Cheesecake Factory Buffalo Blasts: Price, Calories & Happy Hour (2026)
Cheesecake Factory Buffalo Blasts are built to share, which is why the 1,670 calories are for the full order, not one person, at $17.95 to $19.95 for dinner. At Happy Hour the same plate drops to $10.95 at most locations, which is the best saving on the appetizer menu for the amount of food you get. That value gap is the most useful thing to know before you order, because this is one of the largest, richest plates on the appetizer tier, and at the Happy Hour price it feeds two people as a light meal. They are chicken, cheese and spicy buffalo sauce stuffed in a spiced wrapper and fried until crisp, served with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing.
The $10.95 Happy Hour price and the $17.95 to $19.95 dinner price both move by location, and the calories come from the brand's published nutrition data.
What are Buffalo Blasts?
Chicken, cheese and our spicy buffalo sauce all stuffed in a spiced wrapper and fried until crisp. Served with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing. That is the full official description, and every part of it shows up on the plate. The wrapper is the point: it is a thick, spiced wonton-style wrapper, deep-fried until golden, holding shredded chicken and mozzarella with buffalo sauce inside. The celery sticks are not decoration, they are the cool crunch that resets your mouth between bites, and the blue cheese dressing is the standard dip, though ranch is available on request if blue cheese is not your thing. Our appetizers guide ranks Buffalo Blasts as the third most popular appetizer on the menu, after Avocado Eggrolls and Fried Macaroni and Cheese, which tells you this is a crowd order, not a niche one. For the rest of the category, see our full appetizers menu.
How much do Buffalo Blasts cost?
Buffalo Blasts cost $17.95 to $19.95 at dinner, with a median of $18.95 across 50 official location menus. A fresh official menu checked for this post shows where inside that range a real order lands: Wichita lists them at $17.95, right at the bottom of the range. Wichita sits at the $17.95 bottom of the range, and no store in the 50 we checked charges one fixed national price, so the $17.95 to $19.95 spread is what real menus show.
| Source | Price |
|---|---|
| 50 official location menus, dinner (range) | $17.95–$19.95 |
| 50-store median, dinner | $18.95 |
| Wichita official menu (dinner) | $17.95 |
| Happy Hour, most locations | $10.95 |
| Happy Hour, Tacoma and Chicago | $11.50 |
Buffalo Blasts at Happy Hour: the $7 saving
Happy Hour is where this dish makes the most sense. Buffalo Blasts cost $10.95 at Happy Hour at most locations and $11.50 at a few, including Tacoma and Chicago. The official Happy Hour menu at Pembroke Pines lists them at $10.95 with the same 1,670 calories, so the plate does not shrink for the discount. At a location where dinner is $17.95, that is a $7.00 saving on the same order. Happy Hour runs Monday to Friday, 4 to 6 PM, in the bar and high-top seating only, not at standard dining tables, so plan around that. Our Happy Hour guide calls Buffalo Blasts the most filling item on the appetizer tier and notes that per-dollar they deliver more food than almost anything else on the list, which is exactly why they work as a light meal for two at the Happy Hour price. For the full Happy Hour picture, see our Happy Hour menu for appetizers.
Buffalo Blasts calories and full nutrition
The full order has 1,670 calories, according to the official Summer 2026 nutrition guide (Appetizers section, listed as Serves 2-4). The full breakdown:
| Nutrient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Calories (full order) | 1,670 |
| Calories per serving | 420 |
| Total fat | 93g |
| Saturated fat | 25g |
| Trans fat | 1.5g |
| Cholesterol | 190mg |
| Sodium | 7,080mg |
| Carbohydrates | 129g |
| Fiber | 10g |
| Sugar | 11g |
| Protein | 78g |
Two numbers deserve a second look. The first is sodium at 7,080mg for the full order, which is the figure that jumps off this table. Split four ways it is far more reasonable, which brings us to the second number: the order serves 2 to 4 people, so the honest way to read this plate is 420 calories per serving, not 1,670 for one person. If two people split it as a light meal, each gets a substantial share with 39g of protein. For the rest of the menu, see our appetizer nutrition numbers.
How spicy are Buffalo Blasts, really?
Medium. Official menus mark them Spicy, and the buffalo sauce is real, but the heat sits closer to medium than face-melting. That matters because it makes Buffalo Blasts an easy order for a mixed group: the spice lovers get their buffalo fix, and the cautious eaters are not punished for trying one. The cheese and the fried wrapper soften the heat, and the celery and blue cheese dressing cool it further. If you want more fire, this is not the dish that delivers it; the menu's hotter items sit elsewhere. If you want buffalo flavor without a dare, this is the right level. And if blue cheese is the problem rather than the heat, ranch is available on request, which keeps the same plate with a milder dip.
Buffalo Blasts vs Buffalo Wings vs Buffalo Chicken Strips
Three buffalo items share the menu and they are easy to mix up, so here is the line between them. Buffalo Blasts are the stuffed ones: chicken, cheese and buffalo sauce inside a spiced wrapper, fried crisp, with celery and blue cheese dressing, at $17.95 to $19.95 and 1,670 calories for the order. Buffalo Wings are the classic ones: fried wings covered in hot sauce, served with the same blue cheese dressing and celery sticks, but they are wings, not a stuffed wrapper, and they eat like a different dish entirely. Buffalo Chicken Strips are the simplest of the three: chicken strips with buffalo flavor, at 1,090 calories and $15.50 at Wichita, lighter than Blasts and without the wrapper or the cheese filling. When you search the price, make sure the listing says Blasts and shows the stuffed wrapper. If it shows wings on the bone or plain strips, you are looking at a different item with a different price.
Are Buffalo Blasts gluten-free?
No. The fried wrapper contains wheat, and fried and wonton-based items are not on the gluten-free menu. They also contain milk through the mozzarella and the blue cheese dressing. If you have a wheat or milk allergy, do not assume the kitchen can rebuild this plate without them; confirm with your server before ordering. For the full picture across the menu, see what the allergen menu covers.
Frequently asked questions
Buffalo Blasts cost $17.95 to $19.95 at dinner, with a median of $18.95 across 50 official location menus.
The full order has 1,670 calories and serves 2 to 4 people, so about 420 calories per serving, according to the official Summer 2026 nutrition guide.
Chicken, cheese and spicy buffalo sauce, all stuffed in a spiced wrapper and fried until crisp, served with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing. That is the full official description.
Medium. Official menus mark them Spicy, but the heat sits closer to medium than face-melting, which makes them an easy order for a mixed group. Ranch is available on request if you prefer it over blue cheese.
Buffalo Blasts cost $10.95 at Happy Hour at most locations and $11.50 at a few, including Tacoma and Chicago. Happy Hour runs Monday to Friday, 4 to 6 PM, in the bar and high-top seating only.
No. The fried wrapper contains wheat, and fried and wonton-based items are not on the gluten-free menu. They also contain milk through the cheese and blue cheese dressing. Ask your server before you order if you have an allergy.
They are three different items. Buffalo Blasts are chicken, cheese and buffalo sauce stuffed in a spiced wrapper and fried crisp. Buffalo Wings are fried wings covered in hot sauce. Buffalo Chicken Strips are chicken strips, at 1,090 calories and $15.50 at Wichita.
Who should order them, and who should skip them?
Order them if you want the most filling appetizer on the menu, the best per-dollar plate at Happy Hour, and buffalo flavor at a medium heat that a whole table can share. They are the right pick for two people splitting a light meal, for a group that wants one big sharing plate, and for anyone who likes the idea of buffalo chicken in a crisp wrapper rather than wings on the bone. Skip them if you need gluten-free, because the wheat wrapper rules them out, and skip them if you are watching sodium hard, because 7,080mg for the full order is a lot even split four ways. Also skip them if you actually want something light: Chicken Pot Stickers at 380 calories are the lightest appetizer on the menu and a better fit for that mood.