Vegan Buffalo Chicken Rice Skillet – A One Pot Dish

This Vegan Buffalo Chicken Rice Skillet is perfect for a football night dinner. Vegan chick’n, brown rice and veggies are smothered in hot sauce and topped with ranch sauce for a tasty meal! 

A Buffalo Sauce Obsession

I’m so obsessed with Buffalo anything – as you may have read in my Quinoa Buffalo Balls and Buffalo Chickpea Tacos posts. I just can’t get enough of that hot sauce taste!

I’m a huge Miami Dolphins fan and every year I have such high hopes but they never seem to pan out. So for all of football season (and the Super Bowl if the Dolphins are not in it), I drown my sorrows in vegan food.

This dinner is easy to prepare and perfect for game time. I used chick’n strips and added in lots of veggies and some brown rice to keep the dish nutritious – but don’t worry, you family won’t even realize!

All of these ingredients are simmered in hot sauce and topped with ranch sauce to make my Vegan Buffalo Chicken Rice Skillet!

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Rice Skillet

When deciding on the veggies to add to my Buffalo Chicken Rice, my first choice was celery because it’s usually eaten with those flavors but let’s be honest, a little celery wasn’t cutting it. I also added carrots because they’re tasty and I felt like I needed one more veggie but couldn’t decide what it should be.

I called my sister (because she’s my idea gal) and she recommended cauliflower. It was a great idea because it’s not an overwhelming flavor and can be cut into bite-sized pieces which would fit in with the recipe.

For the ranch, I used the sauce from my Ranch Pasta Salad but the sauce from my Buffalo Quinoa Balls would work too (you might just need to add a little extra liquid).

Meal Prep Tip: Make a big batch of brown rice the weekend (or day) before so you have the rice all ready to go for this tasty meal!

If you make this vegan buffalo chicken rice recipe, let me know what you think by ★ star rating it and leaving a comment below.

Share your pictures of any of my recipes on Instagram and use #vnutrition or tag @maryellenvalverde so I won’t miss it!

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5 from 4 votes

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Rice Skillet

This Vegan Buffalo Chicken Rice Skillet is perfect for a football night dinner. Vegan chick’n, brown rice and veggies are smothered in hot sauce and topped with ranch sauce for a tasty meal!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword vegan buffalo chicken skillet, vegan chicken skillet

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 5

Calories 238.4kcal

Author Mary Ellen

Ingredients

• 1 TB olive oil (or veg broth if you’re not using oil)
• 1 small onion , chopped
• 2 cloves garlic , minced
• 2 small carrots , chopped
• 2 large stalks of celery , chopped
• 2 C cauliflower , chopped into small bite-sized pieces
• 1 C veggie broth (more if needed)
• 10 oz Gardein Chick’n Scallopini chopped and defrosted if frozen*
• 2 C cooked brown rice
• 3 TB tomato sauce
• 1/4 c hot sauce like Frank’s Red Hot
• 2 TB nutritional yeast
• Vegan Ranch Sauce from my Ranch Pasta Salad

Instructions

• Add oil, onion, and garlic to a large skillet/saute pan and cook about 3-5 minutes until onion is translucent. If using veggie broth instead of oil, add enough broth to just cover the bottom of the pan and add more if needed.
• Add carrots, celery, cauliflower and veggie broth and cook covered for 10-15 minutes or until veggies are cooked through. You may need to add more veggie broth or water while cooking, however there shouldn’t be too much liquid left after the veggies are done otherwise the dish will be too wet. You want a little coating on the bottom of the pan but if there’s too much liquid once the veggies are finished cooking, pour a little out.
• Add rice, chick’n, tomato sauce, hot sauce, nutritional yeast and cook for about 3 minutes or until all ingredients are heated through.
• Top with some ranch sauce and serve!

Notes

*Gardein chick’n scallopini and Beyond Meat are both gluten-free options

*Nutritional information does not contain ranch sauce. 

Nutrition

Calories: 238.4kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 4.9g | Fiber: 4.7g | Vitamin A: 8150IU | Vitamin C: 17.3mg | Calcium: 48mg | Iron: 3.5mg

Mary Ellen

Mary Ellen Valverde MS, CNS, LDN is a Licensed Nutritionist and Certified Nutrition Specialist who empowers vegans to feel confident creating sustainable habits that align with their values and health goals. She shares easy plant-powered food to nourish your body + satisfy your tastebuds. Mary Ellen’s recipes and nutrition info have been featured on Yahoo News, Parade, VegNews, LIVESTRONG, Dr. Axe, Greatist, LIVEKINDLY, Brit+Co, Well+Good, and more. She lives in NJ with her husband & two sweet shih tzus, Firenze & Sophie.