March 1, 2018

Crock-Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Meals and snacks couldn’t be any easier than this quick 3-ingredient Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Dip. It’s great for parties, BBQs, potlucks, and more!

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Buffalo Chicken Dip

I love it when recipes just work the first time! I mean, it rarely happens; sometimes we work on recipes for weeks, choking down terrible green smoothie fails or turning a dairy-free vanilla cream sauce debacle into a thrown-together breakfast bake in an attempt to salvage some ingredients, so creating a recipe that we simply can’t stop eating on the first attempt really brightens my day!

Thus far in our blogging journey, this has happened a handful of times, including Cory’s amazing Clean Out the Pantry Crockpot Ham & Bean Soup, the Pineapple Berry Smoothie, the pesto from the Zoodles with Sun Dried Tomato & Walnut Pesto, and Cory’s Mango Jalapeno Salsa. More often, though, they take a time or two, at the very least, to tweak to perfection, but boy do I love it when we nail the recipe the first time!

Considering my complete addiction to this dip, it may surprise you to learn that honestly, buffalo chicken recipes have never really wowed me before; I usually like lemon pepper or sweet chile sauce on wings, and buffalo chicken pizza still seems an abomination to me (though after years with Cory, I have finally come around on BBQ chicken pizzas… I can hear my mother gasping in horror from here, lol).

This dip, though, freakin’ rocked my socks off. I ate almost half the batch while “testing” it before Cory got home the first time I made it, so even if you don’t go bonkers for buffalo sauce in general, you should give this dip a try!

We originally created this insanely easy crock-pot buffalo chicken dip for a Superbowl party, and having eaten it multiple times since, I can assure you that this dip is seriously addictive and ridiculously simple to make. Of course most of the time, buffalo sauce consists of about equal parts hot sauce and butter or margarine… not my personal fave combo for overall healthiness, so for this dip we traded the butter/margarine for thick, rich, creamy Greek yogurt, leaving us with a delicious buffalo sauce flavor but with a lighter, healthier twist.

If you don’t yet have a favorite cayenne-based hot sauce, definitely start with Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, Original Cayenne flavor! Also, while crackers certainly work well as dippers, I personally am extremely partial to the celery sticks. They provide the perfect, crisp balance to the slightly spicy dip, and I definitely love getting extra veggies in my day anytime I can!

Now, depending on your preferences, you may not usually reach for the full-fat yogurt options, but I highly recommend using at least 2% Greek yogurt for this recipe. The fat-free/skim options will likely still work, though I would suggest starting with less yogurt initially in the slow cooker and adding additional if needed at the end after you shred the chicken. For this recipe, I reach for plain Fage Greek Yogurt; it’s delicious, and it also makes a great swap for sour cream in recipes or by itself!

While I usually tend towards dairy-free, I haven’t made this one with a non-dairy yogurt yet. UPDATE: We’ve made this with a non dairy, unsweetened plain yogurt, and it turns out great! It takes a little bit more time to absorb the extra liquid, which we don’t mind, but you can also drop the yogurt down a little bit if you’d prefer.

Different brands and types of non-diary yogurts react a bit differently, but we’ve had good luck with cashew and coconut based. Cashew (like Forager brand) seems to have the closest consistency and flavor to plain Greek yogurts. SO Coconut (unsweetened plain is very important!) has also worked well. I don’t like almond based ones quite as well because it’s a little sweeter.

This recipe honestly couldn’t be easier; just mix the yogurt and hot sauce together, pour it over the chicken in your crock-pot/slowcooker, and walk away for about 4 ½ hours. Then, come back and shred it very very thoroughly, either with forks or with these super awesome meat claws, which will make this part infinitely easier! We have meat claws both with handles and without handles, and while I’ve used both for this recipe, I definitely prefer the handled kind, as they keep my hands farther away from the hot dip while shredding directly in the crock-pot. The non-handle kind work fabulously for pulling pork, though, or for shredding chicken on a plate/cutting board instead of in the crock-pot with hot liquid.

As you shred the chicken, the liquid will start to soak into the meat, and as you leave the lid off for a bit, the excess liquid will dissipate/absorb, leaving you with a delicious, healthy buffalo chicken dip for you to devour with celery sticks and crackers! We like these Mary’s Gone Crackers quite a bit with this dip; they’re gluten free, healthier than most crackers, very crispy, and come in several varieties. Make sure to shred the chicken very very well; you want this to form a dip, not just saucy shredded chicken, though that could work well in enchiladas or something too, come to think of it.

I like to add a little salt and pepper before serving, but this dip really doesn’t need anything else. So there you go; wow your friends at your next party with this simple but incredible crock-pot buffalo chicken dip, and if you need some other awesome healthy snack or party appetizer ideas, check out our 9 Easy Healthy Snacks roundup post for other amazing, easy recipes!