I ate this for 6 months straight for lunch. It’s that good.

This recipe is full of protein, vitamins, and minerals that’ll leave you full and satisfied for hours.

How to Make a Salad Not Suck

I consider this a bowl recipe, but others can easily consider it a salad. Don’t let that deter you!

There are three key components to making salads fun and we’ll use this recipe as an example of how to make a salad not suck.

Make sure your salad has a protein and/or fat source!
Protein and fats are metabolized much slower compared to carbohydrates. Typically, salads are very carb heavy with their leafy greens and lots of veggies, but it’s missing a protein and fat. The protein and fat will help the salad more satisfying to eat and since they’re digested slower, this will leave you feeling full longer.
In this recipe, we add chicken, blue cheese, and avocado which will contribute to the protein and fat component leaving you nice and satisfied.
Beef up the fiber
Salads are really easy way to dump whatever you’re trying to get rid of in your fridge. Please don’t eat food that is spoiled, though. Something great about salads is you can essentially throw in any veggies you like! The more colorful, the better imo. But primarily because I’m a big “eat with my eyes” person.
In this recipe, we added tomatoes, leafy greens, and red onion. So many colors. Yay!
Make it taste good - add that salad dressing
Salad dressing has been demonized for years, and wrongfully so! Your vegetable intake doesn’t count any less if you add salad dressing. And if it helps you eat your salad, then there’s no harm. Salad’s don’t have to taste bad. Let me say that again. Your salad does not have to suck. Still feeling discouraged? I’ll even give salad dressing that dietitian-approved sticker!
In this recipe, we add blue cheese to our salad. Blue cheese makes everything taste good in my humble opinion.

How to Shred Chicken Quickly

There are two main strategies (that I know of!) to help you quickly shred chicken.

Grab two forks and a good distraction - This is the method I prefer because I dislike washing too many more dishes. I highly recommend finding an episode of a TV show you enjoy, sitting down, and starting to shred. This might take up a bit of time, but the distraction helps.
The quicker way to shred is using a hand mixer! I recommend starting off on the lowest setting so your chicken doesn’t go flying, but this will be much quicker than the forks. Obvi, if you don’t have a hand mixer like I don’t, this option isn’t accessible.

Let's Cook!

Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Bowl

Prep/Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 3-5 servings

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
1-2 tomatoes
1 red onion
1 medium to large-sized avocado
Hot sauce (I prefer Frank's)
1 c quinoa
Leafy greens of your choosing
Blue cheese (I prefer Marzetti’s)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Onion powder
Garlic powder

Instructions for Buffalo Chicken Bowl:

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
Season your chicken breasts with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder - I eyeball the amounts, but make sure both sides are seasoned well.
Bake chicken for 25 minutes.
Add 2 cups of water and a sprinkle of salt to a pot and bring to a bowl.
Once water is boiling, add 1 cup of quinoa to pot, cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 15 minutes.
While your chicken and quinoa is cooking, let’s prep the veggies!
Dice tomatoes, red onion, and avocado into small squares (size is determined by your taste and mouth feel preference).
Once quinoa has cooked for 15 minutes, remove from heat and allow it to see for 10 minutes. Don’t uncover the pot yet!
Once the chicken has cooked, place both chicken breasts into a large bowl and grab two forks to start shredding. I highly recommend watching TV or something on your phone during this to help time pass.
Now we’re ready to make our bowl!
Fluff the quinoa with a fork.
Add quinoa, chicken, and hot sauce to a bowl. I highly recommend mixing this all together.
Add leafy greens, red onion, tomato, avocado, and blue cheese on top.
Enjoy!

Check out my favorite kitchen essentials here!

Buffalo Chicken Bowl Cooking Demo Video:

Comment below and let me know what you think!

Links included in this blog might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission with no additional charge to you. Thank you for your support!