This buffalo ranch chicken meatloaf is packed with flavor, wrapped in bacon and topped with a spicy buffalo ranch sauce! Paleo & Whole30 compliant, family friendly and easy to make.
I could probably eat buffalo ranch ANYTHING at least once a day and never complain. For at least a month, I’ve been wanting to make buffalo ranch, um, something, but could not for the life of me make a decision as to what that something should be. My chicken cobb salad with buffalo ranch is consistently one of the most viewed recipes on the blog, so I know many of you are with me on the buffalo ranch obsession.
Chicken had to be involved, of course, but chicken is quite the versatile meat as you might have noticed, AKA you can cook chicken 1 billion ways.
So, what next? You guys might be wondering why “wings” didn’t come to mind. In fact, wings have never been on this blog, at all. Oops! To be honest with you all, I’m not a fan of wings, so I never think to make them even though my family sorta likes them. Now I feel guilty about not making wings. BAD FOOD BLOGGER! BAD PALEO MOMMA!
Yup, I know the wing-rejection makes me weird – I just don’t like my hands getting unnecessarily messy, plus there never seems to be enough meat for me on the wings. In fact, I have problems with all bone-in meat for those reasons. I like meat, as you know, and the bones get in my way. I think you might be beginning to see where this is all headed. No bones, lots of meat, has to be chicken.
I had this recipe narrowed down to either meatballs or meatloaf. True story – you can make this chicken meatloaf into meatballs if you want to! How cool is that? And, I almost did. It was all planned out. Wrap each meatball with bacon and bake. Then dip in sauce! It almost happened, but, three things changed my mind.
First, I got lazy. That’s embarrassing to admit, but, I simply didn’t want to roll my mixture into 16 meatballs. Second, I realized I didn’t have enough bacon to wrap around each meatball! Bad planning. And third – the most important thing that happened – was that I realized I hadn’t made a meatloaf in like 6 months or longer. Um, what?! That’s crazy. Meatloaf is easy and perfect in every way and I need to give it more love.
So, the idea of a bacon wrapped buffalo ranch chicken meatloaf came to life! We all loved it – every single one of us. A nice change from our usual weekly meatballs! I served it with fried sweet plantains, but you can serve with sweet potato fries, baked french fries, or tostones to get real fancy. I know you’ll love this one! Let’s get started!
Bacon Wrapped Buffalo Ranch Chicken Meatloaf {Paleo & Whole30}
Bacon Wrapped Buffalo Ranch Chicken Meatloaf {Paleo & Whole30}
Ingredients
For the Meatloaf:
- 1.5 lb organic ground chicken*
- 1 egg
- 3 Tbsp almond flour
- 3/4 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried chives
- 1 1/2 tsp hot sauce** - 1/2 to make kid friendly
- 6-8 pieces nitrate-free bacon Whole30 compliant - My favorite sugar free Paleo bacon!
- Buffalo ranch see below, and thinly sliced scallions for garnish
For the Buffalo Ranch Sauce -
- 1/4 cup homemade mayo or avocado oil mayo
- 1-2 tsp hot sauce
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare an 8 x 4 inch medium loaf pan by very lightly greasing.
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In a large bowl, mix together all meatloaf ingredient with your hands until fully combined, but do not over-mix or the meat will be tough.
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Place the mixture in the prepared loaf pan, place each bacon slice over the top to cover and tuck each strip down the sides of the loaf. You might need to cut your bacon so it doesn't go all the way underneath, however it's up to you.
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Place loaf pan on a baking sheet and Bake in 350F oven for 45 minutes until juices run clear, then place under the broiler to crisp up the bacon for 5 minutes, or until cooked to preference. Allow the meatloaf to sit 10 minutes before transferring to a serving platter and slicing.
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To make the buffalo ranch sauce, mix all ingredients well in a small bowl. Once your meatloaf is done, spoon the sauce over the top or use as a dipping sauce and garnish with scallions. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator without the sauce, store any leftover sauce covered in the fridge for up to 4 days. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*Ground turkey would work well for this recipe too, just make sure it's not too lean.
**Check labels to make sure it's sugar free if you're doing Whole30.
Nutrition
Products I recommend to Make Bacon Wrapped Buffalo Ranch Chicken Meatloaf:
Want more Paleo and Whole30 dinner recipes? Try one of these!
Sweet and Smoky Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin
Slow Cooker Meatballs and Marinara Sauce
Tell Me!
What’s your favorite sauce right now?
How crispy do you like your bacon? The vote here is VERY crispy 🙂
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We are all about crispy bacon too! I have actually been making meatloaf quite a bit lately after forgetting about it for a long time. This looks like a great way to change things ups!
I love how pretty and light it is; the chicken must make it that light colored! And meatloaf with bacon ranch sounds like an ultimate comfort food!
I can’t believe that this is actually healthy in the slightest! Looks SO darn tasty! Cannot wait to try this one out!
Came out great! First time making meatloaf and I loved it. Great recipe!
Yes! So thrilled you liked it 🙂
This was yummy! I sautéed onions and caulifower rice and added it and used turkey instead. My bacon wouldn’t get crispy, so I broiled it for the last 3 minutes, perfect!
That’s great, so happy to hear! The broiler definitely does the trick to get the bacon crispy the way we like it!
I was paleo just over 3 years ago but then kids happened and my diet when out the window. But now 2 weeks postpartum I decided that since I can’t train again for another 4 weeks that I need to get my diet back under control. This meatloaf is the second dish of yours I have made and my husband asked for seconds then claimed the leftovers for lunch. I think that’s a mommy win! – even made the mayo. I just used lean ground beef cause it’s what I had on hand. So excited to try more of your recipes.
Awesome! So thrilled you liked it. The mayo really is worth it in my opinion!
I just made this. We really liked it, but it came out pretty dry. I followed the instructions exactly. Any ideas?
I’m thinking perhaps it was just baked a bit too long? Oven temps definitely vary so if you try it a second time, bake for a shorter amount of time (still want no pink inside though) and then put under the broiler to crisp up the bacon. Hope this helps!
Would this work with ground beef? My husband won’t eat ground chicken or ground turkey. It’s a texture thing for him.
What is the serving sizes for your recipes? Are they listed somewhere? Thanks!
Can I replace the Hot Sauce by something else?
I guess you can omit, not sure if there’s a replacement.
We had this for dinner tonight. It was super yummy and everyone loved it. The husband said it was one of the tastiest dishes I’d made.
Nutritional stats don’t include the buffalo ranch, do they? Loved the meatloaf. Definitely will be making again!
Thanks for helping me with the best buffalo cooked ever.