Mini Buffalo Chicken Tacos are an easy-to-make weeknight dinner that the whole family will love! But they also make a delicious party or game day appetizer. Absolutely packed with flavor, you can make the tacos with blue cheese or cheddar depending on your preferences.
It's a brand new year and I'm excited to get back into the kitchen cooking up new recipes for you!
In true celebratory fashion, I'm kicking off the year with buffalo chicken. Because I've found that buffalo chicken is almost always a surefire hit. In any form. But in tacos? There's no better way to start the year!
These mini buffalo chicken tacos are crispy little bites of happiness.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Buffalo chicken!! Tacos!! Mini!! Extra crispy!! What's not to love??
Seriously though, these mini buffalo chicken tacos will be true crowd pleasers whether you're serving them for dinner or as a party or game day appetizer. They're packed with flavor and there are lots of ways you can customize them to your family's tastes.
They're also incredibly easy to make and I even have some additional shortcuts you can take if needed.
Ingredients
You don't need a lot for these crispy mini tacos, but you can add all the toppings you want! I also provide a recipe for homemade blue cheese dressing if you want to make the tacos extra special
Here are all the ingredients you need:
- Garlic powder
- Paprika
- Salt
- Pepper
- Chicken breasts
- Olive oil
- Buffalo sauce
- Street taco-size flour tortillas (or other small tortillas)
- Blue cheese or shredded cheddar
Plus toppings, like:
- Blue cheese dressing (store-bought or with homemade recipe provided)
- Shredded carrots
- Diced avocado
- Diced tomatoes
If you want to make the homemade blue cheese dressing, here's what you need:
- Blue cheese
- Buttermilk
- Sour cream or Greek yogurt
- Minced garlic
- Lemon juice
- Pepper
Can I Use Rotisserie Chicken?
Yes! I show you how to make these buffalo chicken tacos using chicken breasts that you'll cook and shred. But if you want to make them even easier, you can buy a rotisserie chicken and simply shred the chicken and toss it in buffalo sauce.
I'm all about shortcuts when it comes to easy recipes like this!
What Size Tortillas for Mini Tacos?
I love using street taco tortillas for mini tacos as the size is absolutely perfect. Here's what the ones I buy look like:
If you can't find street taco size, just use the smallest tortillas you can find. These are about 4 ½ inches and the next smallest flour tortilla is typically fajita-size, which are 6 inches.
If you prefer to use corn tortillas, you can, but they can be a little bit crumblier and harder to fold over.
What If I Don't Like Blue Cheese?
For me, nothing goes together better than buffalo chicken and blue cheese! But I also totally understand if you're not a fan of it. Or if your kids or other family members don't like it.
No problem! You can easily make these mini buffalo chicken tacos with cheddar cheese instead... Or really, any cheese you want.
It's also easy to make a batch of tacos using a variety of cheeses. When I made this batch of 12, I made half of them with blue cheese and half of them with cheddar. And both were absolutely delicious!
I do find that I need more cheddar than blue cheese, so I recommend using ⅓ cup of crumbled blue cheese or ½ cup shredded cheddar for the tacos. But as always, you can add as much as you want!
How to Make Mini Buffalo Chicken Tacos
To start, rub the chicken breasts with a spice mixture made up of garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat and add the seasoned chicken breasts. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side, turning once, until chicken is just cooked through.
Now, remove the chicken to a cutting board and let it cool slightly so you can touch it.
Using two forks or your hands, shred chicken into a medium bowl.
Add buffalo sauce and toss to fully coat chicken in sauce.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and wrap tortillas in a damp paper towel. Warm the tortillas in the microwave for about 45 seconds to make them more pliable.
Lightly brush both sides of each tortilla with olive oil and set on a baking sheet (or two baking sheets).
Add shredded buffalo chicken to one half of each tortilla.
And top with crumbled crumbled blue cheese.
Or shredded cheddar cheese. Or both. Or the cheese of your choice!
Fold tortilla over to form taco and press firmly to close.
Don't worry if the tortilla keeps popping up on you as you'll be able to press it down once it's been in the oven a bit.
Place the baking sheet in the oven for 6 minutes.
Remove, flip each taco, and return to oven for another 5-6 minutes, until tacos are golden and crispy.
And your mini buffalo chicken tacos are nice and crispy and ready for toppings!
How to Make Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing
This homemade dressing is ridiculously easy to make. Simply, put all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir together.
Chill in fridge for at least an hour before using.
And top mini buffalo chicken tacos with the dressing... Or just serve it as a dipping sauce. You can also serve extra buffalo sauce on the side for dipping, if desired.
What to Serve with Buffalo Chicken Tacos
I like to serve lots of toppings with my mini toppings... Pretty much the same things I'd serve with any tacos or with buffalo chicken. Here are some ideas of what goes well with them:
- Tomatoes
- Avocado or guacamole
- Carrots
- Celery
- Rice
- Black beans
- Corn
- Green salad
Whatever you serve with these mini tacos, you're going to absolutely love them! They're perfectly crispy and packed with delicious buffalo chicken flavor.
They almost taste like they're fried, but they're simple baked with a little olive oil.
If you put a tray of these out at a party, they'll be gone in no time at all. They also make a fabulous game day appetizer and will be crowd pleasers at your Super Bowl party.
More Buffalo Chicken Recipes
I'm a big fan of buffalo chicken and love that it can be enjoyed in so many different recipes! Here are some of my favorites:
- Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese
- Buffalo Chicken Pizza
- Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Pasta
- Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
- Buffalo Chicken Chili
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
- Buffalo Chicken Burrito Bowl
- Buffalo Chicken Dip from The Cozy Cook
These mini buffalo chicken tacos are so easy, you'll likely find yourself making them as a last-minute weekend dinner or a quick appetizer when you have friends coming over to watch the game.
If these made you fall in love with mini crispy tacos, check out my mini crispy lamb tacos, too!
📖 Recipe
Mini Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for tortillas
- ½ cup buffalo sauce (I like Frank's)
- 12 street taco-size flour tortillas (or other small tortillas)
- ⅓ cup crumbled blue cheese or ½ cup shredded cheddar (or cheese of your choice)
- Blue cheese sauce, for topping (recipe below)
- Shredded carrots, for topping
- Diced avocado, for topping
- Diced tomatoes, for topping
Blue Cheese Sauce
- ⅔ cup crumbled blue cheese
- 2 Tbsp buttermilk
- 1 Tbsp sour cream or Greek yogurt
- ½ tsp minced garlic
- ½ tsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix together garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Rub the chicken breasts with the spice mixture evenly on both sides.
- Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken breasts and cook for 4 – 5 minutes per side, turning once, until chicken is just cooked through. Remove chicken to a cutting board and let cool slightly.
- When chicken is cool enough to touch, use two forks (or your hands) to shred. Put shredded chicken in a bowl and add buffalo sauce. Toss to fully coat chicken in sauce.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Wrap tortillas in a damp paper towel and warm in the microwave for about 45 seconds to make them more pliable. Lightly brush both sides of each tortilla with olive oil and set on a baking sheet (or two baking sheets).
- Add shredded buffalo chicken to one half of each tortilla. Top with either crumbled blue cheese or shredded cheddar cheese (or both!). Fold tortilla over to form taco, pressing firmly to close (if tortilla keeps popping up, don't worry too much as you'll be able to press it down after its first round in the oven).
- Place baking sheet(s) in oven for 6 minutes. Remove, flip each taco, and return to oven for another 5-6 minutes, until tacos are golden and crispy.
- Serve mini crispy buffalo chicken tacos with blue cheese sauce, extra buffalo sauce, shredded carrots, diced avocado, and diced tomato, if desired.
Blue Cheese Sauce
- Put all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir together. Chill in fridge for at least an hour before using.
Notes
- If you can't find street taco size tortillas, use the smallest tortillas you can find. You will get fewer than 12 tacos with larger tortillas, unless you increase the amount of chicken you make.
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Sharon says
These look absolutely incredible… I can’t wait to try them…Thanks for posting! 😋