Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps | Whole30 & Paleo
It’s Crocktober and I had this amazing plan that I would gather 30 days of healthy slow cooker recipes. While that isn’t likely to happen this year, I did whip up some delicious slow cooker buffalo chicken! I can’t resist an easy and healthy crockpot recipe, especially when it requires almost zero prep.
These Whole30 buffalo chicken lettuce wraps are always a favorite – and they get bonus points for being super simple, low calorie, low carb, and keto too!
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Whole30 Buffalo Sauce
If you’re following Whole30 or are on the Paleo diet, you’ll need to use compliant sauce. Check the label to make sure there isn’t any added sugar or dairy.
The New Primal makes a good buffalo sauce you can buy, or you can make your own at home!
I sometimes make my own Whole30 buffalo sauce by combining 1 cup of Frank’s Red Hot (note: NOT the wing sauce) with 3 Tbsp ghee. That’s it!
If you aren’t worried about Whole30/Paleo rules, then I recommend Franks’ Red Hot Wing sauce. That stuff is amazing.
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken
This is maybe one of the easiest Whole30 slow cooker recipes I’ve ever made. I put about a pound of boneless skinless chicken breast or boneless skinless chicken thighs in the bottom of the Crockpot. (I used thighs this time because it’s what we had on hand.) Then I pour the buffalo sauce (or the hot sauce/ghee mixture) over the chicken.
Sometimes I warm up the buffalo sauce in the microwave, just to give it a little jump start on getting warm – but that isn’t necessary.
Let the chicken cook on low for about 4-5 hours, depending on your slow cooker’s cooking time. Mine cooks amazingly fast, even on low.
It isn’t pretty, but it tastes BOMB. Can you still say “bomb” at my age? I dunno, but it’s an accurate description of this buffalo chicken.
For those of you who completely stink at planning ahead and want to throw this together when you remember at lunchtime, fret not. I actually used frozen chicken thighs today.
Who can remember to thaw chicken? Not me.
They cooked on high for about 3.5 hours and were done! See? I told you this is an easy recipe!
This is also really easy to make with leftover chicken if you have some on hand. You can just skip the slow cooking step and go straight to adding your spicy buffalo sauce to your cooked chicken. For best results, you’ll want to let the chicken and sauce sit for a while so it absorbs all that buffalo flavor.
Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
You can easily double (or triple) the recipe and cook up a lot of chicken at once. It reheats well and can be used for shredded buffalo chicken salad or sandwiches – whatever you like! I love to make a big batch because it makes it easy to meal prep for the week.
I love to shred the chicken up and put it on romaine lettuce leaves like a wrap. The cool, crisp lettuce and the warm, spicy chicken just go so well together.
You can also use butter lettuce, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, or even iceberg lettuce leaves – Romaine is just a personal favorite.
I top my slow cooker buffalo chicken lettuce wraps with shredded carrots for some added crunch (and extra nutrition).
It would also be delicious with some chopped green onions, diced red onion, bell peppers, or even shredded purple cabbage for some extra color.
Some celery sticks and grape tomatoes on the side help to cool my mouth off too!
These would also be delicious topped with avocado, ranch dressing (whether Paleo or not), or some cheese crumbles if you’re a dairy eater.
Oh! You have to try this.
For tomorrow’s breakfast, whip up an egg over easy. Then toss a big spoonful of the shredded slow cooker buffalo chicken in the pan and put a little crisp on it. (That’s a non-technical cooking term my husband uses.)
Then put your crisped chicken in a bowl with the egg on top and let your mouth be happy.
You’ll thank me later.
Want some veggies with that? Just toss a handful of spinach or kale into the pan while you heat up the chicken. It will help cool off your tongue when the buffalo sauce hits ya!
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps | Whole30 & Paleo
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1 cup buffalo wing sauce (OR use 1 cup Frank's Red Hot and 3 Tbsp ghee if following Whole30)
- 6-8 leaves of romaine lettuce
- shredded carrots to top (optional)
Instructions
- Place chicken in a slow cooker on low.
- Pour buffalo sauce (or hot sauce and ghee mixture) over chicken.
- Cook for 4-6 hours on low or until chicken is tender. (If chicken is frozen, cook on high 3-4 hours or on low 6-8 hours.)
- Shred chicken with two forks.
- Spoon chicken onto lettuce and top with shredded carrots.
- Enjoy!
More Whole30 Recipes
I have an old recipe for Buffalo Chicken Egg Muffins that you might like. It would’ve been great if I had used my slow cooker buffalo chicken to make these when I wrote that post, but I didn’t think of it then.
Can you guess what I’m going to make next? Oh yeah. Those egg muffins.
Want some more Whole30 recipes and meal plans? Check out these other posts for some ideas!
- A Month of Whole30 Recipes
- Transform 20 Meal Plan – Dairy Free, Paleo, Whole30
- Paleo Zuppa Toscana – Whole30 Compliant
- Baked Sweet Potato Apple Cranberry
- Pinterest Paleo Meal Roundup
- Whole30 Meal Plan Week 1 (an oldie, but goodie!)
- Slow Cooker Flank Steak Taco Recipe
- Oven Roast Beef Recipe
- Breakfast Ideas Without Eggs
- Paleo Instant Pot Chili Recipe
MEET AMANDA
Amanda is a mom of 4 living a mostly crunchy lifestyle outside of Atlanta, GA with her husband, 2 dogs, and a cat. As a former special education teacher who also has her personal training certification — Amanda really enjoys teaching others how to do things!
When she’s not working, Amanda enjoys DIY projects, exercising, photography, hiking, and long walks through Target.
