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’!
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!
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!
How to Make BUffalo Chicken Dip – Step by Step Photos
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.
Cut 8 oz. of cream cheese into chunks, then add it to the pot, along with 2 Tbsp buttermilk ranch dressing.
Stir and whisk over medium heat until the cream cheese and dressing have melted into the hot sauce and created a smooth, 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.
Give the dip a taste and adjust the heat (add more hot sauce) or other flavors to your liking.
Transfer the buffalo chicken dip to a bowl and top with crumbled blue cheese (optional).
Serve with your favorite crackers, vegetables, or chips for dipping!
Savory, saucy, and satisfying! What’s not to love?! This Creamy Mushroom Chicken is inspired by a Samoan dish and doesn’t skimp on comfort or richness.
It’s a flavorful, 1-pot meal that’s elegant enough for hosting but easy enough for weeknight dinners…
Savory, saucy, and satisfying! What’s not to love?! This Creamy Mushroom Chicken is inspired by a Samoan dish and doesn’t skimp on comfort or richness.
It’s a flavorful, 1-pot meal that’s elegant enough for hosting but easy enough for weeknight dinners. Serve with veggies and rice (or coconut rice!) and it’s meal prep perfection. Let us show you how it’s done!
This easy, 1-pot recipe begins with sautéing onion, mushrooms, garlic, and ginger for a flavorful base.
Winner winner chicken dinner: this creamy chicken pasta is sure to become a weeknight dinner staple: quick and easy and packed with glorious garlicky flavor (garlic lovers, rejoice!) With a delightfully creamy sauce made with a surprisingly small amount of cream, this fast, filling, and flavorful pasta recipe is the kind of recipe you’ll want […]
Winner winner chicken dinner: this creamy chicken pasta is sure to become a weeknight dinner staple: quick and easy and packed with glorious garlicky flavor (garlic lovers, rejoice!)
With a delightfully creamy sauce made with a surprisingly small amount of cream, this fast, filling, and flavorful pasta recipe is the kind of recipe you’ll want to make again and again.
If you’re the kind of person who sees 2 garlic cloves called for in a recipe and instead throws in no fewer than 5, this recipe is for you. It’s got garlic galore, both fresh and powder, for a double dose of garlicky flavor.
Let’s just say Dracula wouldn’t dare come anywhere near your house after serving this dish.
Slow cookers are lifesavers in the kitchen, especially during busy weeks when (let’s face it) cooking is the last thing you want to do after a long workday. In these cases, the tiniest bit of advance planning can have a major payoff: All it takes is a …
Slow cookers are lifesavers in the kitchen, especially during busy weeks when (let’s face it) cooking is the last thing you want to do after a long workday. In these cases, the tiniest bit of advance planning can have a major payoff: All it takes is a few minutes of prep in the morning, and by the time you get home, you’ll have a hot meal waiting for you.
Though there’s an endless number of dishes that can be made in a slow cooker, we’re focusing on one of the most versatile proteins out there: chicken. Whether you’re a dark meat evangelist or a fan of a boneless and skinless chicken breast, slow cookers consistently yield a juicy, tender bird without any of the fuss. Here are 10 of our favorite slow cooker chicken recipes.
All the goodness of a classic chicken pot pie, but without a finicky crust or long bake time? We’re into it. This chicken pot pie soup is creamy, oh-so-savory, and undeniably comforting. It’s the perfect meal for cooler months when you’re craving somet…
All the goodness of a classic chicken pot pie, but without a finicky crust or long bake time? We’re into it. This chicken pot pie soup is creamy, oh-so-savory, and undeniably comforting. It’s the perfect meal for cooler months when you’re craving something hearty but decadent.
Did we mention it’s gluten-free, dairy-free, and requires just 10 ingredients?
Ever in the mood for roasted chicken but don’t want to go to the full effort? Us too! We have a remedy. Say hello to your NEW weeknight go-to: Lemon & Herb Roasted Chicken Thighs! All the tender meat, crispy skin, and satisfaction of roasted chicke…
Ever in the mood for roasted chicken but don’t want to go to the full effort? Us too! We have a remedy. Say hello to your NEW weeknight go-to: Lemon & Herb Roasted Chicken Thighs! All the tender meat, crispy skin, and satisfaction of roasted chicken, with much less work and half the time!
These chicken thighs are perfect for weeknights or meal prep yet elegant enough to be the centerpiece at a dinner party.
This roasted chicken recipe gives you crispy skin bathed in butter and meat that’s softly scented with lemon, garlic, and rosemary. There are also unctuous potatoes and carrots that cook in chicken jus. It’s a must try!
There’s nothing quite like this roasted chicken recipe. It gives you crispy skin bathed in butter and meat softly scented with lemon, garlic, and rosemary. There are unctuous potatoes and carrots that cook in chicken jus. It perfumes your entire household. And you can transform a single bird into meals that last for days on end. It truly is perfection.
How To Perfectly Roast Chicken
For the uninitiated, roasting a whole chicken can be intimidating. But it’s easier than you think. You just need to know a few tricks, and luckily you’ve got a friend that has them all up her sleeve. Ahem. It all comes down to is drying your chicken, using salt correctly, introducing fat to keep the breast meat moist, and using the cavity as a vehicle for flavor.
To make the best roasted chicken, use these four tricks:
Dry your chicken well for extra crispy skin
Use a dry brine to keep meat tender and infuse flavor
Coat with herb butter for a deliciously golden brown crispy skin
Stuff the cavity with aromatics to make every bite flavorful
Why Should I Dry Chicken?
The first trick to perfectly roasting a chicken is thoroughly drying your bird. I know it sounds counterintuitive. Why would you take juices off a chicken you want to be juicy? Because it gives you the crispiest skin ever. It’s so crucial that some chefs go as far as drying their chicken with a hair dryer. You don’t have to go that far, but don’t skip this step. It sets you up beautifully for a dry brine.
What Is A Dry Brine?
Dry brining is the act of salting chicken (or any other meat) and letting it sit uncovered while the salt draws out the juices. The chicken then reabsorbs the now salted juices, which tenderize the meat and add deep flavors all the way to the bone. This is far superior to just salting the skin on the outside, which leaves you with a bland bird. You can dry brine for as little as an hour, but if you want real magic, dry brine your chicken overnight. Leave it uncovered in your fridge, on the bottom shelf, for at least 8 hours. Then it’s ready for a butter bath.
Why Do People Put Butter On Their Chicken?
You add fat to the chicken breast to keep it moist and then you spread it on the skin to crisp it. The best and tastiest way to do that is to rub your chicken down with softened butter. (Unless you save your bacon fat, in which case, you should definitely use that!). As the butter melts, it bastes the notoriously dry breast meat, which keeps it juicy while adding a huge wallop of flavor. It will also give you deeply golden, crispy skin. Now all you have to do is to level up your flavor game by stuffing the chicken cavity with aromatics.
Why Should I Stuff Chicken?
Leaving the chicken’s cavity empty is a missed opportunity to add flavor. Stuff the cavity with aromatics, like garlic and lemon. If you have fresh rosemary, put a sprig in there as well. (If you don’t, that’s OK. You can add dried rosemary to your butter.) As the chicken cooks, the garlic, lemon, and rosemary release their essences and perfume your entire bird, from the inside out. It will take your chicken over the top, which is exactly where you want it.
What Temperature Do I Cook Chicken To?
Your chicken is done cooking when a thermometer inserted into the breast reads 160°F. Make sure not to touch the bone, which skews the results. You also need to insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh (again without touching the bone), where it should read 170°F. This is about 50 to 60 minutes for a five-pound bird at 425°F.
Remember the magic of carry-over cooking. The chicken will continue to rise at least five to ten degrees in temperature when it is out of the oven. Taking it out when the breast reads 160°F and the thigh reads 170°F will get you to the perfect temperature for chicken: 165°F to 170°F for the breast and 175°F to 180°F for the thighs. Leaving it any longer will leave you with a well done bird, which might work for the dark meat, but the white meat will be sawdust.
If you don’t have a thermometer, cut into the joint between the thigh and the body. If the juices run clear, you are good to go. If they run red or pinkish, pop your chicken back in the oven for a few more minutes.
Should I Baste Chicken?
I know, I know. Every time you see someone cooking chicken on a TV show or commercial, there’s always a scene where they have the oven door wide open as they gingerly baste their chicken in its juices. Don’t believe the hype. (Said in my best Flavor Flav.) You don’t have to baste chicken to get juicy results. That’s what the dry brine was for—leaving the oven door open to baste lets all of the heat escape and ruins the roast.
How To Roast A Chicken Without A Roasting Pan
A roasting pan with a rack is ideal because you want enough space between the vegetables and the chicken for air to circulate around the chicken, to crisp it and cook it evenly. If you don’t own a roasting pan, you have loads of other choices. Use a cast iron skillet and nestle the bird on top of the veg. The skin on the back won’t be crispy, but it will still be delicious. In fact, you can roast in almost any low-walled oven-safe dish. For example, use a pie pan or a brownie tin. All that matters is that the sides of the pan don’t block the sides of the chicken. They need to be exposed to develop color and get crispy.
Don’t Waste The Drippings
You’ve now set the foundation for a perfectly roasted bird. But why stop there? As that chicken roasts and that butter melts, all of the drippings fall to the bottom of the pan. This is precisely why you fill the pan with carrots, onions, and potatoes. They soak up all that incredible juice and transform into intensely flavored, unctious bites.
That’s it! With those simple tricks, you will have created intensely flavorful bites with perfectly crispy skin every time. And you can keep enjoying that chicken for days. Pull any leftover meat and use it in casseroles, burritos, or soups. Simmer the bones and create chicken stock. Or eat it cold out of the container as you cry uncontrollably while watching the last episode of From Scratch on Netflix. (Have you seen it?!?!?! We. Must. Discuss.)
This roasted chicken recipe gives you crispy skin bathed in butter and meat that's softly scented with lemon, garlic, and rosemary. There are also unctuous potatoes and carrots that cook in chicken jus. It's a must try!
Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat it to 425°F. Remove the chicken from its packaging.
Remove the innards.
Dry the chicken thoroughly inside and out with paper towels.
Dry brine the chicken by rubbing salt on it, inside and out. Use 1 teaspoon of kosher salt or coarse sea salt per pound of meat. Or 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt or iodized salt per pound of meat. Let it rest uncovered in your fridge for at least an hour but preferably overnight.
Chop the vegetables. Quarter an onion, slice the carrots, and quarter the potatoes. Add them to a roasting pan.
Add the dried rosemary to the softened butter and mix thoroughly.
Place the chicken on a rack over the vegetables and pat it dry again. Cover the chicken inside and out with butter. Work your way under the skin on the breast and add butter there too.
Quarter a lemon and slice through the top of a bulb of garlic.
Add the garlic and the lemon into the cavity of the chicken.
Roast your chicken at 425°F until a meat thermometer inserted into the breast reads 160°F and inserted into the thigh it reads 170°F. Remove the chicken from the pan and place it on a serving platter. Let it rest for at least ten minutes before carving it.
Stir the vegetables in the bottom of the pan to cover them with the chicken jus. Serve with slices of roasted chicken.
Pull any leftover meat off the bones and store it in an air-tight container. Reserve the bones for chicken stock. Simply add them to a freezer-safe container and freeze them until you are ready to use them. Use the pulled chicken for other recipes.
Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat it to 425°F. Remove the chicken from its packaging.
Remove the innards. Reserve them for chicken stock.
Dry the chicken thoroughly inside and out with paper towels.
Dry brine the chicken by rubbing salt on it, inside and out. Use 1 teaspoon of kosher salt or coarse sea salt per pound of meat. Or 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt or iodized salt per pound of meat. Let it rest uncovered in your fridge for at least an hour but preferably overnight.
When the chicken has brined for an hour, chop the vegetables. Quarter an onion, slice the carrots, and quarter the potatoes. Add them to a roasting pan.Add the dried rosemary to the softened butter and mix thoroughly.
Place the chicken on a rack over the vegetables and pat it dry again. Cover the chicken inside and out with butter. Work your way under the skin on the breast and add butter there too.
Quarter a lemon and slice through the equator of a bulb of garlic.
Add the garlic and the lemon into the cavity of the chicken.
Roast your chicken at 425°F until a meat thermometer inserted into the breast reads 160°F and inserted into the thigh it reads 170°F. Remove the chicken from the pan and place it on a serving platter. Let it rest for at least ten minutes before carving it.
Stir the vegetables in the bottom of the pan to cover them with the chicken jus.
Pull any leftover meat off the bones and store it in an air-tight container. Reserve the bones for chicken stock. Simply add them to a freezer-safe container and freeze them until you are ready to use them. Use the pulled chicken for other recipes.
So you want the creamy comfort of a soup and the hearty satisfaction of a chili? We got you. This white bean chicken chili is the best of both worlds.
Tender chicken gets simmered in a creamy, subtly spiced, flavorful broth. And mild green chiles, corn…
So you want the creamy comfort of a soup and the hearty satisfaction of a chili? We got you. This white bean chicken chili is the best of both worlds.
Tender chicken gets simmered in a creamy, subtly spiced, flavorful broth. And mild green chiles, corn, and kale add plenty of fiber and gorgeous color.
Spaghetti and Meatballs are a classic dinner, but it is always fun to mix up meatball night. We love making Greek Meatballs, Chicken Meatballs, and these easy Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs. If you love our traditional Teriyaki Chicken, you will love these…
Spaghetti and Meatballs are a classic dinner, but it is always fun to mix up meatball night. We love making Greek Meatballs, Chicken Meatballs, and these easy Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs. If you love our traditional Teriyaki Chicken, you will love these meatballs! They are juicy, full of flavor, and covered in a homemade teriyaki sauce.…
This hearty corn chowder will warm you up on even the chilliest of days! With bacon, potatoes, corn, and just a slight kick from some jalapeños, this is a soup that will make your family swoon. This post contains affiliate links. I heart soup in a serious way…it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. …
This hearty corn chowder will warm you up on even the chilliest of days! With bacon, potatoes, corn, and just a slight kick from some jalapeños, this is a soup that will make your family swoon.
This post contains affiliate links.
I heart soup in a serious way…it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. As the weather turns chilly, there is nothing more comforting than a big bowl of piping hot soup.
Spaghetti and Meatballs are a classic dinner, but it is always fun to mix up meatball night. We love making Greek Meatballs, Chicken Meatballs, and these easy Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs. If you love our traditional Teriyaki Chicken, you will love these meatballs! They are juicy, full of flavor, and covered in a homemade teriyaki sauce.… 