Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

Mother's Day Adventures

I received (at my request) a new slow cooker for Mother's Day.  My TSFL health coach, Carol Roberts, challenged me to make over a buffalo chicken recipe that was too dry.  It was the perfect way to test out my new crock pot.  Because the cooking liquid kept the chicken moist, it did not shrink in weight during cooking.  This would be great on a salad, or in lettuce wraps (photo below). I used two cups of leaf lettuce, which was four leaves by weight, and half a cup of diced celery for added crunch.

This recipe requires the addition of a healthy fat per serving.  I used light blue cheese dressing on my lettuce wraps.  Many buffalo wing recipes include butter to cut the heat of the wing sauce.  You could add 1 tsp of butter or 1 tbsp of light margarine per serving, or a serving of light ranch dressing if you don't care for blue cheese. See the condiment guide for healthy fat options.

Ingredients

18 oz (raw) boneless, skinless chicken breast (3 leans)
1 cup fat free chicken broth (1 condiment)
6 tbsp Frank's RedHot buffalo wing sauce (3 condiments)

Directions

Cook chicken in broth on high in slow cooker for 4 hours.  Depending on your slow cooker, you may need to turn it to low after a couple of hours.  The chicken should be falling apart.  Remove chicken from slow cooker.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and discard the remainder.  Shred the chicken with two forks, or with the slicing blade of a food processor.  Return chicken to crock pot and add reserved cooking liquid and wing sauce.  Mix well.  If serving right away, cook on low for 1 hour.  Otherwise, wait to heat chicken in sauce until ready to serve.

Serves 3
Per serving, 1 lean, 1 condiment
221 calories, 4.0 grams fat, 1279 mg sodium, 0.3 grams carbohydrate, 37.6 grams protein

Complete lean and green meal:  6 oz chicken (1 lean), 1/2 cup sliced celery (1 green), 2 cups leaf lettuce (2 greens), 2 tbsp light bleu cheese dressing (1 healthy fat)

Assembled lettuce wrap