Buffalo chicken cutlets with a ranchy celery slaw

Wings with ranch and celery, but make it fancy

Hello! Welcome back! Skip all the rambling and scroll right to the bottom of this post for a printer-friendly PDF of the recipe only.

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Given my self-ascribed description of creating recipes that are designed to elevate the everyday, you’d probably be surprised to learn that some of my favorite foods are in no way elevated. I love fast food, will eat plate after plate of salsa-drenched tacos from my favorite taco stand, am obsessed with chili cheese fries, order some type of greasy take out almost every Friday, and can crush buffalo wings and pitchers of beer along with the best of ‘em. Not guilty pleasures, just pleasures, and ones I indulge in on the reg.

These foods are obviously all perfect as is, but sometimes it’s fun to experiment a little. Taking something like buffalo wings, for example, and turning those ingredients and flavors into a dish that is no longer a finger food, but instead something unexpected and dare I say elegant.

Tell me more

This dish is, at its core, a chicken cutlet topped with a salad. If you’ve been here for a while, it might remind you of my chicken cutlets with Caesar celery slaw, and that makes sense! They’re practically sisters, just with a few small differences. Notably, today’s cutlet is dredged not in bread crumbs but in crushed potato chips (an homage to the fact that I always eat my wings with a side of fries), doused in buffalo sauce, then topped with a celery slaw that’s dressed in a quick homemade ranch.

I honestly think it’s even more delicious, but that might be because of my aforementioned deep-seated love for buffalo wings. I’ll let you be the real judge.

Before we start

• If there’s one food I absolutely despise, it’s blue cheese. I cannot — will not — eat it, and honestly being in the same room as it puts me on alert because I’m worried it’ll somehow end up in my food. I know that many (most) people consider a buffalo wing without blue cheese dressing to be sacrilege — I went to college in Syracuse and have dined at Anchor Bar in Buffalo many times, thank you very much — I just don’t agree. Please feel free to dump as much blue cheese into the dressing and/or on top of this dish as you please. I’m not here to tell you not to. Just know I'm very… grossed out.

• Yes, you can air fry your cutlets to make ‘em a little healthier and/or avoid splattering your stovetop with millions of microdroplets of oil. Instructions for that are in the Make It Easier section.

• I used Frank’s RedHot Original to make the buffalo sauce. If there’s another buffalo-style hot sauce you like more, feel free to sub it in here. Just know that most ready-to-use buffalo wing sauces (such as the Frank’s Buffalo Wings sauce) already have ingredients/flavors added to them, so you might not need to add in butter yourself. I prefer real butter over “natural butter type flavor” (whatever that is), so I always buy the hot sauce and make the wing sauce myself.

• You know I love a wine pairing, but this recipe screams for beer.

The recipe

Serves: 4

Cook time: 30 minutes

For the slaw:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• 1/2 cup labneh (or sour cream, greek yogurt)

• 1 tbsp each finely chopped fresh dill, parsley, and chives

• 1/2 tbsp each garlic powder, onion powder, dried dill, dried parsley

• Juice of 1/2 of a lemon (~1/2-1 tbsp)

• 2-4 tbsp milk to thin (use more or less depending on the consistency you like)

• Salt

• 1 head of celery, sliced thinly

• 1 small or 1/2 of a large avocado, cubed

• Pepper

Whisk together mayo, labneh, fresh herbs, dried herbs and spices, and lemon. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time to achieve your desired consistency. Salt to taste.

Mix ranch with sliced celery and cubed avocado. Start with about half the batch of dressing and add more as needed. Taste again and add salt and pepper if necessary.

For the cutlets:

• 2 large chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs total)

• 3/4 cup flour

• 1/2 tsp paprika

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 2 eggs

• 1 7.5-oz bag kettle cooked potato chips, crushed into a powder

• Avocado oil or another high heat oil, for frying

Cut each chicken breast in half lengthwise. Place each half between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper, and pound using a mallet, rolling pin, or pan until about 1/2 inch thin. Set aside.

Grab three shallow bowls. In the first, whisk together flour, paprika, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. In the second, whisk together eggs and salt. In the third, place the crushed up chips (you can crush them in a bag, or quickly pulse them in a food processor or blender). Dredge the chicken breast cutlets first in the flour, then the egg wash, then the crushed chips.

Meanwhile, heat your oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium/medium-high heat until hot. Add one chicken cutlet at a time and fry until golden brown on both sides, a total of 5-8 minutes (internal temp should be 165). Remove to a cooling rack or paper towel.

For the buffalo sauce:

• 8 tbsp butter

• 2/3 cups Frank’s RedHot Original

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• Cayenne pepper to taste!

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan and heat over medium low heat until butter has melted. Remove from heat immediately.

To serve, toss cutlets in buffalo sauce. Top each with the slaw. If you must, sprinkle with blue cheese.

Make it easier

For the slaw: Opt for your favorite store-bought ranch.

For the cutlets: I sometimes find air-frying to be a bit easier because it’s so much more hands-off. To air fry, preheat your air fryer to 400. Add cutlets (I do two at a time to ensure all-around crispiness), spray with avocado or olive oil spray, and air fry for 5-7 minutes before flipping and air frying for 5-8 more. (Total time will depend on how thick you pounded your chicken cutlets — always rely on an instant read meat thermometer here.)

Notes

• Make ahead: Dressing can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. I recommend you don’t toss the slaw together very far ahead of time, as it’ll get a bit watery as it sits.

• Leftovers: Store leftover dressing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Use leftovers on salads, with crudités or chips (or wings!). Store leftover cutlets and slaw separately. Cutlets can be stored for up to 3 days and heated up in the oven or in the air fryer. Salad can be stored for up to a day in an airtight container.

Let’s chat food

Leave a comment below or email me at hellosaturdaytable@gmail.com. And thank you for being here.

Buffalo Chicken Cutlets With Ranchy Celery Slaw

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