Learn how to make Buffalo Chicken Dip, an essential Midwestern food consisting of shredded chicken, spicy buffalo sauce, and ranch seasoned cream cheese topped with cheese. It’s a party staple in Chicago that combines the key food groups of melty cheese, ranch, and buffalo sauce.
Usually, Buffalo Chicken Dip is assembled in three layers. The first layer is cream cheese with a packet of ranch seasoning mixed in. The next layer is shredded chicken in buffalo sauce, and the final layer is shredded cheese. Then the dip goes into the oven until it is hot and the cheese is melted.
On a recent trip home to Maine, I taught my sister how to make buffalo chicken dip. I was shocked when she told me that she had never tried it! Surprisingly, most people at the party had never had the dip either!
I was making queso and talking Kelly through prepping the buffalo chicken dip. And either my directions weren’t stellar, or Kelly wasn’t paying attention, but the buffalo chicken and the ranch cream cheese got all mixed together. And I liked it more because it made every bite the perfect bite.
The next time I made buffalo chicken dip I made it Kelly’s way with the cream cheese and the buffalo chicken all mixed together. Instead of putting it in a baking dish, I hollowed out a loaf of sourdough. It’s a fun way to serve the dip.
The trick is to cover the bread with foil so that you can let the cheese get all toasty without burning the bread. If you don’t want to serve the dip out of a bread bowl, just pour it into a baking dish.
The key ingredient to this recipe is shredded chicken in buffalo sauce. The easiest ways to make shredded buffalo chicken are to either make crock pot buffalo chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken and then soak it in buffalo sauce.
I happened to have some bacon in my fridge so I cooked up a couple of slices, crumbled it up, and used it as a garnish. Adding bacon is totally optional, but it is a delicious addition to the recipe.
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How to make Buffalo Chicken Dip:
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Classic buffalo chicken dip combines spicy shredded buffalo chicken, cheese, and ranch seasoning. It's a party staple in the Midwest, and one of my favorite appetizers. You can serve this dip in a bread bowl, or you can bake it in a baking dish.
Ingredients
- 3 cups of Shredded Chicken
- about 1 cup of Franks Buffalo Sauce
- 6 ounces of Cream Cheese at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons Ranch Seasoning
- 1/2 cup of Shredded Cheese Cheddar, Colby, Pepper Jack, or Mexican blend
- 1 large loaf of Sourdough
- Aluminum Foil
- Optional garnish: 2 slices of crumbled Bacon
Instructions
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Place the shredded chicken in a bowl and add the buffalo sauce. You can add more or less based on your personal preference, I like to add about a cup.
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In another bowl, combine the cream cheese and the ranch seasoning. Once well mixed, add the buffalo chicken. Taste test to determine if the chicken is spicy enough and add more buffalo sauce if you like.
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Use a serrated knife to slice into the loaf of sourdough to create an opening for the dip. I like to first cut a large circle, and then to pull out some of the excess bread from the center of the loaf.
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Fill the loaf with the chicken mixture.
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Top with the shredded cheese.
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Cover the outside of the bread with aluminum foil, exposing on the dip. Place in the oven at 350 degrees and let bake for 30 minutes.
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If you want to garnish with bacon, cook the bacon in the oven alongside the dip.
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After 30 minutes, remove the dip from the oven and remove the foil from the bread. Garnish with crumbled bacon if you like. Serve with tortilla chips and the sourdough bread that you removed from the loaf. Serve hot.
