Want the best of both worlds? Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes taste like a comfort food, but feel like a salad. Well, not literally, but you know that intense feeling of pride you get when you opt for the salad instead? This dish gives you that, plus it’s chock full of fiber, protein, antioxidants, and most importantly, tangy, zippy, buttery buffalo sauce. Grain and gluten-free with Paleo and Whole30 alternatives available.
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Let’s talk comfort food. I’m not here to pooh-pooh Mom’s Mac & Cheese or Grandma’s Gravy, but is something really comforting if it tastes good but doesn’t feel good? One of my goals is to create comfort foods free from the discomfort of guilt and I think I just hit a new high with these Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes. They’re a nutrient-rich, filling, and satisfying meal that doesn’t feel bad.
Though not from Buffalo, my mom has passed down her glorious wing sauce recipe, and it’s become one of our family’s favorite comfort foods. And because personally I’m not a fan of traditional Buffalo wings, but I’m a big fan of the sauce, I like to find non-traditional ways to use it.
If you’re a Buffalo purist – sauce or city – then traditional wings are probably one of your go-to comfort foods too, and you might turn up your nose at a Buffalo Chicken Sweet Potato.
My husband happens to be one of those people. Anytime I start experimenting with the sauce, he gets wary I’m gonna ruin the “Buffalo experience,” which is absurd because he is also one of those people who will eat any – and I mean any – snack food if it claims to be Buffalo-flavored (e.g. chips, jerky, Little Debbie Cakes, etc.)
When I served these for dinner, he declared “at least it’s not Buffalo Chicken Quinoa,” and then had a taste. He then promptly devoured his and kept distracting the boys so he could steal bites of theirs. I, on the other hand, took one bite and settled into one of those slow-creeping, eyes-closed, tight-lipped smiles you see ladies at Starbucks get after their first PSL of the season.
Comfort food status achieved.
The Very Best Buffalo Sauce
This is my mom’s recipe for buffalo sauce and it rules. Her time-tested (30+ year) secret to the best buffalo sauce evah? Two brands of hot sauce. We use Frank’s and Pete’s.
You’ll also want to add in butter (not too much), garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Simmer it all together in a pot until it bubbles and thickens just a bit.
IMPORTANT: do not use “wing sauce”, which is a pre-mixed buffalo sauce with added butter flavors and thickeners.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Great tastes that taste great together, Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes are a perfect school-night supper the whole family can get behind. Fast and flavorful, they combine zippy, tangy Buffalo chicken and warm, cozy baked sweet potatoes in a casserole-y combo that’s dressed up with wing-night favorites like ranch and blue cheese. Bonus points for being filling and full of nutrients.
- If you’re cooking your own chicken to shred, start here first so you can prep while it’s cooking. Use my Instant Pot Shredded Chicken recipe for fast, easy chicken that is tender, juicy, and flavorful.
- Get your potatoes going next: preheat your oven to 450°F and then…pop ’em in the microwave for 5 minutes first. Then wrap in foil and transfer to the oven for 10-15 minutes more. (Follow my easy hack below to save time with the same beautifully baked results.)
- Make the buffalo sauce. Combine all ingredients in a small pot and whisk over medium heat until the butter melts and the sauce slightly thickens.
- Shred and sauce your chicken.
- Portion the chicken mixture onto a split sweet potato.
- Garnish with ranch dressing, crumbled blue cheese, and chives.
“Cheater” Baked Sweet Potatoes
Far be it from me to tell you to not to bake potatoes in the oven for an hour, but I’m here to tell you not to bake potatoes in the oven for an hour. This recipe contains a tried and true hack to get you to the finish line in like, a quarter of the time.
- Poke your potato all over with a fork.
- Plop it onto a microwave safe plate and microwave on high for 5 minutes.
- Transfer each potato to a square of foil and drizzle with olive oil.
- Wrap it and bake it in a 450°F oven for 10-15 minutes.
- Unwrap and serve.
Tips for Making This Recipe Perfectly
- If you’ve got an instant pot, I highly recommend my Instant Pot Shredded Chicken recipe for the absolute tenderest, juiciest meat. It’s also going to yield less cost and cleanup. If you don’t have one and you’re short on time, a store-bought rotisserie chicken will serve you well.
- Do not add more butter to the sauce – both flavor and consistency will suffer.
- In the same spirit, don’t add more hot sauce to the Buffalo sauce recipe if you want more spice. You can always dash a bit more on top of the finished product to taste.
- The majority of bottled hots sauces have a ton of sodium. Double (at least) your water intake with dinner to help flush it out.
- Don’t skip the chives. They don’t just look pretty, they add a nice kick of flavor.
Make It Your Way
- Make it Whole30 and Paleo: use a combination of Frank’s RedHot and Crystal Hot Sauce (Texas Pete’s has additives); use ghee in place of butter for the buffalo sauce; skip the blue cheese crumbles and drizzle with my Whole30 ranch dressing.
- If you do need more spice, both Frank’s and Texas Pete’s make hotter hot sauce, so I recommend you start at the grocery store.
More Buffalo Chicken Recipes You’ll Love
Did you make these Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes? I’d love to know how they turned out! Leave a comment and a rating below.
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Recipe
Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Print Recipe Rate this Recipe Pin RecipeRecommended Equipment
- Small Sauce Pot
- Medium Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes
- 4 tsp olive oil
- 2 c shredded chicken, about ½ pound cooked
- 4 tbsp ranch dressing
- 2 oz blue cheese crumbles
- 2 tbsp chives
Buffalo Sauce
- ½ c Franks’s Red Hot
- ½ c Texas Pete’s
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp paprika
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 450°F.
- Prepare the sweet potatoes. Poke the sweet potatoes all over using the tines of a fork. Place the sweet potatoes onto a microwave safe plate and microwave for 5 minutes. Place each sweet potato onto a piece of foil, then drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Wrap the sweet potatoes tightly in the foil, then place onto a baking sheet. Transfer the sweet potatoes to the oven and roast for 10 minutes (see notes).
- Make the buffalo sauce. Combine the hot sauces, butter, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Simmer, whisking occasionally, until butter melts and sauce thickens, 5 minutes.
- Pour the buffalo sauce over shredded chicken. Toss to combine.
- Slice the sweet potatoes in half, then divide the buffalo chicken evenly among each. Top with ranch dressing, crumbled blue cheese, and sliced green onions.
Notes
- Make it Whole30 and Paleo: use ghee in place of butter for the wing sauce; skip the blue cheese crumbles and drizzle with my Whole30 ranch dressing.
- If you do need more spice, both Frank’s and Texas Pete’s make hotter hot sauce, so I recommend you start at the grocery store.
- A medium sized sweet potato will roast in 10 minutes; large (1-pound) sweet potatoes are going to need close to 15.
Lindi
Ooooo! After seeing Steve’s comment I now absolutely need to try these!!
Steve
I dont think I’ve puked so hard after seeing/smelling/eating this. Your other recipes, bomb. this, attempted murder.