Low-Fat Buffalo Chicken Bites

Are you one of the millions discovering and using Pinterest? Pinterest is an online bulletin board where you can "pin" and share your favorite images. This site has become a great resource for recipes. I found this recipe for low-fat buffalo chicken bites there and couldn't wait to try it. 

I had never used buffalo wing sauce but finally settled on Frank's Red Hot Wings Sauce. I was advised at check-out that this was extremely hot so I made a mental note to be cautious. I used the lesser 1/4 cup. It gave a distinctive buffalo flavor, slightly hot, so that amount was just right for me. I passed on the rotisserie chicken, as I was roasting chicken for another dish. Roasting chicken: Brush chicken breasts (skin on) with olive oil and season well with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast in oven at 400-degrees for 40-50 minutes. Cool, then remove and discard skin. This is the best method I've found to yield the juiciest chicken (thanks, Ina!).


For the dip, I used Greek yogurt rather than sour cream to reduce fat and calories and casually picked up a packet of Hidden Valley Dips Mix, the original ranch dressing, as I had warm memories of this from decades past. Yowza! This was so salty that I could not eat it! In fact, one packet = "about" 3,840 mgs sodium. Direct result of not reading label! I will prepare my own in the future.

Low-Fat Buffalo Chicken Bites
Recipe, Eat.Drink.Love
Yield: 4-6

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded
3 ounces fat-free or reduced fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce (depending on how much buffalo flavor you want)
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups panko bread crumbs
Olive oil spray
Optional: 1/4 cup green onion, sliced

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Prepare a large baking sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and the buffalo sauce. Add onion, if using.

2. Add the flour, eggs, and panko to three shallow bowls. Take the chicken mixture and roll into 1 1/2-2 inch balls. Roll each ball in the flour, then the egg, and then the panko. Place on a baking sheet and spray around each ball with olive oil spray (this helps brown the panko crumbs) and bake for about 15 minutes. Turn the balls over and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until they are golden brown. Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping.

I had some mixture left over so I prepared a couple of mini-tacos, browning and heating these in the oven as the chicken bites cooked. These with a glass of low-sodium V8 juice (vegetable serving) made for a great last-minute lunch.