Baked Buffalo Chicken (with Melted Blue Cheese)
This tasty Baked Buffalo Chicken features well-trimmed chicken thighs baked in a spicy buffalo sauce and topped with melted blue cheese! And anyone who likes chicken and Frank’s Red Hot Sauce is going to love this for an easy low-carb dinner.
PIN the Baked Buffalo Chicken to make it later.
If you like Buffalo Wings, you’ll probably love this Baked Buffalo Chicken that has the same flavors as the wings and features melted blue cheese to kick it up a notch! This dinner idea is a treat for low-carb eaters who like buffalo sauce, and I’m recommending it for my Friday Favorites pick for this week!
And you might see more recipes here with chicken thighs, because figuring out how easy it is to use Kitchen Shears (affiliate link) to trim the chicken thighs has made me a lot more interested in cooking them. For this recipe I used kitchen shears to cut away the skin and most of the fatty parts that are on the underneath side of the thighs. And since I mastered that technique, I’ve become a fan of inexpensive chicken thighs for a quick dinner.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- skin-on-bone-in chicken thighs
- salt and fresh-ground black pepper
- Poultry Seasoning (affiliate link)
- crumbled blue cheese
- Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (affiliate link)
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- Worcestershire Sauce, or Gluten-Free Worcestershire Sauce (affiliate link)
- Garlic Powder (affiliate link)
- Onion Powder (affiliate link)
- Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link), probably optional, but good
- yellow mustard
- Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link), or sweetener of your choice
Why is it called Buffalo Chicken?
The idea for a dish of chicken wings with spicy red hot sauce that’s often served with blue cheese dip was invented in Buffalo, New York so it became known as Buffalo Wings. Now there are many types of products and recipes with some variation of the name Buffalo Chicken.
Why I use Frank’s Red Hot Sauce for this Baked Buffalo Chicken:
I was excited when I realized that Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (affiliate link) had zero carbs, and now I love it not only for the spicy Buffalo Sauce flavor but also for the way it can help make a dish that’s extra low in carbs! And there are more recipes using Frank’s Red Hot Sauce on my blog, for anyone else who’s also a fan of this spicy sauce.
What if you’re not a fan of blue cheese?
You could make this Baked Buffalo Chicken without blue cheese if you don’t like that pungent cheese or don’t have it in the house, or use another crumbly cheese like Feta or Cotija if you have that!
How low in carbs is the Baked Buffalo Chicken?
This delicious Buffalo chicken with blue cheese only has 4 net carbs per serving!
Want even more low-carb dinner ideas with Buffalo Chicken flavors?
If you’re a Buffalo Chicken fan and an Instant Pot fan, you might want to check out Low-Carb Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Recipes on my Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker site!
How to make Baked Buffalo Chicken (with Melted Blue Cheese):
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)>
- I use Kitchen Shears to remove the skin and trim away fat from the bone-in thighs, or leave a bit more fat, your choice.
- Sprinkle thighs with salt, pepper, and Poultry Seasoning (affiliate link) and bake top-side up for 15 minutes.
- While thighs bake, whisk together Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (affiliate link), olive oil, Worcestershire Sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link), yellow mustard, and a tiny bit of sweetener to make the sauce.
- Turn chicken over, brush with half the sauce, and bake 10 minutes more.
- Then turn the chicken top-side-up again, brush with the remaining sauce and bake 10 minutes more.
- Sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese and bake 10 minutes more and you’re ready to eat!
More Delicious Baked Chicken Recipes:
Baked Buffalo Chicken (with Melted Blue Cheese)
This Baked Buffalo Chicken is a great low-carb dinner that features well-trimmed chicken thighs baked in a spicy buffalo sauce and topped with melted blue cheese!
Ingredients
- 10 skin-on-bone-in chicken thighs (or buy bone-in skinless thighs if you can find them)
- salt and fresh-ground black pepper to season chicken
- 1 tsp. dried Poultry Seasoning
- 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese (or a little more)
Sauce Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
- 1 1/2 T olive oil
- 1 1/2 T Worcestershire Sauce (Look for gluten-free Worcestershire if needed)
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1-2 tsp. Green Tabasco Sauce (probably optional, but this does add another dimension of flavor)
- 2 tsp. yellow mustard
- 1 T Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (or sweetener of your choice)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Spray a glass or crockery baking dish with olive oil or non-stick spray. (I used a dish that was about 9″ x 13″ but any dish that will fit the chicken thighs in a single layer will work.)
- Use Kitchen Shears (affiliate link) or a sharp knife to remove the skin and trim away fat from the thighs, paying special attention to the pocket of fat on the underneath side. (I save the skin and chicken scraps to make homemade chicken stock.)
- Put the chicken thigh top-side up in the baking dish and season with salt, fresh-ground black pepper, and the dried poultry seasoning.
- Bake chicken 15 minutes while you whisk together the Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (affiliate link), olive oil, Worcestershire Sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link), yellow mustard, and Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or other sweetener to make the sauce.
- After initial 15 minutes, turn the chicken pieces over, and brush with half the sauce mixture, and bake chicken 10 minutes more.
- Then turn chicken again (so top side is up again) and brush with the remaining sauce and bake another 10 minutes.
- Remove blue cheese from fridge and crumble apart. When chicken has baked 10 minutes with the sauce on the top side, sprinkle blue cheese over the chicken and bake 10 minutes more. Serve hot.
Notes
I originally made this Baked Buffalo Chicken dish with a small amount of brown sugar, but now I'd use Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link).
Recipe created by Kalyn and Jake with inspiration from Sweet and Spicy Baked Sriracha Chicken Thighs.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 215Total Fat 16gSaturated Fat 5gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 70mgSodium 995mgCarbohydrates 4gFiber 0gSugar 1gProtein 15g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Baked Buffalo Chicken recipe is perfect for low-carb or Keto eating plans, since Franks Red Hot Sauce has zero carbs. The original South Beach Diet doesn’t recommend chicken thighs because of the fat content, but since I realized that you really can trim them well using kitchen shears I’ve been considering them an acceptable choice for an occasional treat for South Beach, and they cook perfectly in a recipe like this where boneless skinless breast meat might get dried out.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Oven Dinners to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, ;on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This Baked Buffalo Chicken (with Melted Blue Cheese) was first posted March 2015. The recipe was updated with nutritional information and other improvements in March 2020 and was last updated in 2024.
27 Comments on “Baked Buffalo Chicken (with Melted Blue Cheese)”
Has anyone tried this with boneless skinless chicken breast? It’s all I have available….
I think you can make it with those, but chicken breasts tend to dry out more in the oven. Breasts also sometimes release liquid that you’d have to spoon out of the dish.
I haven’t made it with chicken breasts, but I’d probably only cook 6-7 minutes before I turn the chicken over and put the sauce on, and then I’d start checking every few minutes after about 25 minutes. If you have an instant-read cooking thermometer, take them out as soon as it reaches 165F.
I’d love to hear how this goes. Maybe read comments to see if anyone else has tried it too.
Would this be okay to make with the skin on? Thank you!
I haven’t done it that way but I think it should be fine!
This was really great. My husband ate blue cheese for the first time on this chicken….he loved it. Good recipe!
Thanks Sherry; so glad to hear you enjoyed it! And I love that I was able to get your husband to enjoy blue cheese!
Love this, especially the leftovers. I serve it with greens and it reheats well.
So glad you’re enjoying it!
Hi can you use chicken breasts instead? I love thighs but my husband is not a fan of them. Thanks
I haven't made this with breasts, and I chose thighs because they stay moist better when they're baked like this. You can probably make it with breasts if you pound to an even thickness and take care not to overcook. Love to hear how that works for you!
If using boneless chicken thighs how would you adjust cook time?
The cooking time will be a bit shorter with boneless thighs, but without trying it I couldn't say exactly how much shorter, sorry!
I am a novice and want to make this but I am confused. You said to take shears or knife and remove skin and fat. Then on at least two occasions you referred to the skin side?
The top of the chicken where there is the most skin is what I am referring to when I say "skin side up." Sorry that was confusing.
I'm new to low-carb eating and a more experienced friend shared this recipe with me. I know this might be a ridiculous question, but could you tell me how you would rate this on the heat scale? I can't tolerate overly spicy foods and I'm thinking with two sources of heat this recipe might be more than I can handle. 🙂
I would rate it only slightly hot, but everyone has a different tolerance for hot foods. You can definitely leave out the Green Tabasco Sauce, maybe taste the sauce without it and see what you think. When it's cooked the Frank's sauce is milder than if you taste it right out of the bottle. Hope that helps.
And Grace, there are no ridiculous questions; no worries!
Thank you for posting!! I used this as the launching pad for dinner last night. I had a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Wing Sauce in the fridge and used that over the chicken. When serving (since I didn't have Blue Cheese) topped with some of the sauce and a little Ranch dressing. SO good!! 🙂
Good job improvising; so glad you liked it!
Thanks for sharing all of your great ideas and information. Your site is a regular "go to" for me.
My pleasure Marilee! So glad you are enjoying the site!
This is a dish I could totally go for, I love buffalo style chicken. Frank's Red Hot Sauce is my favorite hot sauce too!
Thanks Stephanie! Come and visit and I'll cook it for you!
Any recipe that calls for two kinds of hot sauce wins my heart!
Lydia, I'm a new fan of Frank's Red Hot Sauce!
Yum! Can't wait to try this! My boyfriend loves Frank's
Thanks Mi! Hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did!