Air Fryer or Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf

This recipe is so easy to make!  By combining hot sauce, carrots, celery, eggs and ground meat, this delicious Air Fryer or Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf was so quick and healthy.  Enjoy all the flavour of Buffalo Chicken Wings with a third of the calories!  Paleo, Whole30 and keto-approved!

I love spicy food.

So, of course, I must love Buffalo Chicken Wings, right?

I do.

However, I have some issues with eating them.

You see, eating food with my hands was not something I grew up doing.

I mean, we even asked every night to be excused from the table and only once permission was granted, were we allowed to leave.

As you may have already guessed, chicken wings were never served at our dinner table.

In fact, I think the first time I ever tried a chicken wing was when I was in chiropractic school, living in Buffalo, NY.

And let me tell you, no city can possibly come close to the taste of the wings they serve in Buffalo, NY.  What can you expect from the city that actually created and served the first-ever chicken wing?

So, loving the buffalo chicken wing flavour while disliking using my hands to eat, I decided to create a Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf so that I could get all the flavour while still using a knife and fork!

Lastly, I decided to try an experiment to see if a Meatloaf cooked in the air fryer or in a pressure cooker would produce a better end result.

What parameters were used for this experiment?

• each meatloaf needed to be the exact same weight
• each meatloaf needed to have identical ingredients
• one meatloaf would be baked in the air fryer
• one meatloaf would be baked in the pressure cooker

*I used my Ninja Foodi 6.5 Qt which is both an air fryer and a pressure cooker*

What ingredients do you need to make this Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf?

• ground chicken (or turkey)
• carrots
• celery
• hot sauce
• eggs
• coconut flour or oats
• salt, pepper and garlic
• OPTIONAL - blue cheese crumbles

How do you make this meatloaf?

• add all the ingredients in a large bowl 
• using your hands, combine the ingredients, breakdown the ground meat as you go
• place mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm
• remove mixture and form into a loaf
• cook meatloaf until the internal temperature reads 160 degrees F.

How do you bake this Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf in the air fryer

• spray the air fryer basket well
• place meatloaf in the centre of the basket
• turn air fryer to 400 degrees and set the timer to 25 minutes
• do not add any sauce to the top of the meatloaf at the beginning of the cooking process.  I did the first time and the top burned!  It still tasted delicious but this is what it looked like:

How do you bake this meatloaf in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker?

• add 1 cup of water to the pressure cooker
• place the rack in the pressure cooker
• set the meatloaf on top of the rack
• seal the pressure cooker
• set it to "hi" for 25 minutes
• allow it to manually release for 5-10 minutes

*The meatloaf on the left was cooked in the air fryer.  The one to the right was in the pressure cooker.  Both were delicious and it depends on whether you prefer a "lighter" or "heavier" style of meatloaf*

Was the Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf better in an air fryer or in a pressure cooker?

I actually preferred the air fryer meatloaf.  I found the pressure cooker loaf to be a little heavier than I prefer.

As for Mr. Grumbles?  He preferred the meatloaf out of the pressure cooker as he preferred the dense, tight structure that the pressure cooker created!

So, I guess it goes to show, either way, is a winner!

If you like this Air Fryer or Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf, you may also like:

• Air Fryer Fish Bites
• Easy Air Fryer Pork Cracklings and Lard
• Moist Air Fryer Turkey Breast
• Air Fryer Spicy Bay Scallops (Whole30, Keto)
• Healthy Moist Gluten-Free Instant Pot Banana Bread
• Quick 8-Ingredient Whole30 Chili
• French Onion Beef Stew

Whole30 and Paleo Instant Pot or Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 1 review

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

This recipe is so easy to make!  By combining hot sauce, carrots, celery, eggs and ground meat, this delicious Air Fryer or Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf was so quick and healthy.  Enjoy all the flavour of Buffalo Chicken Wings with a third of the calories!  Paleo, Whole30 and keto-approved!

• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 lb ground chicken (or turkey)
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 6 celery stalks, diced
• ¼ cup Frank's Hot sauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• ¼ cup oats (or coconut flour for a lower carb option)
• 2 oz crumbled blue cheese (optional as this ingredient is NOT Paleo or Whole30 approved)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients.  Set in the fridge to rest for about 30 minutes.

Air Fryer

1. Place the air fryer basket in the air fryer.  Shape the meatloaf and set it on a piece of aluminum foil with the edges up to help keep any liquid from dripping into the air fryer.
2. Set the air fryer to 400 degrees and set the timer for 25 minutes.
3. If adding additional sauce, add it at the 20 minute mark.

 

Instant Pot

1. Place 1 cup of water at the base of the instant pot. 
2. Place the trivet on the bottom of the instant pot.  Add the meatloaf. 
3. Seal the ven and set it on "Hi" for 25 minutes.  Allow to vent manually for 10 minutes and then release any steam.

Notes

• Calorie count is for oats and not coconut flour as I actually preferred the oats over the coconut flour.  If using coconut flour, the nutritional information is :  115 calories, 6.8 g Fat, 4.7 g Carbs, 2.4 g Fibre, 1.8 g Sugar and 12.8 g of protein.

• Author: Cat
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Category: Main Meals
• Cuisine: Whole30, Keto, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Paleo

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 slice
• Calories: 109
• Sugar: 1.5 g
• Fat: 6.5 g
• Carbohydrates: 4.4 g
• Fiber: 1.2 g
• Protein: 12.6 g