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Create a healthier version of your favorite comfort food with this Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf. It’s a low calorie meatloaf that’s also low-carb, low-sugar, gluten-free, and Paleo, and it’s just as tender and delicious as classic meatloaf recipes!
It’s hard not to love a buffalo chicken recipe! Spicy buffalo sauce paired with tender chicken is always a winner, and this meatloaf is no exception. It only takes 6 ingredients and is a simple meal to put together for dinner or to prepare and save for later. It’s definitely going to be part of your regular dinner rotation.
If you like healthy meatloaf recipes, you will also love my carrot and zucchini meatloaf and ground turkey meatloaf!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Great for Making Ahead or Meal Prep: Prepare this buffalo meatloaf in advance and keep it in the fridge, or make an extra meatloaf and store it in the freezer for an easy meal when life gets busy.
- Comfort Food Made Healthier: If you grew up loving your mother’s meatloaf, but wish it were healthier, this recipe is for you! This meatloaf with chicken is low-carb, gluten-free, and low-sugar, but is still packed with amazing flavor.
- Only 6 Ingredients: This simple buffalo meatloaf recipe is only 6 ingredients: ground chicken, buffalo sauce, almond flour, egg, celery, and a blend of spices.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Ground Chicken: Be sure to use lean ground chicken and not extra lean, or your ground chicken meatloaf will turn out dry.
- Egg: The egg acts as a binder to hold the meatloaf together and keep it moist.
- Almond Flour: This recipe is low-carb because it uses almond flour instead of breadcrumbs like traditional meatloaf.
- Buffalo Sauce: This Paleo-friendly buffalo chicken meatloaf recipe uses sugar-free buffalo sauce. If you don’t need the recipe to be Paleo, then use your favorite buffalo sauce instead. Try my healthy buffalo chicken recipe too!
- Spices: A blend of paprika, onion powder, and garlic flour infuses flavor into the chicken, making this a flavorful meal.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations & Dietary Modifications
- Use Lean Ground Meat: If you don’t have ground chicken, you can make this buffalo meatloaf recipe with ground turkey or lean ground meat.
- Add Cheese: Add gorgonzola or blue cheese crumbles when mixing the ingredients for this buffalo chicken meatloaf to add more cheesy flavor. You can also add shredded low-fat cheddar cheese into the meatloaf mix.
- Make It Spicy: If buffalo sauce doesn’t have enough kick for you, add extra hot sauce on top of the loaf before baking. You can also mix diced jalapeños directly into the ground chicken mixture.
- Try Smaller Servings: Divide your loaf into 3 mini meatloaves if you’re feeding 1 or 2 people, then you can freeze the other loaves for later. You can also make ground chicken meatloaf cupcakes or buffalo chicken meatballs to serve at parties. Just be sure to reduce the cooking time accordingly as smaller portions will cook more quickly.
- Gluten Free: If you have a nut allergy, you can swap the almond flour one for one with a gluten-free baking flour or gluten-free oat flour. It will be just as tasty! The recipe is very easy to make swaps with.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf
This is the best ground chicken meatloaf recipe because it is flavorful, moist, and easy to make! All you need is a lined loaf pan and an oven preheated to 350°F.
Step 1: Sauté the Celery. Dice the celery and add it to a small skillet over medium heat. Sauté the celery for 4-5 minutes until it becomes tender. Set it aside for later.
Step 2: Scramble the Egg. Whisk together the egg, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika in a large mixing bowl.
Step 3: Make the Meatloaf. Add the ground chicken, buffalo sauce, and almond flour to the bowl. Use your hands to combine the ingredients until they are well incorporated.
Step 4: Transfer to a Loaf Pan. Transfer the raw mixture to your prepared loaf pan and bake it at 350°F for about 60 minutes. Once fully cooked, let rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving with some low calorie mashed potatoes.
Expert Tips
- Line the Pan with Parchment Paper: Make the meatloaf easy to remove by lining your loaf pan with parchment paper. Cut a sheet of parchment paper the same length as your pan, but double the width. Then you can easily grab the excess parchment paper and lift your meatloaf out of the pan to slice it.
- Fully Cook the Meatloaf: Chicken needs to reach an internal temperature of 165°F to be fully cooked. Use a meat thermometer to monitor the temperature of the meatloaf to ensure it is fully cooked, but not overcooked.
- Resting is Important: It’s necessary to let the meatloaf sit in the loaf pan for 15 minutes. This allows the meat to reabsorb the juices, which results in a more tender and moist meatloaf.
- Storing: Cut any leftover buffalo meatloaf into slices and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can wrap and freeze the entire meatloaf for up to 3 months.
Serving Suggestions
This easy ground chicken meatloaf recipe is the perfect healthy version of a beloved comfort food. It is flavorful, moist, and better for you than traditional meatloaf. This buffalo version is great for converting into bite-sized servings for parties or smaller portions for meal prep. However you prepare it, this is sure to become part of your regular meal rotation!
- While the meatloaf bakes, toss together a quick salad to go with it. This broccoli and cauliflower salad or Brussels sprouts sweet potato salad can add the perfect crunch to the meal. Or you can keep it simple with a basic Caesar salad.
- Mashed potatoes are always a staple with meatloaf growing up, but you can keep the meal low-carb by serving it with cauliflower mashed potatoes instead.
- Keep your sides low-effort with some roasted broccoli and sweet potato fries in the air fryer.
Recipe FAQs
A tough and dense meatloaf is usually a sign of overmixing. Be sure to just combine all of your ingredients. Don’t keep mixing or the overworked meat will turn out tough. Letting the meatloaf rest also helps it turn out more tender.
It’s important not to over mix the meatloaf before cooking because it has less moisture than meats with more fat. If you notice your chicken meatloaf continues to turn out dry, add a little olive oil to the mixture before baking it. Be sure to let the meatloaf rest to reabsorb the juices, too after baking!
Absolutely! This is the perfect make-ahead recipe for busy weeks, meal prep, or to take to a friend as part of a meal train. You can prepare the meatloaf and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days before baking it. You can also freeze the raw meatloaf for 3 months, then thaw it and bake it when you’re ready.
Reheat slices of meatloaf in the microwave in 60-second increments. Cover the slice with a damp paper towel to ensure it maintains its moisture. You can also reheat leftovers wrapped in foil in a 350°F oven for 10-15 minutes. Let frozen meatloaf thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before reheating. Always check that reheated meatloaf reaches an internal temperature of 165°F before eating it.
More Healthy Buffalo Chicken Recipes
If you tried this Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below.
Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs ground chicken, or meat of choice
- ½ cup celery, diced
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons buffalo sauce, low sugar
- Green onions, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Heat a small skillet and add the diced celery. Sauté 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently until tender. Reduce the heat and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg with the garlic powder, onion powder and paprika. Add the buffalo sauce, ground chicken, almond flour and buffalo sauce.
- Using your hands, mix the ingredients together until well incorporated. Transfer to the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake at 350 F 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan 15 minutes before cutting into 8 slices.
Notes
- Use a meat thermometer to monitor the temperature of the meatloaf to ensure it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F and is fully cooked.
- The meatloaf must rest in the loaf pan for 15 minutes to reabsorb the juices. This results in a more tender and moist meatloaf.
- Prepare the meatloaf and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days before baking it.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Have you used oatmeal instead of bread crumbs
This recipe does not use bread crumbs, it uses almond flour. You could substitute oat flour. Just note it won’t be Paleo if you are following a Paleo diet.
Could I use planko breadcrumbs instead of the flour? Also, what do you think I made these as meatloaf cupcakes?
I don’t use planko breadcrumbs as they are not gluten free. I would guess you could use them, but I’ve never cooked with them before. Also, replacing the almond flour with breadcrumbs will no longer make this a low carb recipe. Not sure if that’s important to you, but just want to point that out.
Does the chicken have to be ground in order for this recipe to work? Or can shredded chicken work? I just dont know if it would bine together.
It needs to be ground chicken. Shredded chicken will not bind together for a meatloaf.
Can I use coconut flour instead? And what measurements would that be if so?
That would be a different recipe which I have not tested. Unfortunately, you can’t swap coconut flour easily. If you try it, please let me know and I’ll update the recipe card for others!