Easy Vegan Salads ~ Buffalo Chicken Salad

Salads are…everything. They are a great way to fill your bowl with vitamins and minerals, making sure you get all the nutrients your body needs to stay fit and healthy. It’s also a low calorie way to sprinkle in some of the things you love–and miss–in your effort to eat better.

I love to make salad a mainstay in my diet, adding things like ramen noodles, quinoa, couscous and even bulgur (check out my Pesto & Chickpea Tabbouleh Salad recipe). You get the carbs and therefore the energy you need to satisfy your hunger, while still eating healthy. Or like today’s vegan recipe, you get to add something delicious like a spicy buffalo sauce on your favorite vegan alternative such as TVP, tofu, seitan or tempeh.

What I’m trying to say is that salads are a great way to have the best of both worlds, eating healthy and getting some of the foods you’ve put on your no-no list.

This vegan salad recipe is easy, relatively quick and wickedly delicious. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to add buffalo vegan chicken to salad. I must be crazy!

You know the drill when it comes to salads, the first thing you need to do is chop and weigh your lettuce so you can wash it. I prefer a salad spinner because it’s does all the hard work and all I have to do is spin it.

Once that is done, gather the remainder of your ingredients. This recipe and the ingredients below is for 2 servings so decrease or increase as needed.

Ingredients for vegan buffalo chicken salad.

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Chop the cucumber, carrot, tomato, bell peppers and scallions and add to your salad bowl, after weighing them all, of course.

If you want to keep it simple for your TVP or other vegan meat alternative, I used Frank’s Hot Sauce (which is accidentally vegan) for my buffalo sauce with a few drops of vinegar and lemon juice stirred in. Toss your vegan chicken in the sauce and warm in the oven.

For your vegan salad dressing, add your favorite herbs and spices to your chosen brand of vegan yogurt, also known as veggiegurt. If you’re feeling traditional go with ranch seasonings, or add pesto for something herby and creamy. Just beware that many of the ranch seasoning packets have milk powder or lactose in them.

Toss the salad with the vegan salad dressing and top with your buffalo sauce coated vegan protein and…ENJOY!

And the best part of all? This vegan salad recipe is very calorie friendly. VERY.