This little food blog of mine is many things, but one thing that I hope it is becoming is a good resource for game-day recipes. These Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels are a nice twist on classic buffalo chicken flavors but in an easier, hand-held snack.
Make one serving of them or double or triple it for a true game-day party. Trust me that these will go fast and if you do happen to have leftovers, they make a great lunch (so I’m told)!
So umm…. BUFFALO CHICKEN PINWHEELS. They have five main ingredients and there are some shortcuts for even easier pinwheels below. These are truly a fantastic party appetizer. Bookmark them for your next party!
Poaching the Chicken
You need about a pound of chicken for this recipe. If you want to make the recipe even easier, you could actually just grab a rotisserie chicken from your deli and shred that up.
But, if you’re starting from scratch, just poach a few chicken breasts in simmering water. It doesn’t need to be a boil or anything. Normally, I would salt the water for poaching chicken, and you can if you want, but the buffalo sauce also has enough salt in it to make the chicken seasoned.
After 15-20 minutes they should be cooked through (test one though). Then let the chicken cool a bit so you can handle it and shred it with a fork.
After I shred my chicken, I also like to run my knife through it a few times just to make it a finer consistency.
Making the Buffalo Chicken Filling
Now add the chicken back to the pot with some butter and hot sauce! You can use your favorite brand of hot sauce, but I recommend getting one labeled BUFFALO for obvious reasons. Personally, I like frank’s red hot sauce, but there are many brands and feel free to use your favorite.
Stir that chicken mixture together over low heat until the butter is melted and the sauce evenly coats everything.
Now it’s cream cheese time.
At this point you can remove the chicken from the heat and the residual heat will soften the cream cheese so you can stir everything together. You could also transfer the mixture to a bowl with the cream cheese if you wanted to make this a dip rather than pinwheels.
This is a pretty solid buffalo chicken dip with tortilla chips or something just like this!
Making the Pinwheels
I used two different flatbreads for these pinwheels, but you could pretty much use any flavor! You could also use your favorite flour tortillas or wraps.
Just lay out a flatbread and smear on a layer of the buffalo chicken spread.
Then roll it up into a tight pinwheel! You want to roll it so you end up with a longer, thin cylinder rather than a short fat cylinder.
Use a serrated knife to chop these up. That’ll help keep the filling in place and slice through them easier.
A little extra hot sauce and some chopped chives just for good measure. Not totally necessary!
Boom. Delicious buffalo chicken pinwheels are ready to go.
Go Sports!
Making these pinwheels in advance
These buffalo chicken pinwheels can be made in advance, for sure. If you make them more than a few hours in advance though, the wraps might get a bit soggy. That’s not the end of the world and they are definitely still good, but they are best if you eat them within a few hours of making them.
One option for making these in advance is to just make the filling in advance. You could mix up the chicken cream cheese mixture and store it in the fridge. When you are ready for game day, remove the filling from the fridge an hour before and then spread it on your wraps.
This is the best of both worlds. You can make the filling in advance, but the wraps won’t be soggy.
Substitutions and Ideas
There are dozens of substitutions you could do for these pinwheels. Here are a few easy ones!
- Instead of cream cheese, mix in some sharp cheddar cheese or blue cheese for a different flavor profile.
- Spread the filling mixture into a baking dish and bake the filling to make a buffalo chicken dip. A great party appetizer on its own served with chips.
- Roll the filling up in puff pastry and bake it to make flaky buffalo chicken pinwheels.
- Serve the pinwheels with ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing for dipping.
- For a low-fat version, substitution low-fat cream cheese in the mixture.
Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breasts, poached and shredded
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup buffalo hot sauce
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 6 Flatbread wraps
- Chives, garnish (opt.)
Instructions
- Poach chicken breasts in barely simmering water for 15-20 minutes until cooked through. Then cool and shred or finely chop chicken.
- In a medium pot, add butter, shredded chicken, and hot sauce over low heat. Stir together until butter is melted and sauce is evenly coated on chicken. Then remove from heat and stir in cream cheese. Let mixture cool for 10 minutes in the fridge until it thickens.
- Working with one wrap at a time, add about 1/4-1/3 cup of buffalo chicken mix on the wrap. Roll into a tight cylinder and cut into 5-6 even pinwheels. (A serrated knife works best for cutting the pinwheels).
- Serve with an extra drizzle of hot sauce and chopped chives. If you are storing the pinwheels for later, keep them rolled until you serve them and then slice them right before serving.
Karly Campbell
If this it’s the championship game, this is my go-to play. Can’t wait to try these spicy little guys!
Peggy
I’m making this for tomorrow!! Which Frank’s Hot Sauce do you prefer – RedHot Wings Hot Buffalo or the RedHot Wings Buffalo?
Katy K
Everyone needs to make this! The hot sauce (I used Frank’s Red Hot original) has just enough heat to be interesting, but not too spicy. And I’m glad I DID NOT season the chicken while it poached, the sauce was plenty of seasoning. I made the chicken as written, and then after spreading on the tortilla, I added some shredded cabbage, cucumber, and red bell pepper, drizzled on some ranch dressing, and they made a great meal! Thanks for another inspiring recipe!
Dave The Diver
Serve with extra ranch or blue cheese dressing and some celery sticks on the side for a complete buffalo chicken experience. Dave The Diver
Isaiah Tota
The chicken gains a velvety and delectable flavor from the butter! My children were requesting seconds! I plan on making these little guys again this weekend :)
contexto
Wonderful post. This post is one of the best posts according to my point of view. Your work is so good and impressive. Thanks for it .
mapquest directions
This recipe is really easy to make and I did it successfully.