I have good news again today! I lost 5.4 lbs this week. This is mainly due to the gain I had last week from the weekend binge eating I had did. I am still so happy with it. I actually like the scale now that I am only 23 lbs away from goal and I am at my lowest weight in years! I hope to be at goal by this summer just in time for bathing suit season! I can't wait!
I think I found a new lean and green favorite! I absolutely love how this came out! I got the inspiration from Melissa aka Want2BeThin789 from the Medifast Forums. She was telling me about this wonderful recipe she was making and I had to try it. You guys may know it as Buffalo Chicken Dip. I had to change the measurements of some of the ingredients to make it more OP for a lean and green meal, but I still loved it! I am a huge fan of buffalo chicken wings so this sure hit the spot. Why didn't I know about this recipe during football season?! Ha, ha. I am glad I know it now. I was debating if I should make it as whole chicken breasts cooked with the sauce spread over the top, but then I diced to chop up the chicken into chunks so all the sauce really gets on every bite of chicken. Either way works. I think shredded would be great for a dip though. Honestly, I have seen the original recipe floating around with rave reviews but I never thought about making it because I didn't think we could have it. Well, now you know. Yes, we can!
I wanted to note that this recipe uses a light ranch dressing and not a fat free one. This is because I used it as a healthy fat. A dressing is considered a healthy fat when it meets the following criteria:
Fat: More than 5 grams (HV Ranch has 7 grams)
Calories: 40-80 (HV Ranch has 80)
Carbs: Less than 6 grams (HV Ranch has 3 grams)
A dressing is considered a condiment when it meets the following criteria:
Fat: Less than 5 grams
Calories: 40-80
Carbs: Less than 1 gram
You can use 1/4 cup fat free ranch dressing if it has less than 1 carb and treat it as 2 condiments. Then you would use 2 tbsp of regular cream cheese as your two healthy fats.
I hope you enjoy it as much as me! I made two servings of this so I wouldn't have to cook the next day but you could cut everything in half and make 1 serving. Don't forget to add your green though! I added 1 cup of celery sticks and a 1/2 cup of red pepper slices. Enjoy because I sure will!
Creamy Buffalo Chicken Bake
(Aka Buffalo Chicken Dip)
Slightly adapted from Melissa Aka Want2BeThin789
Ingredients:
14 oz raw, boneless, skinless chicken breasts - yields 9 oz cooked (1 1/2 Lean)
2 oz or 1/2 cup 2% reduced fat cheddar cheese (1/2 Lean)
1/4 cup Frank's Hot Wings Sauce - 3 tbsp of this sauce is 1 Condiment approved by NS (1.33 Condiments)
1/4 cup Light Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (2 Healthy Fats)
2 tbsp reduced fat cream cheese (2 Condiments)
6 Servings of Veggies (6 Greens)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake chicken breasts for 30-35 minutes or until cooked. Remove chicken breasts from pan and chop the chicken into small pieces. Place chicken inside of a baking dish. Set aside.
In a small sauce pan, combine Frank's Hot Wings Sauce, ranch dressing and cream cheese. Heat over medium high heat, stirring until cream cheese is completely melted. Once melted, pour the sauce mixture over chicken. Then sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve with 1 1/2 cups of celery or your favorite veggies for a complete lean and green meal.
2 Servings with 1 Complete Lean and Green, 1.66 Condiments and 1 Healthy Fat per serving
*Note: You can use 1/4 cup fat free ranch dressing if it has less than 1 carb and will be treated as 2 condiments. Then use 2 tbsp of regular cream cheese as your two healthy fats.
43 comments:
OMG! just tried this recipe it is wonderful! Def. a new favorite. My husband also loved this and he is not on a weight loss plan !
I LOVE this dish! Perfect weekend meal. Feels like im cheating!!
I love it too! Thanks!
I urge everyone to try this recipe. It is fabulous! Thanks Sandy for these great ideas.
Barb
Thanks Barb! Yes, this one is definitely a must try!
im so happy i found this blog/recipe! i made a buffalo chicken dip before medifast so excited to have a healthier version. do you think its ok to use canned chicken? thats what i used in the other recipe.
I am not sure about canned chicken. You may want to ask nutrition support about that one. I don't see why not unless it has more sodium in it. Does it have a lot of sodium in it?
I literally just licked my plate! Thank you SO much for this recipe.
Ha ha. I am glad you liked it so much lol. Thanks!
OMG OMG OMG!! SOOOOO GOOD!!!!! :)
Okay, I will try this recipe on Saturday for sure...people lickin their plates & such, it must be good! lol
My hubby and I just made this and I can't wait to try it!!! He is even excited for it and he isn't on the weight loss plan with me!! Thank you so so much for your recipes...they have saved me from salad overload!!!!!!
Thanks! This is one of my favorites too! You will like this!
I just made this for dinner and it was delicious! I mixed it with sauteed mushrooms and spinach, Mmmmm. Thank you for sharing. I'm so glad to have such a great recipe and still be OP. I can't wait to have my 2nd serving tomorrow night. :)
I also find that the crushed tomatoes give the pizza more of a fresh tomato flavor compared to the tomato sauce and paste.
This was my first Lean & Green. Oh, yummy! I had a wild affair with the Frank's Buffalo Chicken Dip last football season. Guess what? I'm going to have another wild affair this season - with this over a pile of spinach. Yummo!!!
Omg! I just made this and it was SUPER YUMMY! thanks Sandy! i can't wait to try all the other recipes.
I had a question, the franks hot buffalo wings sauce i found had 1 carb per tbsp. So how can 3 tbsp make 1 condiment? I used nandos peri sauce for now, to be on the safe side. Turns out delicious!
Thanks!
The Franks Red Hot Wings Buffalo Sauce I have says 0 carbs per 1 tbsp. Originally I assumed it was still 1 condiment per 1 tbsp but Nutrition Support said it was 3 tbsp that make up 1 condiment. If yours says 1 cab per tbsp then you can still use 1/4 cup but it will be 3 condiments per serving. You just would not be allowed to use any additional condiments for the day. Hope that helps!
AMAZING RECIPE! I am using cracker barrel reduced cheddar made with 2% milk. is that fine? and just regular organice meadow light cream cheese. I hope i'm doing this correct. Thanks!
Thanks! You can use that cheese as long as it is 3 to 6 grams of fat per oz :) The light cream cheese should be fine as well! Have a great day!
OMG!! this sounds so yummy!! I cant wait to try it. Is this whole recipe one serving or do I need to split into two?? I thought I saw something bout that on here and now I cant find it...LOL
This is 2 servings :)
Can you have this starting out on the 5 and 1 plan or later in the weeks? Sounds delicious!
Yes you can have this one the 5 and 1 plan. Actually everything under the Medifast recipes only link is suitable for the 5 and 1 plan :)I never made it maintenace yet so I do not have any maintenance recipes. I hope that helps!
I made this dish last night and my husband (he is not on Medifast) and I loved it! So much flavor and very filling.
This is absolutely yummy. I paired mine with broccoli b/c that is what I had on hand :). I could have licked the plate! Thank you so much for providing these recipes!!! I bought the ingredients for two more and cannot wait to try them.
Sandy this was a wonderful recipe it left my taste buds having a party :) I tweaked it just a tad and added 1/2 cup slightly steamed broccoli and 1 cup of mushrooms then mixed together with the chicken and sauce and then put the cheese on and baked it:) I also cooked my chicken in the crock pot most of the day instead of baking it.. My family loved it and we will defiantly keep eating it even when i am not on the 5&1
Thank you so much for you dedication
finally got around to making this... this stuff is the bomb on a bed of romaine for a salad! AMAZING
I am writing this comments in between bites - DELICIOUS!!! So much flavor. I love it! Thank you so much for this recipe - I can't wait to try some of your other recipes as well! I'm just starting Week 3 of the TSFL program and so far I'm down 15.5 lbs. I think your website is going to help me stay on the program much more easily - so grateful to have found it!
so how many ounces do u get? do you just split the pan down the middle? since it has the cheese is it still 6 oz?
Just tried this tonight -- OH MY GOODNESS!! How is this OP?! It tasted so incredibly delicious! :) Thank you soooo much for posting this recipe. It's going to become a weekly repeat :)
Sandy, this recipe was fantastic! We had it on 3 cups of Iceburg lettuce "Shreds" which helped tone down the spiciness, although it still seemed pretty sassy for my taste buds. Any suggestions for how I can tone it down a little more while staying OP?
Going to be the lone voice of dissent and say this was definitely not my favorite recipe. Kind of....I don't know....icky. And made my tummy unhappy. Hubby also did not like it :(
HOWEVER, I do plan on making it again with a couple tweaks (for example - using a different ranch, as I used what I had on hand, Walden Farms Chipotle Ranch)....
There is a lot of potential, I just have to be mindful that I don't OVER TWEAK and alter the stats too much....
I made this last week, and my kids were licking their plates. I put their portions over jasmine rice, and mine was without. Guess what they asked me to make today?? This recipe!
Quick question - my husband can't have ranch dressing. Is there anything else I can substitute?
Thank you for the recipe. I made this last night and had it for dinner with 2 cups of broccoli slaw. Not sure if that's the right amount but it was 50 calories and 10 carbs, and tasted great - good flavor balance. I'm going to eat this once in awhile as a treat on exercise.
delicious! i just made this and had it over a bed of steamed zucchini. yum as usual :) thanks!
Been on the Medifast Plan for about a month now. 12 pounds down. This was so good. Making meals with your recipes is making this so much more fun and tastier than I ever would have believed. Thank you so much Sandy for doing this blog. It is so helpful.
I just made this and it was so simple and delicious to make. I doubled everything in the recipe to have more leftovers and what a mistake! My husband ate 2/3 of it! This is definitely a must :) Thank you Sandy
I made this for my family for the Superbowl (so we wouldn't feel left out of the food festivities) and both my son and husband loved it. I've made buffalo chicken dip before, but the original recipe calls for a whole 8 oz. block of cream cheese. I used shredded chicken breast and reserved a little cheese to put on the top to bake. This leaner version of the original was just as good! We used veggies to scoop it up.
Definitely one of my faves, guilty of licking my plate clean too!!!!
My husband and I made this last night and loved the meal. I'm going to try this recipe with shrimp next!!! By the way, he's not on MF, but is loving the lean and green meals and only regrets we didn't make a double batch of this!
This one is a keeper! I took it to a party, and it was a hit! I froze the leftovers in individual servings and have eaten it for lunch with a sliced red pepper several times. I'm making it again tonight. Thank you!
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