Baked buffalo cashew coated chicken fingers on a bed of romaine with tomatoes, avocado, turkey bacon, jalapeño slices, cucumber, gorgonzola, and creamy ranch dressing.
Buffalo chicken salads are one of my favorite dishes! Therefore, it was about time to turn it into a healthier homemade meal. I just made my baked cashew crusted chicken fingers – then coated them in Red Hot then baked them again. Feel free to use your favorite buffalo sauce. However, I’m a big fan of Red Hot so I highly recommend it 😉 The chicken fingers turned out so crispy and flavorful.
After you assemble your salad with all the delicious toppings, make sure to drizzle it with your favorite ranch dressing. Some that I really love are: Sir Kensington’s, Tessemae’s, and Primal Kitchen.
Healthy Buffalo Chicken Finger Salad
- Yield: 3 salads 1x
Ingredients
Buffalo Cashew Chicken Fingers
1 lb. boneless chicken tenders
1/2 cup roasted cashews
1/3 cup coconut flour
2 eggs
salt if cashews are unsalted, to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
about 1/3 cup your favorite hot or buffalo sauce, I used Red Hot
Salads
1 head of romaine, chopped
3 stalks celery, sliced
2 strips turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 avocado, sliced
1/4 english cucumber, sliced and halved
1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed and sliced, optional
crumbled gorgonzola to taste, optional
your favorite ranch dressing, to taste
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil and lightly grease with non stick cooking spray.
Add cashews to a food processor and process until they are finely chopped, but make sure to not over-process them (they should look like panko breadcrumbs and hold some texture)
Add cashews to a shallow dish or bowl with salt (if needed), pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika – mix together.
In another shallow dish whisk together the two eggs.
In a third shallow dish add the coconut flour.
Using forks or tongs carefully take each chicken tender and toss in the coconut flour, then the egg (drip off the excess egg, should just be lightly coated), and the cashew mixture. You can press the mixture onto the chicken so it sticks.
Repeat with every piece of chicken and place on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly spray with chicken with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake for about 20-22 minutes, they should be golden.
Add your hot or buffalo sauce to a bowl – using tongs carefully take each chicken tender and toss it in your hot sauce or buffalo sauce. Carefully put back on the baking sheet. Bake for about 3-4 more minutes and broil for 1 minute.
Let them cool slightly before slicing into bite size pieces.
Assemble salads by adding all the ingredients into bowls. Drizzle with desired amount of ranch and enjoy!
