Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
All the flavors you love from buffalo wings without all the added fat. Making shredded buffalo chicken in the slow cooker is super easy, anyone can do this and you can use the chicken for everything from wraps and salads, to pizza toppings, sandwiches and more! A great low-carb, gf way I like to eat this is in a lettuce wrap topped with shredded carrots, celery and blue cheese dressing. I used my skinny blue cheese dressing or if you're not a fan of blue cheese, you can use my skinny ranch.
All the flavors you love from buffalo wings without all the added fat. Making shredded buffalo chicken in the slow cooker is super easy, anyone can do this and you can use the chicken for everything from wraps and salads, to pizza toppings, sandwiches and more! A great low-carb, gf way I like to eat this is in a lettuce wrap topped with shredded carrots, celery and blue cheese dressing. I used my skinny blue cheese dressing or if you're not a fan of blue cheese, you can use my skinny ranch.
- Carbohydrate 4.17623333333333 g
- Cholesterol 65.770893592 mg
- Fat 1.52806967909333 g
- Fiber 1.32766666253408 g
- Protein 26.7285362018267 g
- Saturated Fat 0.39904370492 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Recipe (251g)
- Sodium 115.402093393333 mg
- Sugar 2.84856667079926 g
- Trans Fat 0.401162038253334 g
- Calories 144 calories
Step-by-step
- In a crock pot, combine chicken, onions, celery stalk, garlic and broth (enough to cover your chicken, use water if the can of broth isn't enough). Cover and cook on high 4 hours.
- Remove the chicken from pot, reserve 1/2 cup broth and discard the rest. Shred the chicken with two forks, return to the slow cooker with the 1/2 cup broth and the hot sauce and set to on high for an additional 30 minutes. Makes 3 cups chicken.
- To prepare lettuce cups, place 1/2 cup buffalo chicken in each leaf, top with 1/4 cup shredded carrots, celery and dressing of your choice. Wrap up and start eating!
Shredded poultry cooked in a slow cooker achieves ideal tenderness only when the muscle fibers completely relax around 165 degrees Fahrenheit and retain enough internal moisture to prevent stringiness. Liquid volume matters significantly during this prolonged heat application. Submerging the 24 ounces of boneless breasts entirely in broth prevents the outer layers from drying out during the initial four-hour high-heat phase. Discarding excess cooking liquid before adding the hot sauce ensures the final sauce concentration sticks to the meat rather than pooling at the bottom of the vessel. Double or halve the batch easily by maintaining the core ratio of one-half cup of hot sauce per three cups of shredded protein, adjusting total liquid levels just enough to submerge the meat.
Judging Doneness Without a Thermometer
Visual and tactile cues replace probe thermometers reliably in slow cooking. Two forks pulled through the thickest part of the breast should encounter zero resistance, separating the fibers effortlessly into fine strands. Resistance indicates unrendered collagen requiring another thirty minutes of heat. Excess liquid pooling in the bowl signals the need to drain further before applying vinegar-based hot sauces, protecting the structural integrity of the lettuce leaves from premature wilting.
- Water substitutes safely for broth if canned stocks run short, provided extra aromatics like onion and garlic remain in the pot.
- Bibb lettuce leaves offer a pliable, cupped structure that holds heavy fillings without tearing compared to crisper iceberg varieties.
