Try this Guy Fieri's Buffalo Balls recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- canola oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 3 cups crumbled ritz crackers (about 3 small sleeves)
- 1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 cups crumbled blue cheese
- 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon minced pickled jalape�os
- 1 1/2 cups hot sauce (i recommend crystal)
- 1 celery head cut into matchsticks
- Carbohydrate 3.10540944843611 g
- Cholesterol 46 mg
- Fat 17.4547183341832 g
- Fiber 1.09993337343488 g
- Protein 7.74877722332296 g
- Saturated Fat 6.41951500012765 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (97g)
- Sodium 1485.93611396866 mg
- Sugar 2.00547607500123 g
- Trans Fat 0.712597333480613 g
- Calories 196 calories
Step-by-step
- In a meat grinder with a medium die, grind the chicken thighs to ?chili grind?, or have your butcher do it for you. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, 1 1/2 cups of the Ritz crackers, the black pepper, paprika, basil, celery salt, cumin, white pepper, half the cayenne pepper, and 1 cup of the blue cheese. Mix well to incorporate. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 275?F. Pour 2 inches of canola oil into a large, deep skillet and heat the oil to 350?F over medium-high heat. Set a cooling rack over a baking sheet.
- Form the chicken mixture into walnut-size balls and set them aside on a plate. Beat the egg on a shallow bowl and place remaining 1 1/2 cups of crackers in another bowl. Dip each ball in the egg and then roll it in the crackers covering it thoroughly. Add the balls to the hot oil (in batches so as not to crowd them) and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes. They cook very quickly, so working with a few at a time will help. As they finish cooking, place the balls on the rack over the baking sheet. When all the balls are fried, place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and jalape?os and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the hot sauce and keep warm over low heat.
- To serve, drizzle the hot sauce over the buffalo balls or serve it as a dip on the side. Celery sticks and the remaining blue cheese make a cooling addition.
Standard buffalo wings rely solely on skin-on poultry surfaces for their crispness, but restructuring ground meat into spherical shapes demands an entirely different engineering approach to achieve that coveted crunch. Boneless chicken thighs possess enough natural fat to keep the interior tender during a rapid two-minute fry, preventing the protein from turning chalky while the exterior coating undergoes immediate dehydration in 350-degree oil. Because moisture is the primary enemy of crust formation, chilling the seasoned meat mixture for four hours allows the dry spices and cracker crumbs to absorb excess liquid before breading even begins.
The Mechanics of the Crust
Crumb size dictates oil absorption rates. Finely pulverized crackers create a dense barrier that blocks frying fat from saturating the interior, whereas excessively large flakes will detach violently upon contact with hot canola oil. Dipping each walnut-sized sphere in beaten egg provides the necessary adhesive protein matrix, capturing the second half of the cracker coating securely so the exterior fries into a uniform, shatteringly crisp shell.
Balancing Heat and Dairy
Acidic capsicum compounds from hot sauce chemically bind to milk fats present in butter and blue cheese, softening the aggressive capsaicin burn into a rounded sensation on the palate. Maintaining the sauce at a bare simmer while the baked meatballs finish cooking at 275 degrees ensures the garlic and jalapeños release their aromatic oils without scorching the dairy solids.
