Healthy Buffalo Chicken Casserole (2024)

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Healthy Buffalo Chicken Casserole is baked buffalo chicken recipe with cauliflower rice. A super simple and delicious one pan meal that is low calorie, low carb, gluten free, Paleo and Whole30 friendly. Low Calorie + Low Carb + Gluten Free + Paleo + Whole30

You know you gotta a winner dinner when the people in your family who hate vegetables (especially cauliflower) likes your dinner recipe. I don't mean just like either - I mean they went back for seconds.

This recipe makes it very easy to get picky eaters to like their veggies. It's loaded with cauliflower rice, onions, carrots and red bell peppers. But the recipe is so tasty you don't even know they're there. Best of all, each serving is so much food for very few calories!

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What Makes This Buffalo Chicken Casserole Recipe Healthy

Here's a few more reasons why I love this lighted up buffalo chicken casserole recipe!

• Low Calorie - Calories aren't everything. What makes up the calories is always most important. This recipe is high protein and filled with nutrient dense ingredients making it naturally lower in calories. Each serving is 243 calories and the servings are huge! I recommend adding a salad, legume or grain to serve on the side of this meal to up the calories slightly.
• High Protein - Protein is key for stabilizing hunger and cravings. This recipe has the right amount of protein to keep blood sugar stable and is appropriate for hormonal weight loss.
• Gluten Free - The recipe is naturally gluten free.
• Low Carb - The carbs are lower in this recipe, fiber is moderate and the carbs are coming from nutrient dense sources which is exactly what we want for women over 35 trying to lose weight.
• Paleo / Whole30 - This recipe is easy to customize to make it Paleo and Whole30 friendly. See my substitutions below!

Ingredients To Make Healthy Baked Buffalo Chicken

Here's what you need to make buffalo chicken in the oven! You'll also need a casserole dish and large skillet.

• Chicken Breast (I get mine from ButcherBox) or shredded chicken - options for this below
• Cauliflower Rice, frozen
• Red Bell Pepper
• Carrots
• Onion
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Buffalo Sauce
• Greek yogurt (or dairy-free for Paleo or Whole30)
• Egg Whites
• Garlic Powder
• Dried Parsley

How To Make Shredded Chicken

This chicken casserole uses shredded chicken and you have a few options for choose what works best for you. You can make shredded chicken in the Instant Pot or in a slow cooker like I did in this recipe.

You can also buy a Rotisserie chicken and shred the meat from the bones or buy shredded chicken at the store. Many stores are now selling shredded chicken. Look for these convenient options. They simplify meal time and reduce the effort it takes for you to eat healthy!

How To Make Buffalo Chicken Casserole Low Calorie

Making this chicken casserole with buffalo sauce is super simple. Don't let it intimidate you! If you are short on time, you can prepare everything up to the point of baking, store in a casserole dish then pop in the oven and bake for when meal time comes around.

The other option is to chop the veggies ahead of time and store in the refrigerator to reduce the cooking time at meal time. I use my food processor to roughly pulse the veggies and it save so much time!

Here's how to make the buffalo casserole!

Step One - Prepare the shredded chicken or purchase it as described above.

Step Two - Heat the olive oil in a skillet with the carrots, onions and red bell peppers. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook until the veggies are soft then add the cauliflower rice. Cook another 4-5 minutes.

Step Three - Whisk the egg whites together in a large mixing bowl with the buffalo sauce and Greek yogurt. Toss the shredded chicken in with it. Add the veggies, top with dried parsley and stir.

Step Four - Transfer to a casserole dish and bake!

How To Store Leftover Buffalo Chicken Casserole

You can store leftover buffalo chicken casserole in the refrigerator up 5 days. The leftovers from this meal are crazy delicious! Usually leftovers are a toss up, but this is one dish that the leftovers are very forgiving.

To store your leftovers, you can cover the casserole dish and store in the refrigerator or you can transfer to a storage container.

Can You Freeze Buffalo Chicken Casserole

There’s two ways you can make this buffalo chicken casserole. You can either make it prep everything ahead of time and freeze or freeze leftovers.

To freeze leftovers from oven-baked buffalo chicken casserole, place leftovers in freezer friendly container and store in the freezer up to 30 days. To cook, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat.

To make buffalo casserole ahead of time and freeze, prepare everything up to the point of baking. Transfer to a freezer bag or freezer safe container. When ready to cook, defrost the prepared casserole overnight in the refrigerator then place in a casserole dish bake according to the instructions.

Substitutions For Low Carb Buffalo Chicken

Here's substitutions you can make for this recipe. Remember that when you make substitutions, it will change the nutritional data you see below.

• Chicken - Substitute shredded turkey. Ground chicken or ground turkey would work too - I recommend cooking ground meat with the veggies. Tempeh or tofu could also be easily substituted here.
• Cauliflower Rice - I recommend frozen cauliflower rice for this recipe. If you don't like cauliflower rice, broccoli rice works instead. Quinoa or brown rice could be substituted, but I would recommended adding those things pre-cooked as I have not tested how long that would take to bake in the casserole.
• Buffalo Sauce - Any hot sauce you like works. If you like things less heat, reduce the quantity and replace some with broth.
• Egg Whites - You can omit. Some of you will ask if you can use whole eggs - yes, you would substitute ONE whole egg. HOWEVER, this will decrease the protein and increase the overall calories.
• Greek Yogurt - Any dairy free yogurt substitute will work.

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About Megan

Megan is a certified nutrition practitioner, author, freelance food photographer and fitness instructor living in Phoenix, Arizona. On her blog, Skinny Fitalicious she shares EASY, gluten free recipes for weight loss. Follow Megan on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates.