This buffalo chicken spaghetti squash can take you through the week right into game day! It’s a dreamy weeknight meal that everyone absolutely loves.
I mean this is, sort, unofficially, buffalo chicken week. Right? Super bowl week? Let’s pretend.
I’m weirdly excited that this is sort of something to look forward to next weekend. It’s not like we’ve had a ton of that over the last year, so even though I don’t reeeeeally care about the game per se, I’m still into the whole idea of it all.
And the snacks.
Maybe you’re like me and in it for the food AND the amazingness that is Tom Brady (he is life goals). And if so, I have a recipe for you!
Or maybe you just want to make this for dinner tonight. That’s an excellent idea too.
When I was first testing this recipe, I really wanted it to work with chickpeas. Buffalo chickpeas sounded SO good to me in spaghetti squash. It is good, but ultimately not enough texture for me. I think if you made a base of buffalo spaghetti squash, and make my crispy chickpeas separately, they would be perfect on top and add even more texture than this chicken version!
A great alternative if you don’t eat meat, or if, like me, you’re just a major chickpea lover.
Since I’ve been trashing up any and all recipes with buffalo chicken flavoring for over a decade, I’ve come up with the PERFECT (seriously most perfect) combo of flavors that you need.
Best buffalo flavor combo:
Wing sauce, of course. Our go-to is Frank’s buffalo wing (not the regular red hot) and I love to melt it with some butter. It’s best that way.
Sharp cheddar and blue cheese – a mix of both! I use more cheddar than blue, but usually finish things off with crumbled blue. Adds the perfect tang.
Blue cheese dressing and ranch dressing. Either both (my preference), or one or the other, depending on what you have and love. I know that not everyone is a blue cheese freak like I am.
My buffalo wing herb trifecta, which is a combo of cilantro, chives and green onions. All tossed together.
Yes, it sounds crazy, but these things above are what brings the whole buffalo wing combo to life and I swear I can tell if one piece is left out of the puzzle. Swear it!
Of course, you can change them up based on your preferences, what you have and what you love.
Now that I’ve officially revealed myself as a buffalo wing sauce freak, let’s talk about the actual recipe. Duh.
We adore spaghetti squash in this house. I never look at it as a replacement for pasta or anything – we just really love it regularly! This spaghetti squash parmesan and broccoli cheese spaghetti squash are weeknight faves.
Love them!
My go-to method for stuffing it with whatever flavor my heart desires? Slice it, remove the seeds, bake the halves and then scrape the strands to get a head start. This means that whatever you stuff it with will be all incorporated with the squash and you’ll get perfect bites that include everything. I always choose to eat it out of the squash “bowl,” but you can always scrape out the strands and top it with the buffalo wing fixings, like I do with this lemon butter spaghetti squash.
If you’re in the mood to buffalo wing all the things, a few of my favorites are this buffalo chicken soup, buffalo cauliflower soup, buffalo chicken guacamole pizza, buffalo chicken chili, grilled buffalo chicken sandwiches, buffalo cauliflower lettuce cups, buffalo wing shrimp with blue cheese grits, grilled buffalo caesar salad, buffalo chicken french breads or this loaded buffalo wing dip.
And that barely scratches the surface.
What I love about this squash is that it’s such a great weeknight meal. So filling and satisfying. In a pinch you could use rotisserie chicken and if you want to make it more bar-food like, use frozen popcorn chicken that is extra crispy, tossed in sauce.
So good and DELISH!
Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash
Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
- 2 whole spaghetti squash
- 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
- kosher salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
- ⅓ cup buffalo wing sauce, plus more for drizzling
- 6 green onions, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing, or a mixture of both
- 1 cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese
- ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 3 tablespoons chopped chives
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick spray.
- Slice the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scrape out the sides. Brush the cut sides with olive oil. Place the squash cut-side down on a baking sheet. Roast for 25 minutes.
- While the squash is roasting, make the chicken. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the butter. Sprinkle the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Place it in the skillet and brown on all sides, cooking through, about 5 to 6 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and drizzle in the ½ cup buffalo wing sauce. Sprinkle in half of the sliced scallions. Toss to coat then turn off the heat.
- When the squash are done, remove the baking sheet and flip the squash over. Use a fork to scrape some of the squash up. Season the squash with a pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle on some buffalo wing sauce and blue cheese dressing or ranch, if you wish. Sprinkle on a little bit of cheddar. Next, layer on the chicken and divide the pieces evenly between the squash.
- Top with the remaining cheddar and the blue cheese. Place back in the oven and cook for another 15 minutes, until all the cheese is bubbly and warm.
- Remove the squash from the oven. Stir together the remaining green onions, cilantro and chives. Sprinkle them all over the squash. Drizzle with more wing sauce if you'd like and top with crumbled blue cheese if you wish. Serve!
- These are delish for lunch/dinner leftovers too. I simply wrap the entire squash in foil and refrigerate. Then I reheat in a low oven (like 300 degrees) for 20 minutes or so until warm.
I am convinced!
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