Budget Bytes

Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip

February 06, 2023

We’re about a week away from the biggest football game of the year, and you can’t have a football party without some buffalo chicken dip. It’s creamy, tangy, spicy, and perfect for dipping your favorite chips, crackers, or even veggies. Not into football? Don’t sleep on this buffalo chicken dip because it can be used for a lot more than just dippin’!

Overhead view of a cracker dipping into a bowl of buffalo chicken dip.

What’s in Buffalo Chicken DIp

Okay, are you ready to see just how easy this is? You only need a few super simple ingredients to make this homemade buffalo chicken dip and once you see how quickly it comes together, you’ll never buy it premade again. Here’s what you’ll need to make your own buffalo chicken dip:

  • Butter: This is one of the base ingredients for buffalo sauce. The rich butter helps balance the acidity and heat of the hot sauce.
  • Hot Sauce: for real buffalo sauce, you’ll want to use Franks Redhot sauce, but most other vinegar-based cayenne hot sauces will also taste great.
  • Garlic Powder: This gives a little depth to the buffalo sauce so it’s not just straight cayenne flavor.
  • Ranch Dressing: A little dollop of ranch dressing also gives more dimension to the dip so you get more flavors than just cayenne.
  • Cream Cheese: This is what creates the thick, dip-like consistency. It also adds extra creaminess and tanginess to the dip. You can use Neufchatel instead of cream cheese.
  • Cooked Chicken: I like rotisserie chicken the best for this recipe, since it’s always tender and moist, but you could always cook up two chicken breasts in a skillet, then chop it finely before adding to the dip. You can also use canned chicken in a pinch, but the texture of canned chicken isn’t the best.
  • Blue Cheese: It’s not that you need even more cheese in this dip, but blue cheese offers the most amazing savory and pungent contrast to the bright vinegary buffalo flavor. But if you’re not a blue cheese person you can skip it and your dip will still be awesome!

Can I Bake It?

I chose not to bake my buffalo chicken dip because I just wanted it to be as quick and easy as possible. But if you wanted to bake it, you could top it with some cheddar cheese and bake in a 375ºF oven for 10-15 minutes, or just until the cheese is melted and bubbly. You just need to be careful to not overbake the dip or else it can begin to separate.

How to Serve Buffalo Chicken Dip

Okay, here’s where it gets good. Obviously, you can serve this buffalo chicken dip with crackers, chips, or vegetable crudités, but it can also be used for more than a dip. You can stuff it into a tortilla and cook it up in a skillet for a creamy quesadilla, pile it onto a sandwich with some greens or sprouts for a delicious chicken-salad-like sandwich, or spread it on a pizza dough and top with mozzarella for a super cheesy buffalo chicken pizza!

Side view of a cracker being dipped into a bowl of buffalo chicken dip.
Overhead view of a the buffalo chicken dip surrounded by crackers and vegetables.
Print

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Creamy, tangy, spicy, and oh so delicious! This super easy buffalo chicken dip is perfect for dipping, and so much more.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Total Cost $9.35 recipe / $1.17 serving
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 8 ¼ cup each
Calories 267kcal

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup Frank's RedHot Sauce* $1.26
  • 4 Tbsp butter $0.60
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder $0.05
  • 8 oz. cream cheese $2.19
  • 2 Tbsp buttermilk ranch dressing $0.25
  • 3 cups chopped cooked chicken $4.00
  • 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (optional) $1.00

Instructions

  • Add the hot sauce, butter, and garlic powder to a small saucepot. Stir and cook over medium until the butter has melted and combined with the hot sauce.
  • Cut the cream cheese into chunks and add it to the sauce pot along with the ranch dressing. Stir and whisk over medium until the cream cheese has melted and created a smooth and creamy sauce.
  • Add the chopped chicken to the saucepot and stir to combine. Stir and cook over medium just until heated through. Be careful not to let the dip boil.
  • Taste the dip and adjust the heat (hot sauce) or any of the other flavors to your liking. Transfer to a bowl and top with crumbled blue cheese, then enjoy!

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*You can substitute with any vinegar-based cayenne hot sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cup | Calories: 267kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 20g | Sodium: 715mg | Fiber: 0.01g
Close up of buffalo chicken dip on a cracker.

How to Make BUffalo Chicken Dip – Step by Step Photos

Buffalo sauce ingredients in a saucepot.

Start by making a super simple buffalo sauce: add ½ cup Frank’s RedHot sauce (or any vinegar-based cayenne hot sauce), 4 Tbsp butter, and ¼ tsp garlic powder to a sauce pot. Heat and stir over medium until the butter has melted and combined with the hot sauce.

Cream cheese added to the pot in chunks.

Cut 8 oz. of cream cheese into chunks, then add it to the pot, along with 2 Tbsp buttermilk ranch dressing.

Smooth buffalo dip sauce in the pot with a whisk.

Stir and whisk over medium heat until the cream cheese and dressing have melted into the hot sauce and created a smooth, creamy sauce.

Chopped chicken being poured into the creamy sauce.

Add 3 cups of chopped cooked chicken to the sauce and stir to combine. Continue to stir and cook just until heated through. Be careful not to let the dip boil.

Finished buffalo chicken dip in the pot.

Give the dip a taste and adjust the heat (add more hot sauce) or other flavors to your liking.

Blue cheese being sprinkled over the dip.

Transfer the buffalo chicken dip to a bowl and top with crumbled blue cheese (optional).

Overhead view of a the buffalo chicken dip surrounded by crackers and vegetables.

Serve with your favorite crackers, vegetables, or chips for dipping!

The post Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip appeared first on Budget Bytes.

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