to me than football season.
So exciting, in fact, that Seth and I decided to shell out forty bucks a month for Direct TV juuuuust so that we could get the NFL Sunday Ticket for free. Woop woop! Totes worth it.
Why not just get regular cable, you may ask? Good question!
When you move to the smack-dab middle of the country, the local sports channels no longer air games from the east coast (Panthers, Ravens, and Patriots).
Panthers are the number-one-most-important team to me and always will be – I’m from NC…gotta support my guys!! The Ravens are Seth’s favorite non-panthers team, and the Patriots are mine.
I guess I have to jump on that Ravens bandwagon now that we are married.
That’s what a good, supportive wife would do right?
Here is my plan. I will support the Ravens unless they are playing the Patriots or Panthers. And I feel like that is good enough!!
Aaaanyway. We are super excited that it’s football season again, and because of this excitement, it was completely necessary to make a delicious game day appetizer for all you other football lovers out there!
These baked buffalo chicken bites…yum. Their thick crust, created using the following four step process: egg > flour > egg > whole wheat panko, gets nice and crispy in the oven, while the chicken on the inside remains tender and juicy ?.
Top with your favorite buffalo sauce and you are good to go!!
Speaking of favorite buffalo sauce…..we couldn’t find our usual go to (Frank’s), so we got Sweet Baby Ray’s Buffalo Sauce.
And oooooh my goodness oh my goodness it was the SPICIEST thing ever. Like…way to spicy for any of our tastes.
They were still yummy, but very very VERY spicy. Next time I would get a mild buffalo wing sauce just to be safe – that way you get the buffalo wing flavor but still have enough taste buds left for the chicken…!
But the wing sauce is up to you! Just choose your fave.
I have one other possible recommendation for you.
We tossed our Buffalo Bites in the sauce and served them like that, but this did take away some of their crispiness. If you want them to be as crispy as possible, I would serve the buffalo and ranch on the side. If you don’t mind some of the crunchy texture being taken away, toss those babies!
In the future I would probably still toss with buffalo sauce and just serve them a little less crispy…it’s just easier! But totally up to you. Either way is ?.
Hey! It’s Friday!! Yay yay yayyyyy!!! This is an even more exciting Friday because Seth is on pre-deployment leave all next week. It is slightly unfortunate that I still have to work, but it will be so nice that he will be home when I get home! Usually it’s several hours after I get back that he is off work.
And he will be able to be with Boone and Blitz all day and they won’t have to be alone :).
Yay for leave!
And yay for these Buffalo Bites!
- 3 chicken breasts
- 2 cups flour
- 5 eggs
- 2 cups whole wheat panko
- Olive oil spray
- 1 bottle buffalo wing sauce (careful, some can be really spicy!!)
- ¾ cup reduced fat sour cream
- 1 packet of dry ranch dressing mix (to taste, may not use whole packet)
- 4-5 stalks of celery
- Preheat oven to 350 degress
- Cut the chicken breasts up into chicken nugget size pieces (about 1-2 inch cubes) and season with salt and pepper
- Place your flour, egg, and panko in three separate dishes (baking dishes work well)
- Whisk the egg thoroughly
- Season the flour and panko with salt and pepper
- First, place the chicken in the eggs and toss until evenly coated. Transfer the chicken to the flour and toss until evenly coated. Place the chicken back into the eggs, and toss until evenly coated. Finally, transfer the chicken into the panko and toss until all the chicken pieces are evenly coated in panko
- From there, evenly disperse the chicken across two baking sheets that have been sprayed with olive oil liberally
- Once all the bites have been dispersed across the baking sheets, spray the tops and sides of the chicken bites liberally with olive oil - they need it to crisp up!!
- Make sure they have space and aren't touching, or else they won't become as crisp
- Place both baking sheets in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through
- While the chicken is in the oven, make the ranch dip. Place the sour cream in a bowl, and stir in the dry ranch dressing mix to taste
- Slice the celery into small, bite size pieces
- When the chicken is done, try one and season to taste with salt
- Place the bites in a large bowl and drizzle on buffalo sauce to taste - toss to combine *see note*
- To assemble, place a buffalo bite onto a toothpick followed by a piece of celery
- You can either drizzle ranch over all the buffalo bites, or set it aside as a dip
- **Note: Tossing the bites in buffalo sauce will take away some of the crispness. They are still yummy that way, but if you would like to avoid this, just pour some buffalo sauce in a small bowl and use it as a dip like the ranch**
*Note: Nutrition information is for a serving size of about 7 buffalo bites*
If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!
In the mood for more game day recipes? Check these out:
Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins with Greek Yogurt Ranch
Can you make the night before?
You could try it, but I’m afraid they wouldn’t be nearly as crispy!
Annie these look amazing! I’m not much for football but I certainly love the snacks associated with it. Especially anything buffalo! These baked bites sound so easy and delicious and I NEED to find this super spicy Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce. The spicier the better! Pinned!
Maya @ Treats and Eats recently posted…S’mores Brownie Bars
Thanks, Maya! Oh yeah, football food is awesome :). It is very VERY spicy!! You would like it :).
These look so good! I’m pretty sure I’d eat a whole pan to myself. :)
Pinned!
Kristen @ The Endless Meal recently posted…The 10 Best Food Photography Props to Improve Your Food Photos
I ate close to a whole pan by myself…so no judgements here :). Thanks, Kristen!
I love that these are baked! They look so moist on the inside with a perfect crunch on the outside!
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop recently posted…Cocoa Apple Cake
They are SO moist on the inside! That is my favorite part about them :). Thanks, Kathy!