Spicy Buffalo Chicken Dip
Let me start out by saying this is not for the faint of heart, not in flavor nor in preparing this AH-mazing dip. Sometimes things just take time to make it awesome.
Equipment
- 1 slow cooker 5 - 6 quart
Ingredients
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 -ounce package dry ranch seasoning, such as Hidden Valley
- 1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2-3 hot peppers, seeded and sliced (serranos, jalapenos, etc.)
- 1 1/2-2 cups Frank's Buffalo Sauce, to taste
- 12 ounces Colby-Jack cheese, shredded and divided
- 16 ounces cream cheese
- 1 cup ranch dressing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the chicken breasts in a pan large enough to hold all 6 breasts. That could be a lasagna pan or 9×13”. Evenly sprinkle dry ranch seasoning over both sides of the chicken. Cover with foil and bake until chicken is cooked through, approximately 35 to 45 minutes, depending on your oven and thickness of the breasts. Keep an eye on it and use a thermometer (see notes) so you do not overcook and dry out your chicken.
- Once the chicken is cooked to 165 degrees internally, remove from the oven and transfer the hot chicken to another large pan and allow the chicken to cool while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Put the cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl and heat (to soften), about 1 and a half minutes.
- Shred the somewhat cooled chicken with two forks (or your hands) and place into your slow cooker.
- Add bacon, peppers, buffalo sauce (to taste), 12 ounces of the shredded cheese, cream cheese, and ranch dressing. Combine all ingredients together thoroughly.
- Sprinkle the remaining 4 ounces of cheese on top. Place the slow cooker on low for about 2 hours, then lower the heat to warm. If you like the cheese to “crust” around the edges of your slow cooker, keep on low longer.
- Serve warm with tortilla chips or pita chips.
Notes
PLEASE, don’t buy pre-shredded cheese here. Hand-held graters are quite inexpensive and it won’t take long at all to shred the cheese yourself over the bowl. SO worth it. Pre-shredded cheeses are coated with cellulose to keep it from becoming a big blob of cheese in its package. (Yay for that convenience, but, it does not melt as beautifully as shredded cheese from a block.)
I have made this dip where I cooked ALL ingredients together in a slow cooker, but I found the chicken released a lot of liquid I didn’t want mixed in. That’s why I opt for baking it the chicken first. Plus, I can just pop the chicken in the oven while I work on shredding cheese, slicing peppers, etc… Alternatively, you can cook the chicken breasts on the stovetop.
If time allows, drain the excess liquid from the chicken into a small saucepan and reduce the liquid over medium-high heat until only 2-3 tablespoons remain and add to the dip when you add the bacon, cream cheese, ranch dressing, etc.. Flavor!!
Digital thermometers are pretty inexpensive. They are quite handy when it comes to checking the internal temp of chicken and other meats.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!