Shredded Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Jul 20, 2016, Updated Aug 26, 2022
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These shredded buffalo chicken tacos are stuffed with spicy, tangy chicken, loaded with hearty broccoli slaw, and sprinkled with feta cheese. A must-have recipe for busy weeknights!
Love hot buffalo flavors? Try my easy buffalo chicken dip and air fryer buffalo shrimp.
I make tacos often (usually once a week), and I love thinking up new ways to fill them. Huevos rancheros tacos, Southwestern tacos, salmon tacos… The limit does not exist. However, these shredded buffalo chicken tacos are one of my family’s favorites. Loaded with spicy, saucy chicken, broccoli slaw, and salty feta, these chicken tacos are a delicious meal that comes together in under 30 minutes.
Here’s What Makes These the Best Buffalo Chicken Tacos
- Bold flavors. Instead of taco meat, I stuff my tortillas with spicy, tangy buffalo chicken and a crunchy slaw made from shredded broccoli, cabbage, and kale.
- Simple shortcuts. I use frozen grilled chicken that’s pre-cooked.
- A mash-up of two family favorites. I LOVE buffalo chicken, and I love my pulled chicken tacos. This recipe brings the two together in a delicious family meal.
- Quick. Like, “8 ingredients and dinner on the table in 30 minutes,” quick. This is the part where you ask me, “How’s that possible?” I’ll tell you!
You’ll Need These Ingredients
These are the ingredients needed to make easy shredded buffalo chicken tacos. Scroll to the recipe card for the printable recipe with amounts and detailed instructions.
- Frozen Chicken Strips or Filets – Get the frozen grilled chicken, not frozen raw chicken, unless you’d like to cook it yourself.
- Buffalo Hot Sauce – Any brand you like. I use Frank’s Red Hot.
- Flour Tortillas – The fajita-size ones are fine, or you could get the street taco size.
Crunchy Broccoli Slaw
- Broccoli – You can shred the broccoli using your food processor or a box grater. If you don’t feel like shredding broccoli, grab a bag of pre-made broccoli slaw!
- Cabbage and Kale – Use shredded red or green cabbage, and chopped curly kale.
- Italian Dressing – Your favorite store-bought dressing or homemade Italian dressing.
- Feta Cheese – Or cheddar crumbled, Colby crumbles, or bleu cheese.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Fresh chicken. If you don’t want to use frozen grilled chicken, make freshly-grilled chicken breast, stovetop chicken breast, or air fryer chicken breast instead. Shred and coat in the buffalo sauce as directed.
- Toppings. While broccoli slaw is our favorite, this recipe would also be great with classic taco toppings, including shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, pico de gallo, and sour cream.
- Different slaw. You could also top your tacos with this red cabbage slaw or the creamy sprout slaw from my smash burgers recipe. See below for more serving suggestions.
- Crunchy tacos. Swap the flour tortillas for crunchy taco shells, warmed in the oven. So good!
- Buffalo burrito bowls. Layer these ingredients over hot cooked rice for a tasty “burrito” bowl during the week.
- Vegetarian. I think you could make a great vegetarian version of these tacos and swap the chicken with air fryer buffalo cauliflower!
What to Serve With Buffalo Chicken Tacos
I like to serve these shredded buffalo chicken tacos with crispy sweet potato wedges, air fryer avocado fries, or fluffy jasmine rice. These spicy corn ribs also go great with buffalo tacos, and for a Tex-Mex twist, try Mexican street corn (elote).
Buffalo chicken tacos are a delicious game day snack paired with more finger foods like creamy corn dip, crispy potato skins, and cream cheese-stuffed peppers.
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Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 19 ounces bag of frozen grilled chicken strips or filets
- 1 cup buffalo wing sauce, (such as Frank’s)
- 10 flour tortillas
For the Broccoli Slaw
- 2 pounds broccoli, (about 1 large head)
- 2 cups chopped curly kale
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- ¼ cup Italian dressing, or to taste
- ½ cup crumbled cotija cheese, or feta cheese
Instructions
- Shred the broccoli. Shred the broccoli (you can use a food processor with the grater disk for this, or shred with a box grater).
- Make the slaw. In a large salad bowl, combine the shredded broccoli, chopped kale, red cabbage, and dressing; mix well and set aside.
- Heat the chicken. Prepare the chicken fillets according to the directions on the bag.
- Shred it. Using two forks, shred the cooked chicken. You can also just cut it up into thin strips. Set aside.
- Heat the buffalo sauce. In a nonstick skillet, add the hot sauce and cook for a minute over medium-high heat.
- Combine. Add shredded chicken to the skillet and coat with the sauce; continue to cook for 1 minute or until everything is heated through. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Rinse out the skillet. Wash and wipe down the nonstick skillet and set it over medium heat.
- Toast the tortillas. Place a tortilla in the pan and cook for 30 seconds or until the tortilla begins to puff. Flip the tortilla, cook for 30 seconds, and remove from heat.
- Assemble the tacos. Assemble the tacos by filling each flour tortilla with prepared chicken, salad, and a sprinkle of feta cheese. Serve warm.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
How to Make Shredded Buffalo Chicken Tacos
The steps are super simple. Toss juicy chicken with hot sauce, shred up the slaw, then assemble! Here’s how to make these buffalo chicken tacos.
- Make the chicken. Once you are ready to start dinner, pop the chicken in the microwave for 4 minutes, or follow the package directions to heat it. Meanwhile, heat the hot sauce in a large skillet. Once the chicken is heated through, add it to the skillet and toss it to coat in the warm hot sauce. Shred and set aside.
- Make the broccoli slaw. While the chicken is cooking, shred your broccoli and toss it with the Italian dressing. Let it sit for a while to absorb the flavor.
- Warm the tortillas. Heat a clean skillet and warm each tortilla for a few seconds on each side. You can also warm them in the microwave, but they won’t be quite as flavorful that way, and they may stick together a bit.
- Assemble the Tacos! Finally, fill your tortillas with shredded chicken, broccoli slaw, and a sprinkle of feta.
- Enjoy. Serve immediately with your favorite sides.
Storing and Reheating Instructions
This recipe is easy to store in the fridge, as long as you keep each component separate in its own bowls or containers, and reheat just fine. Here’s how:
- To store. Pack the cooked chicken and sauce into one container, the salad into another, and the tortillas into a third. Airtight plastic or glass containers are great, or you could use food storage bags. Keep in the fridge for 3 – 4 days. The tortillas will probably keep a little longer than that – just toss them if they seem stale or show any signs of mold.
- To reheat. Place the chicken and sauce in a covered skillet over low heat until warmed through. Don’t overcook, or the chicken will dry out. Re-warm the tortillas in a clean skillet or the microwave.
What a genius idea — I love Buffalo chicken, and I would love one or two of these! 🙂
I love Buffalo anything & everything! These tacos are fab with that kale and cabbage included! Yum!
My family and I love all the buffalo chicken things! I have no clue how I never thought to make buffalo chicken tacos before though. This is genius! 🙂
They look delicious and my mouth is watering though for the sake of ‘authenticity’ I think you have to call them soft (shelled) tacos like Taco Bell does. Although even that isn’t really accurate. 🙂
Yeah, I’m gonna have to make these. Bookmarking…and drooling.
Oh, my dear Kate…you need to embrace the hotness!! These look fantastic 🙂
My kids love tacos and buffalo chicken, so wrapped into one, absolutely!
What a terrific idea for “Buffalo Chicken”, just put it in a taco! Thank you for this great idea and recipe, Kate. And, here’s to finger-lickin’ good eats! xoxo