From the roundup: 22 High Protein Slow Cooker Meals That Actually Fill You Up

Three of my five kids will only touch ranch, two will fight over the blue cheese, and somehow crockpot buffalo chicken lettuce wraps end up making everyone happy anyway. I get the chicken breasts into the slow cooker with buffalo sauce, a splash of broth, and a few spices before we leave for school, and by the time afternoon activities wrap up the shredding takes about ten minutes. The one step I never skip anymore is stirring a tablespoon of butter into the sauce right before serving, because it rounds out the sharp vinegar edge without killing the heat. Romaine holds up better than butter lettuce for kids who tend to overstuff their wraps, which at our table is all five of them.

How this one became a regular

The first time I made these, I overcooked the chicken by about an hour because I forgot to set a timer and just assumed it would be fine. It was not fine. The chicken turned into dry, stringy shreds that soaked up all the sauce and tasted mostly like hot vinegar. I added the butter, which helped, but the texture was already gone. Now I check it right at four hours and pull it the moment it shreds easily.

After that I started making it correctly and it became a regular in our rotation, mostly because the leftover chicken is so useful. I reheat it the next day and spoon it over rice for my son who refuses anything in a lettuce cup, and the rest of us still do the wraps. One batch, two lunches covered.

Why you will love this

Only 10 minutes of actual prep before the slow cooker takes over for 4 to 5 hours.
The butter stirred in at the end softens the vinegar heat without making it mild, which matters if you have mixed spice tolerances at your table.
Lettuce cups keep it light and low-carb without needing to swap out any ingredients.
The cooked chicken holds in the fridge for up to 4 days, so it works just as well for packed lunches as it does for dinner.
You can serve it four different ways from one batch: wraps, rice bowls, sliders, or stuffed into a tortilla.

Tips for success

Check the chicken at the 4-hour mark. It should shred easily when you press a spoon down on it. If it does not pull apart yet, give it another 30 minutes, but do not push past 5 hours on low or the texture turns stringy and dry.
Pull the chicken out of the liquid to shred it on a cutting board, not inside the slow cooker. Shredding it in the pot makes it harder to get clean strands, and you end up with uneven pieces.
Stir the shredded chicken back into the sauce before adding the butter so everything gets coated evenly first. Then the butter melts into the whole batch rather than just sitting on top.
Assemble the wraps right before you eat. If you spoon warm chicken into the lettuce leaves too early and let them sit, the heat wilts the lettuce and everything falls apart when you pick it up.

If the sauce turns out too sharp

The tablespoon of butter in the recipe is not optional if your buffalo sauce is very acidic. Stir it in while the chicken is still hot so it fully incorporates.
A small drizzle of honey (about a teaspoon) stirred into the finished chicken pulls back the heat for kids without changing the flavor profile much for adults.
If the sauce looks thin after shredding, leave the slow cooker lid off for 10 to 15 minutes on the warm setting to let some of the liquid cook off before serving.
Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce is specifically called for because it has a consistent vinegar-to-heat ratio. A different brand can change the balance enough to need adjustments.

Substitutions

Boneless skinless chicken thighs work in place of breasts and stay a little juicier, which is useful if your slow cooker runs hot. The cook time stays the same. For a milder version for younger kids, swap half the buffalo sauce for plain tomato sauce or reduce the buffalo sauce to half a cup and add a little extra broth to compensate.

Ranch dressing is a straightforward swap for blue cheese dressing if anyone at your table does not like blue cheese. For a dairy-free version, skip the butter and the cheese topping and use a dairy-free ranch. The chicken itself is already dairy-free before those additions. If lettuce cups are not working, this chicken is just as good spooned over rice, tucked into slider buns, or rolled into a flour tortilla.

Make-ahead and storage

Cook the chicken completely, shred it, and stir it into the sauce. Let it cool for about 20 minutes, then transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Store the lettuce leaves, celery, carrots, and dressing separately so nothing gets soggy before you are ready to eat.

To reheat, warm the chicken in a skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of water or extra buffalo sauce to loosen it up, stirring occasionally. You can also microwave it in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until it is heated through. I do not recommend freezing this one. The shredded chicken takes on a watery texture after thawing and the sauce separates in a way that is hard to fix.

Brittany Stage