Way back when I was not vegan, a buffalo chicken sandwich was my go-to take out order.

I like spicy food and my husband is not really a fan. So when it was just the two of us, I never cooked anything with buffalo sauce because he wasn’t going to eat it.

But eventually we had kids, and a few of those kids have grown up to love buffalo everything just like me! Glory glory hallelujah!! Now I can finally justify a buffalo sauce themed dinner!!

My all time favorite buffalo chicken sandwich was at a place in Jax called, Chomp Chomp. If you live in Jax or have visited and ever eaten there, then you know! They sadly closed last year and broke many a locals heart.

Their buffalo sandwich was a perfectly crispy chicken sandwich, extra hot, extra drippy, slathered in celery slaw and blue cheese. CELERY SLAW, Y’ALL. Blue cheese celery slaw!!!!

I mean its been a long time ago that I ate that sandwich, and went back to a vegetarian diet pretty soon after I did eat it (they did offer a vegetarian version.) I had a bit of a slippery relationship with being vegetarian for some years due to being pregnant and at the time and being made to feel like I needed to eat meat and was not getting enough protein.

Ahh the age old “but how are you getting enough protein?” question. Did you know that the super firm tofu I use to make this vegan chicken is actually high protein! 14 grams per serving, actually. Cleary I now see that was all a load of garbage. Live and learn. The more you know and all that jazz…..moving on.

Fast forward to being vegetarian then vegan, and my order eventually changed, but even their vegan eats were delicious. But, I never got over missing that perfect buffalo chicken sandwich.

So, in honor of the closing of one Jacksonville’s best down town eateries, I have decided to recreate the Chomp Chomp Buffalo sandwich and make it VEGAN, full of protein for all the haters, extra spicy, and dripping with a pile of homemade vegan blue cheese slaw, and extra vegan blue cheese.

Don’t be intimidated by making your own vegan fried chicken. It is actually really easy. I have linked the recipe to our southern fried chicken for this sandwich. I am always preaching how easy seitan making is, and really y’all, its so easy. It mixes up in minutes, bakes in a little over half an hour, and fries up extra fast.

The catch its seitan has to rest to get it to meaty texture we all want. If you try and eat it right away it can be spongy and not great. Just let it rest! LET THE BREAST REST!

Seitan also freezes really well so if you are making a sandwich for one, two, four, six, whatever, you get 8 vegan chicken pieces from this recipe. They will actually freeze beautifully for up to 6 months. You can make all kinds of things out of one batch of vegan chicken breast. You don’t have fry them. You can thaw leftovers and use them in stir fry, make vegan chicken salad from them, use them in any dish you would need a vegan chicken for!!

The point I am trying to make is that the effort and time involved in making a batch of this seitan is 100% worth it! And once you make it, you can make one of the most delicious vegan buffalo chickens sandwiches ever!

Thanks again for the inspiration Chomp Chomp, you are missed. Please, please, make a come back..and if you do, give me call, I’ll be happy to help with some vegan offerings ;)

*This recipe will yield up to 8 chicken sandwiches. If you do not need 8, you can freeze any leftover chicken breast for later use, for up to 6 months. You can store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 10 days in an airtight container.

INGREDIENTS:

1 batch vegan southern fried chicken (you do not need to add the rice paper skin)
1 batch vegan blue cheese dressing
Vegan hamburger buns (we used Dave’s new Killer Hamburger Buns)
6-7 stalks of celery
2/3 cups matchstick carrots
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2-1 cup Franks Buffalo Sauce (depending on how many sandwiches you are making)
1-2 teaspoons vegan buttter
1 teaspoon garlic salt
extra hot sauce if you want the sandwich EXTRA spicy

INSTRUCTIONS:

Prepare the chicken according to the recipe. The chicken is made from seitan and needs to rest in the fridge before frying. It will need to be made the day before or at least 6 hours before frying. For this recipe I did not add the rice paper skin. Just form the “chicken” breast and bake. Then LET THEM REST!!
Prepare the vegan blue cheese according to the directions. You could also use store bought.
To prepare the slaw, cut the celery stalks length wise and as thinly as you can get them. Like thin matchsticks. Then cut them into quarters the other way. Toss the celery and the carrot match sticks into a blender or food processor and pulse a few times to chop it all up. If you do not have a blender or food processor you can try to finely chop the slaw by hand. You just want a slaw consistency. If you are making only a few sandwiches, you can easily half this recipe.
Add the celery and carrots to a bowl and mix with the vinegar, 2-3 tablespoons of vegan blue cheese dressing, and salt and pepper to taste.
In a medium size microwave safe bowl, heat the Franks hot sauce and butter for 1 and half to 2 minutes. You just need the Franks heated through and the butter melted. Mix in the garlic salt and dip each vegan fried chicken breast into the sauce to coat fully.
Smear some vegan blue cheese dressing on the top and bottom bun, add a coated piece of vegan fried chicken, and top with a generous portion of celery slaw to serve. (also is suggest a pile of napkins!)

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