Thursday! The week is more than half over and I am done teaching for the week — anxious to get in the kitchen and get in some good sweat sessions!
Yesterday was great, thank you for all the recognition for National Registered Dietitians Day! I was surprised by my boss with a Vera Bradley mug and cute Vera Bradley paper clips. It was so unexpected and definitely gave me warm fuzzies 😀
Back tracking to Sunday, I served these Slow-Cooker Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches to go with those drool-worthy Soft Pretzel Bites. It was the perfect meal to go with college basketball!
I debated on whether or not to post this recipe. It was good, it just wasn’t what we were expecting and therefore didn’t live up to the Buffalo Chicken Dreams that flood the brains of the Prevention’s. I am going to try another rendition of this recipe idea soon, and hopefully that one will better meet our buffalo chicken needs.
If sweet, tomato-y pulled chicken is your fancy, this is right up your alley!
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Slow-Cooker Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food as seen on What’s Megan Making
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
1/3 cup hot pepper sauce (such as Frank’s)
3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp unsulfured molasses
8 hamburger buns*
Directions:
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add chicken thighs, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring once, until meat is golden brown, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a slow cooker, leaving as much oil behind as possible. Repeat with chicken breasts.
To skillet, add onion, garlic and bell pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until onion is translucent, 6 minutes. Add ¼ cup water and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits from skillet, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to slow cooker.
To slow cooker, add crushed tomatoes, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and molasses. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on high until chicken is very tender, 4 hours. Shred chicken and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve on buns*. Yield: 8 sandwiches.
*Buns not included in nutritional information as many buns vary nutritionally.
Nutrition Information (per serving): 177 calories; 2.8 g. fat; 55 mg. cholesterol; 608 mg. sodium; 9.5 g. carbohydrate; 1.5 g. fiber; 27.4 g. protein
Result: These were good, but not what I was expecting. The tomato and sweet flavors over-powered the buffalo sauce and the heat was not enough for us. The original recipe called for chicken thighs and after trying to trim a pound of chicken thighs, I tossed them. I don’t know if it’s the brand or what, but they were almost half fat. I went with all chicken breasts instead; no regrets, they shred just fine after being slow cooked. I would also omit the browning of the chicken in the pan, also omitting the olive oil. After making the recipe, I don’t think this step is necessary. I thought the combination of ingredients was interesting, and it worked, but I think I’m going to try this Slow Cooker Shredded Buffalo Chicken recipe next. Not our favorite, but still good!
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Lily enjoyed. She even saved some for later 😉
Question: What is the most “popular” fruit in the US?
Have a great day!
I’m going to guess the most popular fruit is the orange!
I’m sorry these dinner quite turn out. They sounded so promising!
The Banana
Apple! What’s more American than apple pie 🙂
I think it’s the banana.
Your pictures always make everything look SO delicious!! Heck, even that food that Lily’s “saving for later” looks mighty tasty 🙂 haha
I didn’t get jack from my boss for national RD day, boo.
I’m making these for W this wknd for him and his friends now! Thanks!
Favorite fruit – has got to be the apple…or banana…
hmmm… depends- do you consider the tomato a fruit? That would be my guess…
The low-spiciness and sweeter flavor may not have won you over entirely, but I bet it would make it a winner w/my son (4.5yo). I might even go in the opposite direction & cut out most of the hot sauce – although I agree that for my grown-up palate, spicy buffalo sauce is preferred!
I’m torn about apple vs banana… I think I read somewhere that it’s banana, so I’ll go with that. Personally? Love’em both!
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Thank you for stopping by and your comment!
This is exactly why I decided to post this recipe…everyone has different tastes, and it really was good! 🙂
My motto is Just Say No when it comes to Buffalo chicken. I can’t just eat a little. I’m pretty sure that, even though this didn’t meet your expectations, I’d devour the entire thing.
I hate when recipes don’t turn out like I plan! Maybe next time! I love buffalo chicken dip so this was a really creative idea!
I’m guessing the banana is the most popular
I’m going to guess the apple!
Apples! There are so many different varieties and easy to eat on the go!
The molasses is an interesting ingredient – I probably would have left that out, like when I make sloppy joes from scratch, I only but a teaspoon of brown sugar for the whole recipe – not a huge fan of sweet meat.
I was going to try to find another recipe for you to try, when I stumbled across this:
http://www.heythattastesgood.com/2010/02/buffalo-chicken-soup.html
I would leave out the onions and use chicken breasts – looks good though!
Hmmmm an apple?
Too bad about the not as expected buffalo chicken. It sounds yummy though! I’ll have to try whichever recipe you find the tastiest. You are a buffalo chicken expert!
Im guessing its either apples or bananas. I cant decide which.
I HATE cooking with chicken thighs. Theyre always too fatty.
I’m going with banana. I think I read it somewhere. Also, can I just say how adorable your dog’s little face is? Love it!
I cracked up at Lily “saving some for later”. So funny.
I’d guess bananas?
My mouth is just watering looking at these pictures. This looks amazing. I try not to eat pork so I am loving this similar pulled pork style of sandwich but with chicken.
I made out pretty well yesterday. My work gave us all gift cards. Totally unexpected but so sweet!
I missed your post on those pretzel bites but I wanted to see so I need to go back and read it. I have been super busy recently and trying to read as many blogs as I can but I am so behind. Good thing I am working on getting caught up now.
I think most popular would be apple, but follows close with banana and orange.