Buffalo Chicken Windwheels – Easy Appetizer ~ Macheesmo

This little food blog of mine is many things, but I hope it becomes a good resource for game day recipes. These Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels are a nice twist on the classic Buffalo Chicken flavors but in a simpler, hand-held snack.

Make a batch of it, or double or triple it for a real game day party. Trust me these will go fast and if you happen to have leftovers they make a great lunch (so I’m told)!

So um… Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels. They have five main ingredients and below are some shortcuts to even simpler pinwheels. These really are a fantastic party appetizer. Bookmark them for your next party!

Poach the chicken

You will need about a pound of chicken for this recipe. If you want to make the recipe even easier, you can just grab a rotisserie chicken from your deli and shred it up.

But if you’re starting from scratch, just poach some chicken breasts in simmering water. It doesn’t have to be a boil or anything. I would normally salt the water for poaching chicken, and you can if you like, but the buffalo sauce also has enough salt to flavor the chicken.

After 15-20 minutes they should be cooked through (but test one). Then allow the chicken to cool slightly so you can handle it and shred it with a fork.

After I’ve shredded my chicken, I also like to run my knife through a few times just to make it finer.

Preparation of the buffalo chicken filling

Now add the chicken back to the pot with some butter and hot sauce! You can use your favorite brand of hot sauce, but I recommend getting one labeled BUFFALO for obvious reasons. I personally like Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, but there are many brands and you’re welcome to use your favorite.

Stir this chicken mixture together over low heat until the butter has melted and the sauce is evenly covering everything.

Now it’s cream cheese time.

At this point you can remove the chicken from the heat and the residual heat will soften the cream cheese so you can stir everything together. You can also add the mixture to a bowl with the cream cheese if you want to make it more of a dip than pinwheels.

This is a pretty solid buffalo chicken dip with tortilla chips or something!

manufacture of windmills

I used two different flatbreads for these pinwheels, but you can use pretty much any flavor! I like the light original taste and the harvest wheat variety. You can also use your favorite flour tortillas or wraps.

Simply lay out a flatbread and spread a layer of buffalo chicken spread on top.

Then roll it up into a tight pinwheel! You want to roll it so you end up with a longer, skinny cylinder instead of a short thick cylinder.

Use a serrated knife to shred these. This will help hold the filling in place and make it easier to cut through.

A little extra hot sauce and some chopped chives just for good measure. Not absolutely necessary!

Boom. Delicious buffalo chicken pinwheels are ready to go.

Go sports!

Make these pinwheels ahead of time

These buffalo chicken pinwheels can safely be made ahead of time. However, if you make them more than a few hours in advance, the wraps might get a bit soggy. It’s not the end of the world and they’re definitely still good, but they’re at their best if you eat them within a few hours of making them.

One way to make these ahead of time is to just make the filling ahead of time. You could mix up the chicken and cream cheese mixture and refrigerate. When you’re ready for game day, take the filling out of the fridge an hour beforehand, then spread it on your wraps.

This is the best of both worlds. You can make the filling ahead of time, but the wraps won’t get soggy.

Substitutions and Ideas

There are dozens of replacements you could make for these pinwheels. Here are a few easy ones!

• Instead of cream cheese, mix in some sharp cheddar or blue cheese for a different flavor profile.
• Spread the filling mixture in a casserole dish and bake the filling into a buffalo chicken dip. A great party appetizer served with fries.
• Roll the filling into puff pastry and bake to make flaky buffalo chicken pinwheels.
• Serve the pinwheels with ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing for dipping.
• For a low-fat version, replace the mixture with low-fat cream cheese.

My buffalo chicken pinwheel recipe

Here are some other great appetizers to try!