Buffalo Chicken Soup Recipe

Buffalo Chicken Soup Recipe: A creamy, comforting soup that has all of the best flavors of the popular buffalo chicken dip appetizer and buffalo wings.

Quick Overview: In only about 30 minutes, you’ll have a creamy buffalo chicken soup recipe ready for dinner or even lunch!

Post originally published in October 2016, updated in October 2022.

When soup season rolls around, this is the first creamy soup that I make!

Why you’ll love this creamy buffalo chicken soup

• This became a new favorite soup for my family, quickly! I’m not talking just my immediate family either… I mean, my whole extended family! I made it for them one day and they haven’t been able to stop making it themselves, ever since, and I know you’re going to love it too.
• This recipe uses uncooked chicken but you can use leftover chicken if you have any on hand, a rotisserie chicken, or whatever chicken you prefer!
• It’s all the flavors of buffalo chicken, in soup form, that is amazing by itself or paired alongside a sandwich like this tuna salad sandwich, chicken grilled cheese or this peanut butter and syrup sandwich.

Ingredients

This soup uses simple ingredients and you may even have all (most) of them on hand! Here’s what you need:

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 8 ounces cream cheese cut in to sections
• 1/3 cup buffalo sauce (I like Frank’s Red Hot but you can use your favorite brand of hot sauce)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 stick butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound of uncooked whole chicken breasts
• 1/3 chopped celery
• roux – optional (2 tablespoons of butter & 2 tablespoon flour or 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum)
• corn chips optional; we use Fritos

Instructions:

1. Cut chicken in to small pieces and place it, along with the chopped celery, in a large pot (you can drizzle a little olive oil in the stock pot to prevent sticking if you prefer) and cook over medium heat until the chicken has fully cooked through.

2. When the chicken is fully cooked, it’s time to add the heavy cream, broth, butter, buffalo sauce and cream cheese. Stir in and turn to low and allow everything to melt and combine, stirring occasionally.

You can serve the soup right away after everything has melted but it’s best, if you have time, to allow the soup to simmer for at least 10 minutes or so, to allow all of the flavors to blend together.

How to make soup more thick

If you prefer a thicker soup, this is when you can add a roux or xanthan gum.

Xanthan Gum

On the day I made the soup to take photos for the blog, I used xanthan gum. If you’d like to try that, I recommend starting with a teaspoon first and allow it to simmer to see if it’s thick enough.

I’ve added a tablespoon in the past and it was too much. It was really thick, and kind of lost that “soup” texture and became a chowder texture. But xanthan gum is a great choice, especially if you’re doing a low carb diet.

Roux

If you prefer a thicker soup, you can make a roux in a separare pan (cooking 2 tablespoons of butter & 2 tablespoon flour for a few minutes and then whisk in to buffalo chicken soup) and then heat soup until thickened.

After allowing the soup to simmer for a few minutes, it’s ready to serve!

Topping Ideas

The soup is absolutely wonderful by itself but we do love adding our favorite toppings! Here are topping ideas if you’d like to add some too:

• Fritos (corn chips)
• Chopped green onions
• Blue cheese crumbles
• Hot sauce drizzle
• Sour cream
• Blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing drizzle
• Croutons (you will love this easy homemade croutons recipe!)

What side dishes go with soup?

If you’re looking for a side dish to serve with this buffalo chicken soup recipe, our favorites (besides the sandwiches that I mentioned above) are this side salad, focaccia bread, or this Italian Chopped Salad.

Substitutions and Variations

• Chicken: Don’t want to cook chicken? No problem! Use canned chicken or even a rotisserie chicken! If you like meal prepping, you will love this easy shredded chicken in the slow cooker for soup recipes like this!)
• Dairy: We use heavy cream for this recipe but you can use milk if you prefer; whole, 2%, skim, etc.
• Hot Sauce: We love using Frank’s hot sauce but you can use any type that you liked. I’d just stay away from green hot sauce, or different flavors of hot sauce until you’re for sure that you’d like it in the soup. Regular hot sauce really captures that traditional buffalo chicken flavor.
• Seasonings: We love this just the way it is but as always, feel free to experiment with other ingredients if you have your favorites! For instance, using cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder, may be fun to try in this recipe!

How to store leftover soup

If you have leftover soup, allow it to fully cool and then place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

Can you freeze buffalo chicken soup?

I do! I simply put it in to containers and free single portions so we can pull a container out, thaw, and enjoy!

Related Recipes

If you love hearty soups like this one, you’re also going to love this and this easy white chicken chili, crab bisque, and this easy chicken noodle soup!

If you’re craving the famous dip now, I highly recommend this crockpot buffalo chicken dip!

Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a review 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!