Buffalo vegan chicken with broccoli and french fries
This simple, entirely plant based comforting American dinner will satisfy your hot/buffalo chicken craving, provide excellent nourishment, and save a chicken! The sides here are very flexible, and I have provided options for a more or less labor intensive potato option (fries vs mashed). Feel free also to change out the vegetable!
French fry recipe to accompany this dish here!
This recipe was inspired by my coworker talking about Buffalo Wild Wings — namely, she was going to order some. While I have only eaten there once or twice in my life, it was memorable. My whole life, I loved chicken — it was my favorite protein before I developed a stronger affinity for steak in my year leading up to veganism. As I love spicy food and am a sucker for hot chicken, I could not deny that her craving instantly became my own.
As I began gravitating more towards a plant based diet over a year ago, I found myself increasingly weirded out as I tried going back to cooking with chicken. As someone who prided herself on “perfect whole roasted chicken” as a new cook and viewed roasting a whole bird as a special occasion, this was an interesting development — but it was one I could not brush off.
If you haven’t yet tried the chicken alternatives on the market, I would highly encourage you to do so. It is striking and frankly unbelievable how well Sweet Earth nails it between texture and flavor. I continue to be pleased and wowed by what plants and people together can do.
As sides for this two ingredient hot chicken, I chose to go the classic starch + vegetable route. Knock the formula as I may, it is tried and true, and it is a comfort to the majority of Americans — myself included.
Naturally, I did not shy away from the challenge of making french fries — my second dip into the world of frying (my first time being falafel — that deliciousness is another story). As you can see by the below photo, my attempt was highly successful.
Also naturally, I was resourceful when it came to cleanup and draining the cooled oil from the potato pot without a funnel. Feel free to check out my successful experiment with making a funnel out of aluminum foil on my featured Instagram story (because, y’all, real funnels? That would be too easy).
A quick tip — if you’re going to make fries without wearing pants, as I did — be EXTRA DAMN CAREFUL Y’ALL. Better yet, follow basic kitchen safety protocols, like keeping your skin covered when you’re dealing with a vat of 300°F to 400°F oil. A girl I went to high school with did not follow these guidelines — she walked away from the heating stove and lit up a bowl of weed, unsurprisingly forgetting about the oil, and re-entered the kitchen to be greeted with third degree burns on her entire forearm and large portion of her foot. High key YIKES — but these things happen, and you’ll want to use your head before you are left without the use of your arm, or worse.
Now that you are terrified of kitchen accidents, I hope you will have as much fun making this food as I did! The chicken is the star of the show here due to how mind numbingly easy it is — so if you take anything away from this classic American recipe, I hope it’s that hot chicken is painlessly easy for you to both cook at home, and make vegan!
Hot Cayenne Chicken with Broccoli and French Fries (Gluten Free and Vegan)
Equipment
- Large bowl (if making fries)
- Large saucepan, saucier, or dutch oven (if making fries)
- Candy thermometer (if making fries)
- Heat safe tongs (if making fries)
- Two large baking sheets lined with paper towels (if making fries)
- 6 to 8 qt stockpot (if making mashed potatoes)
- Potato masher (if making mashed potatoes)
- Large colander
- 10-12 inch fry pan
- Large sauté pan or fry pan
Ingredients
- 8 oz package of Sweet Earth Mindful Chik'n Strips
- ⅓ cup Frank's Original Red Hot Sauce
- 1 large crown broccoli
- Water
For fries
- 6 large russet potatoes
- 48 oz bottle of vegetable oil
For mashed potatoes
- 6 large russet potatoes
- Several generous pinches of kosher/sea salt
- ½ stick vegan butter
Instructions
- Open the package of Sweet Earth Mindful Chik'n, add Frank's Original Red Hot Sauce, and mix well to combine. Cover with plastic wrap or foil, and allow to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or full day.
- Select your potato route and proceed with steps listed under the relevant heading below. Then, move on to "Final Steps."
If you are making french fries
- Directly after prepping the chik'n, wash potatoes and chop into matchsticks (I personally prefer not to peel them — it saves time and keeping the skins is better for you). Place the chopped pieces into a large bowl, cover with cold water, and allow to soak in the fridge along with the marinading chik'n for a few hours to a full day.
- After the marinade period is complete, refer to Ree Drummond's recipe for "Perfect French Fries" on Food Network (link in the first line of my article above, and again directly above the fry picture). Please see notes on my experience with the recipe below*
- While you are waiting on oil to heat, break down the broccoli into bite sized florets with a knife and your hands. Wash the broccoli in a colander, transfer to a sauté or large fry pan, and set aside.
- Begin cooking the potatoes as instructed by Ree once oil has reached 300°F, and focus on this exclusively until the fries are done.
If you are making mashed potatoes
- Fill a 6 to 8 qt stockpot with water. Heat the pot on high and bring to a boil.
- Meanwhile, wash the potatoes – do not peel or chop. Break down the broccoli into bite sized florets with a knife and your hands. Wash the broccoli in a colander, transfer to a sauté or large fry pan, and set aside.
- Salt the water once it has come to a boil. Taste the water and continue to salt it until it tastes as salty as the ocean. Add the potatoes and set timer for 20 minutes. Adjust heat accordingly so potatoes cook at a gentle (rather than aggressive) boil.
- Pierce the largest potato with a fork to check for doneness after 20 minutes. Add additional cook time as needed if the potato is not tender and easily pierced.
- Once potatoes are done, drain in the same colander used for the broccoli. Chop them in half or quarters for easier mashing, and add back to stockpot. Slice the half stick of vegan butter into a couple of blocks for faster melting. Begin mashing the potatoes with a potato masher or fork. As they are starting to resemble mashed rather than whole potatoes, add the butter and continue mashing until butter is melted. Taste and add salt/butter to your liking, cover to keep warm.
Final steps
- Fill broccoli pan with about an inch of water and heat on high. Preheat a fry pan for the chik'n.
- Once broccoli water reaches a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 3-5 minutes until broccoli is bright green and tender, but not mushy. Drain off any excess water and remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, once fry pan for the chik'n is preheated, add a small amount of olive oil – just enough to thinly coat the pan surface – and allow 15-30 seconds for oil to get hot (look for "waviness" or movement of oil in pan as fast as water). Add chik'n and cook on medium for about 7 minutes as package instructs.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- 5 lbs was a bit much for me, as just one person who would be eating the fries. So I used about half that amount. You can really play around with this and use as little or many potatoes as you’d like!
- You will want to be sure the tip of the candy thermometer is reading in the middle layer of oil. Too close to the surface of the oil or to the bottom of the pan, and you will get an inaccurate read.
- It may be tempting to add a ton of fries at once for each batch, but I found this to decrease the temperature of the oil by 20°F to 50°F. I found it helpful to keep an eye on the thermometer the whole time, and have the oil heated to 310°F (or 410°F depending on the cooking stage) before adding the fries to allow for slight temperature drop with each new batch.
- I found the minutes to reach doneness varied with each batch of fries, as I toggled the temperature throughout. (You will need to pay attention to oil temperature and adjust the heat accordingly throughout the process). When I was on round two of cooking the potatoes at 400°F, they often became golden in 10 to 20 seconds.
- Do your best and have fun – I did! It’s exciting to learn the skill of frying and it’s hard to go wrong with potatoes!