Easy Buffalo Chicken Casserole – Keto and Low Carb

A buffalo chicken casserole keto all-in-one meal is the perfect low carb dinner your whole family will love. With delicious ingredients like chicken, cheddar cheese, buffalo sauce, and ranch dressing – what’s not to love?

Just to be a little more mom-like, and less teenager-like who wants to devour appetizers for dinner – I added cauliflower rice to turn this into a low-carb casserole recipe that’s packed with nutrients.

Whether you need a delicious recipe for game days, or even busy weeknights, this buffalo chicken cauliflower casserole is a hit! Keep reading to learn how easily this low carb chicken casserole comes together. 

 

Low Carb Chicken Casserole Ingredients

Chicken, Cheese and Cauliflower

The main ingredients for this low carb buffalo chicken casserole includes chicken, shredded cheese, riced cauliflower, and spices.

While chicken breasts are a great option, chicken thighs work for a low carb diet too. Choose whichever cut you enjoy most on keto.

Since I prefer to keep easy recipes easy, I use a 10 oz bag of riced cauliflower in this healthy buffalo chicken casserole. If you love fresh cauliflower and don’t mind a little extra meal prep, rice a medium head of cauliflower.

To make this keto dish extra delicious, don’t be afraid to add lots of cheese. My favorite is a Mexican blend cheese from the grocery store, but you can also use mozzarella cheese – or whichever other shredded cheese is your favorite.

To complete the chicken portion of the meal, you’ll need salt, pepper, garlic powder and a high-heat oil, like avocado oil.

 

 

Creamy Buffalo Sauce

The keto buffalo chicken casserole sauce has two flavors: buffalo and ranch dressing.

 The sauce is made up of a keto-friendly buffalo sauce, butter, minced garlic, and ranch dressing. You can add even more flavor by adding a few spices like salt, black pepper, and even a dash of crushed red pepper to give your casserole a little kick.

 Most keto spicy buffalo sauce recipes go-to is Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. This isn’t my favorite brand since Frank’s adds canola oil.

When you want to add a buffalo chicken flavor to keto recipes, look for a brand that’s low in net carbs, doesn’t have added sugars, and skips vegetable oils completely.

Primal Kitchen makes a variety of sauces that fits these requirements.

 

How to Make Buffalo Ranch Chicken Casserole

Meal Prep

The best way to ensure juicy chicken in any recipe is to always brine before you bake. Don’t worry – this step is much easier than it sounds. Once you try it, you’ll want to prepare all of your easy keto recipes the same way!

Start by combining 2 tbsp of kosher salt with 2 cups of cold water in a bowl to create the brine. Then add the chicken into the salt water mixture. Allow it to soak for approximately 10-20 minutes. 

While the chicken brines, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Then grab a baking dish and a small mixing bowl.

Spray the baking dish with a non-stick cooking spray. While the prepared chicken won’t stick, there’s a good chance the rest of the ingredients in the casserole might.

Once the brining is complete, pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Allow it to sit on the counter for a few minutes since chicken cooks more evenly at room temperature.

 

Bake the Chicken

Next, combine the avocado oil and spices in a small bowl to create a paste. Then, add the chicken breasts in a single layer into the baking dish, and coat both sides of the chicken with the oil mixture.

Don’t skip this step since it helps lock in the juices to create a juicy chicken breast recipe.

Bake the chicken until it is partially cooked, or approximately 8-10 minutes.

Mix up the creamy buffalo sauce while you wait.

 

Make the Sauce

Start by melting the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. As the butter melts, add in the minced garlic. Gently stir the garlic into the butter as it melts.

Once the garlic is lightly browned, pour the buffalo sauce and ranch dressing into the saucepan. Add your preferred seasonings, such as salt, black pepper, or even cayenne pepper if you enjoy extra spicy buffalo flavors. Stir well to combine and then set aside.

 

Combine and Bake

Once the chicken is ready and the sauce is mixed, remove the partially cooked chicken from the oven. Drain any excess water, and then add the cauliflower rice. Fill the spots in between the chicken with riced cauliflower.

Next, pour the sauce over the chicken and rice. Then top the entire dish with lots of cheese.

Bake the buffalo chicken cauliflower casserole until the cheese is melted and the chicken is fully cooked. This should take another 8-10 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken has an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

Then remove the chicken casserole from the oven and allow it to cool for a few minutes prior to serving. Garnish with parsley or green onions.

Store leftovers in an airtight container and reheat on the stove for an easy keto meal later in the week.

 

What to Serve with Low Carb Chicken Casseroles

While this is an all-in-one meal, different ways to add more nutrients is to add more of your favorite keto veggies. Some great options include:

• Chopped broccoli and cauliflower florets.
• Diced green and red bell peppers.
• Diced onions.

Another option is to serve the chicken over a bed of cooked spaghetti squash. You can even use the leftover ranch dressing to add a quick side salad to the meal too.

 

Tips and Variations

Here’s a few tips to make this keto buffalo chicken casserole recipe even easier and more delicious:

• To turn this into a loaded buffalo chicken casserole, top the cheese with diced green onions and homemade bacon bits and bake. Top with sour cream for that fully loaded effect.

 

• If you love the combo of chicken wings and blue cheese, swap out the ranch dressing for blue cheese dressing instead. This is a great way to feel like you’re eating your favorite comfort food – while not cheating on your keto diet. Blue cheese crumbles is another delicious addition to this version.

 

• In a hurry? Save on prep time by adding shredded rotisserie chicken into a casserole dish. Top with the rest of the low carb casserole ingredients. You’ll only need to bake until the cheese melts, which means the entire recipe takes less than 15 minutes.

 

• Use homemade shredded chicken in low carb casseroles too for an easy weeknight dinner. I like to meal prep shredded chicken in a crockpot with chicken broth, and use it in recipes like this throughout the week.

 

• Since shredded chicken makes this recipe feel like a buffalo chicken dip, combine the cooked shredded chicken in a large bowl with the sauce. Add the chicken mixture into the baking dish and top with cheese.

 

• If you choose frozen cauliflower rice, allow it to thaw prior to adding into the cauliflower buffalo chicken casserole. While you technically could use frozen rice, this can make your chicken dish watery.

 

• Don’t swap olive oil for avocado oil in the chicken seasoning paste since olive oil has a low smoke point, and this recipe is cooked in the oven on high heat.

 

Keto Buffalo Chicken Casserole Wrap Up

Easy keto recipes like this buffalo chicken casserole with cauliflower rice is a great way to stick to your low carb diet. When you keep keto simple with good food, that’s when it works!

Speaking of work – losing weight on a low carb diet doesn’t have to be hard. I learned this first hand after struggling with low carb diets for more than 20 years. Once I learned a few simple tricks, I lost 100 pounds.

Check out the info I used to make keto easy. It’s the same course hundreds of other women used to finally lose weight with keto – even when nothing else worked.

Don’t forget to save this hearty meal to your easy chicken recipes Pinterest board. Please share on social media too.

Keep scrolling to the bottom of this post for the nutritional information, recipe card, and even more simple keto chicken meal suggestions.

 

Buffalo Chicken Casserole – Keto and Low Carb

 

More Simple Chicken Dishes:

Shredded Chicken & Bacon Alfredo

Garlic Butter Chicken Fajitas

Zesty Crockpot BBQ Chicken

 

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