Spicy Buffalo Chicken Potato Bake

This is a new favorite in our home when we are craving anything buffalo. It’s like if buffalo chicken dip and crispy breakfast home fries had a baby. But it’s waaaaay less fat than a traditional buffalo chicken dip! Yay!

It does take some time to let the potatoes cook, but overall this is a very easy meal. Serves 6, we eat it for dinner one night and have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Be warned… this is SPICY. The sauce really seeps into the potatoes during baking. So if you’re not a fan of spice, add less buffalo sauce and/or more ranch.

Easy substitutions would include different types of potatoes, although we enjoy the red bliss and we always keep the skin on those. If you are using other types of potatoes, I would peel the skin. You can use blue cheese dressing instead of ranch if that’s your preference. You can also make it lighter by using reduced fat cheese.

The perfect bite of this dish is a spicy, cheesy piece of chicken and potato with a touch of ranch, bacon & scallion.

Ingredients:

-2 lbs. red potatoes (5-6 medium sized), cut into similar sized pieces

-2 tbsp. olive oil

-1/2 cup Franks buffalo wing sauce

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 tbsp. garlic powder

-1 tbsp. paprika

-pepper to taste

-8-10 oz. (about 2 breasts) chicken, cubed into bite sized pieces

-1/4 cup creamy ranch dressing

-8 oz. shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese

-6 slices pre-cooked thick cut bacon (microwavable kind), crumbled

-2 tbsp. scallions

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400*

2. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with PAM

3. Cut potatoes into same sized pieces to ensure even cooking

4. Add ingredients from olive oil to pepper into a deep bowl & stir

5. Toss potatoes in sauce, transfer to 9 x 13 baking dish

6. Drizzle what’s left of sauce over potatoes in dish

7. Bake for 20 minutes, stir

8. Bake for 20 more minutes

9. While potatoes are baking, sauté cubed chicken on stove top. Season with garlic powder and pepper

10. When chicken is cooked through, toss the pieces in a bowl with more buffalo sauce

11. Microwave bacon slices until crispy, remove & crumble with hands

12. When potatoes are cooked, remove baking dish from oven

13. Give potatoes one more stir, and top with chicken

14. Drizzle ranch over chicken and potatoes

15. Add cheese, bacon bits and scallion

16. Return to oven for 5-7 minutes to melt cheese. Broil at end if desired.

17. Let sit, it will be HOT. Serve & enjoy!