Buffalo wings are a classic game-day appetizer, but sometimes you don’t want the mess. Enter, this Buffalo Chicken Dip with all the same spicy and creamy flavors without the messy fingers.
You’ll find the same flavors you love, in our buffalo chicken lasagna, buffalo chicken soup and buffalo chicken sliders, too! Or, for a hearty dish, this buffalo chicken pasta is a favorite too!
I love to serve a meal of just easy appetizers! Whether you are watching the big game or just having a fun dinner with family and friends, finger foods are a big hit. It allows everyone to have lots of variety on their plate without being over-stuffed.
Besides chicken, heat up some easy Cheeseburger Sliders to fill up your plate. And since you have chips out, salsa and guacamole will be great dips with Rotel Dip as well.
Jump to:
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Crowd pleaser: This is a great dip because it fits low-carb diets and can be dipped with veggies to stay gluten-free.
- Make-ahead recipe: It’s easy to mix everything up and set the dish in the fridge until ready to bake and serve.
- Easy to customize: Adjust the heat to your liking as well as change up the cheese for a new flavor experience.
Key Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this buffalo chicken dip:
- Chicken – We are using cooked chicken because the dip is basically being heated, not cooked. Shredded or diced both work, but you’ll want it all small enough to scoop up with your dippers!
- Cheese – I recommend a mix of mozzarella and cheddar, but you can use really any cheese here. A Mexican/fiesta blend or pepper jack cheese would be great options. Just use 2 cups total of shredded cheese.
- Cream cheese – Use full fat, or the ⅓ reduced fat will work. Stay away from fat free as the texture won’t be right.
- Dressing – The tang of blue cheese pairs well with buffalo, but if you aren’t a fan you can go ahead and use ranch dressing instead. You can skip the powdered ranch if using ranch dressing.
- Sour cream – Again, be sure and use reduced fat or full fat here and not fat free for the best texture in your finished dip.
- Hot sauce – This is what brings the heat so feel free to adjust to your liking! After mixing all the ingredients but before adding chicken is a great time to taste test and adjust.
*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Dip
This Buffalo Chicken Dip couldn’t be easier:
- mix ingredients
- spread in a dish
- bake to bubbly perfection
STEP 1. Make the base. Add everything except the chicken and green onions to a mixing bowl. Stir until well combined and mostly smooth.
Tip: After step 1 is a great place to taste test for heat. Also if you are using ranch dressing instead of blue cheese, feel free to leave out the powdered ranch until you see what this alteration tastes like.
STEP 2. Stir in chicken. Stir in the cooked chicken and green onions. The dip should be mostly smooth but some lumps of cream cheese are ok.
STEP 3. Prepare dish. Spread the dip evenly in your prepared dish and pop in the oven until nice and bubbly.
STEP 4. Top and serve. Add remaining cheese to the top of the dip and continue baking until melted. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
Recipe Pro Tips
- Control the heat. Amp up or cool off the heat by changing how much buffalo sauce you use.
- Make ahead. Layer everything up and store in the fridge, baked or unbaked, so you can serve it up quickly.
Recipe FAQs
Yes – just be sure to drain well so the dip isn’t watered down. This is the perfect recipe to use canned chicken, leftover chicken, or specifically make extra with another meal to use here.
You can control the spice level by adding less buffalo sauce if you like. If you’ve added too much buffalo sauce already, you can add more blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing to help calm the heat.
Yes you absolutely can. You can make the recipe up until the baking step, cover and refrigerate. When ready to cook and serve, remove from the refrigerator and bake. Do note: The baking time may differ since the ingredients will be cooler at the time of baking. Or, you can prepare the recipe as directed, bake and then allow to cool and store in the refrigerator. Then, when ready to serve later, simply reheat in the oven until heated through.
What Goes Best with Buffalo Chicken Dip
Chips, carrots, celery are all perfect options. I also love using pretzel crisps! Serve with other party foods for a great finger food spread, such as Crockpot BBQ meatballs or whipping up cheese dip for pretzels.
Storage
You can make this ahead as directed above, to serve it up quickly. However, freezing buffalo chicken dip isn’t recommended, as the cheese and dairy products can change in texture.
More Dip Recipes You’ll Love
Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!
Recipe
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Ingredients
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- ½ cup Franks Red Hot Sauce
- ½ cup chunky blue cheese dressing
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons ranch seasoning
- 2 ½ cups chicken diced or shredded small
- 2 green onions thinly sliced plus some for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F and prepare a 9-inch pie plate or 5 cup baking dish by spraying with non-stick spray.
- Add the cream cheese, Franks Red Hot, sour cream, blue cheese dressing, ranch seasoning, and half of the cheeses to a mixing bowl.
- Blend until well combined; the mixture should be mostly smooth, but if there are few chunks, don’t worry as they’ll melt in the oven
- Stir in the chicken and green onions.
- Pour mixture into prepared dish and bake for 30-35 minutes
- When the edges are bubbly and starting to turn brown add the remaining cheese on top of the dip. Bake for an additional 5 minutes.
- Once cheese is melted, remove from the oven; let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- To Serve: garnish with sliced green onions, blue cheese crumbles, or drizzle extra Franks on top.
- You can also make this recipe in a crock pot. Follow steps 1-4; for step 5 place the dip mixture into a crockpot and cook on high for 2 hours.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Kristine says
We made this for the CFB Championship game and everyone loved it! Thanks for sharing!
Jessica says
Oh that’s awesome! I’m so glad that you liked this buffalo chicken dip too, thank you so much for sharing!
Fran V says
This was a huge hit with out book club last night! I am making it again this weekend to watch football at our friend’s house!
Jessica says
Hi Fran! That’s amazing! I’m so glad that you liked this buffalo chicken dip recipe so much that you’re going to make it again. Thank you!
Sha says
This buffalo chicken dip is a hit! It’s bursting with flavors and super delicious!
Jessica says
We think so too! So happy that you liked this buffalo chicken dip too, thank you so much!