Name: Boneless Buffalo Chicken "Wings"
Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Yield: 6–8 appetizer servings
Ingredients: 2 cups buttermilk; 2 tablespoons hot sauce (preferably Frank's); 2 tablespoons kosher salt, divided, plus more; 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise into 1" strips; 3 cups all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons garlic powder; 1 tablespoon paprika; 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper; 5 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1/2 cup hot sauce (preferably Frank's); 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup; 1/2 cup sour cream; 1/4 cup buttermilk; 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 2 tablespoons chopped chives, divided; Vegetable oil (for frying); 4 celery stalks, cut crosswise into 4–5" pieces; A deep-fry thermometer

Photo of boneless buffalo wings chicken recipe shown on an oval platter with celery sticks and dip.

Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Kate Schmidt

Active Time
1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 30 minutes

These fried and sauced chicken breast strips have all the spicy flavor of Buffalo wings—without the hassle of bones. Serve them with a tangy blue cheese dip and celery sticks and you'll never choose bone-in wings again! Don't want to deal with a fryer? Check out our recipe for Crispy Baked Chicken Wings instead.

Ingredients

6–8 appetizer servings

For the boneless wings:

2 cups buttermilk

2 tablespoons hot sauce (preferably Frank's)

2 tablespoons kosher salt, divided, plus more

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise into 1" strips

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

For the hot sauce:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup hot sauce (preferably Frank's)

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

For the blue cheese dip:

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons chopped chives, divided

For frying and serving:

Vegetable oil (for frying)

4 celery stalks, cut crosswise into 4–5" pieces

Special Equipment

A deep-fry thermometer

Preparation

Prep the chicken:
Step 1
Stir buttermilk, hot sauce, and 1 Tbsp. salt in a wide, shallow bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat.
Step 2
Mix flour, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, black pepper, and remaining 1 Tbsp. salt in a large bowl.
Step 3
Working in batches, transfer chicken to bowl with flour mixture. Toss to coat, then transfer to a rimmed baking sheet or large platter. Working in batches again, dip in buttermilk mixture, allow excess to drip off, then dip again in flour mixture. Transfer back to baking sheet and chill at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours.
For the hot sauce:
Step 4
Meanwhile, cook butter, hot sauce, and maple syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until butter is melted and mixture is smooth.
For the blue cheese dip:
Step 5
Whisk sour cream, buttermilk, blue cheese, pepper, salt, and 1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. chives in a small bowl. Top with remaining 1 tsp. chives.
Fry the chicken:
Step 6
Preheat oven to 250°F. Set a wire rack over another rimmed baking sheet.
Step 7
Pour oil into a large heavy pot fitted with thermometer to a depth of 2". Heat over medium-high until thermometer registers 350°F. Working in batches, fry chicken, turning occasionally, until crispy and golden brown and an instant-read thermometer registers 165°F, 4–6 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken to prepared wire rack, season with salt, and keep warm in oven.
Step 8
Right before serving, transfer fried chicken to a large bowl. Pour hot sauce mixture over and gently turn with tongs until coated. Serve with blue cheese dip and celery sticks alongside.

Leave a Review

Reviews (11)

My sons loved this!! It was if we got them in our local bar/restaurant!
- Kim
- Massapequa, New York
- 2/5/2022
These were great! I am very sensitive to hot spices, but even I liked these. My very picky grandson inhaled them, assisted by his Dad. They ate most of the 2 pound batch, and took the rest home! I did brine the chicken for about 8 hours, then marinated them in a favorite BBQ sauce overnight. Cooked them in a deep fryer. Instead of the special hot sauce in the recipe, I used our BBQ sauce. I omitted the celery sticks, and the Blue cheese dip was ignored. Excellent and a big hit! Thanks for the recipe.
- Doctor Grandma Jeannie
- Stuart, Virginia, USA
- 12/10/2021
We loved these. Made them for Superbowl.
- rahappygirl1
- League City, TX
- 9/4/2020
Tell LEXI57 , You Don't Know That Chicken Wing's Are WHITE MEAT !!!
- lillythedog
- Kansas City MO,
- 8/5/2019
Great, not too spicy
- cat54
- Hartland, MI
- 2/4/2019
Amazing, feel better after eating juicy meaty tasty buffalo chicken strips. I used my only favourite spice mixes to spice up flour with salt and pepper, salted slightly the chicken breast strips before dipping in buttermilk and hot sauce, hot sauce mixture as recipe says and used a tablespoon of chunky blue cheese dressing instead of blue cheese and it was the bomb. All gone in a heart bear, maybe better than wings because so juicy & meaty!!
- jamcleod
- 2/4/2019
This was fantastic! I used chicken breasts and it was nice and juicy since you're dipping the chicken in the buttermilk & batter twice and then frying it to seal in the moisture similar to Asian style cooking where you toss the meat in cornstarch. I'm fond of Rhoda Boone's recipes as we seem to share similar tastes and I've used several of her recipes which are in regular rotation. My wife, the foodie, complimented me on a delicious dinner. I made it kid friendly, so I omitted the hot sauce in the marinade, wing sauce and blue cheese dip and sans cayenne. I didn't have blue cheese, so I ended up with a buttermilk/ranch sauce which was still a home run. I added some Frank's Hot Sauce to my buttermilk/ranch sauce on the side which was just amazing. We (I) almost finished all the chicken as I couldn't stop eating it. I used only about 1" of vegetable oil which was more than deep enough. Next time I'd use maybe 2-2 1/2 cups of flour instead of 3. This is definitely one for the books.
- francis_t
- Toronto, Canada
- 2/12/2018
Very tasty! I often do a similar version but, to be even healthier bake in the oven. Wings and breasts are white meat so similar taste without all the unnecessary fat. Of course these are amazing, can't beat deep fat frying for flavor.
- cawines
- California
- 2/4/2018
Haven't made these, but if I did I would at least use boneless thighs, not breasts. Chicken wings are dark meat after all. I still think you can't beat the real thing with this recipe. Wings are the sweetest meat of the chicken.
- lexi57
- Emeryville. CA
- 2/3/2018
We call them chicken fingers or schnitzel fingers. Call them whatever you like--- Just know that they are not wings. Dipping breaded fried food into a delicious sauce will almost always give a satisfying outcome, but unless its a wing with bone and fat and skin and meat its not a wing!!!
- Anonymous
- Israel
- 9/3/2017
Easy and very tasty. We also brined the chicken before dredging which resulted in very juicy boneless wings. The buffalo sauce was very good - the maple syrup gave it a great depth of flavor.
- Anonymous
- Denver, CO
- 8/7/2017