This Buffalo chicken dip recipe will be your go-to when you need an easy dip for game day or any gathering. It is the perfect appetizer!
You only need a few simple ingredients to make the dip and you can use either thawed or frozen chicken, which makes it perfect for those times we need an easy appetizer.
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What I love most about this dip is the versatility of it. If you don't like spicy food, omit the hot sauce and you will have a delicious creamy chicken dip.
You can bake it with cheddar cheese on top and serve it for dinner with flour tortillas to make Buffalo chicken wraps. Use it as a filling for egg rolls or Buffalo chicken wontons. Or, spread it on crusty bread and bake in the oven for an open faced sandwich.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Chicken
You can use any cut of chicken that you like in this recipe, but my preference is boneless skinless chicken breasts. I think it gives the best texture for the shredded chicken in this recipe.
If you want to use boneless chicken thighs instead, you can and the pressure cook time will remain the same.
You can also use leftover rotisserie chicken or any other kind of chicken you have, but there isn't any reason to pressure cook if the chicken is already cooked and can be shredded.
If the chicken is cooked, but frozen, you can pressure cook it with the other ingredients, but reduce the time to 10 minutes of pressure cook with a full natural release.
The amount of chicken you use is completely up to you. I have made the recipe with 8 ounces of chicken breast up to 3 pounds of chicken breasts and the pressure cook time remains the same. You will want to adjust the buffalo sauce ingredients, but keep the liquid (½ cup water) the same or your dip will be too runny.
Buffalo Sauce
There are so many ways to make Buffalo sauce, but the basic ingredients are butter and hot sauce. I add a bit of honey to mine for a sweet heat, but that is optional.
My Buffalo wing sauce is based on ratios so you can make as much or as little as you like. For this Buffalo chicken dip recipe using 1½ pounds of chicken breast, the amounts are; 6 Tablespoons of salted butter, 6 Tablespoons of Cholula hot sauce, and 3 Tablespoons of honey. This amount is just shy of 1 cup of Buffalo sauce, so if you have a favorite buffalo sauce, use about 1 cup for 1½ pounds of chicken.
If you want to make my version of Buffalo sauce, but prefer Frank's Red Hot sauce over Cholula, use that instead. You can also skip the honey without making any other changes to the recipe or cooking time.
Cheese
In the dip itself, I only use cream cheese because I like the texture better that way.
However, you can add in shredded cheese like cheddar or monterey jack cheese, or blue cheese crumbles if desired.
Liquid for Pressure Cooking
I wanted to include this in the ingredients section because it is so important to have a thin liquid when pressure cooking and some pressure cooker manuals will say you need a minimum of 1-2 cups of thin liquid.
If you added that much thin liquid in the form of water or chicken broth in this recipe, your dip would be way too runny and it isn't necessary.
I have successfully made this buffalo chicken dip with only ¼ cup of water and had no issues going under pressure in my 6.5 qt Ninja Foodi. I increased the amount to ½ cup in the final recipe to give a bit extra liquid because I found that as the chicken dip sits (whether on the keep warm function, slow cook function, or in the refrigerator) it thickens quite a bit.
Most people serve buffalo chicken dip hot and it can sit out for many hours in a hot holding type of appliance like a dip crock or even steam table pans and I wanted to make sure the dip didn't dry out.
If you are serving the dip immediately, you can certainly decrease the water/chicken broth to ¼ cup in 6.5 quart pressure cookers and smaller. For larger pressure cookers, I would stick with ½ cup thin liquid.
The liquid you use can be water or chicken broth, I use water because it is one less ingredient you have to buy. If you have an open container of chicken broth or chicken stock, by all means use it.
The butter should be added to the pot either cold or room temperature, but not melted. If the butter is melted, there is a good chance it will burn while the pot is building pressure. The butter is considered part of the liquid in this recipe, but you also need the water/chicken broth to avoid scorching.
The hot sauce is also liquid, but it is a bit thicker than what is considered thin liquid for pressure cooking.
If you want to read up about pressure cooking, I have a very in depth article here: Principles of Pressure Cooking
Extras
There are so many variations to buffalo chicken dip and I encourage you to add any ingredients you love so that you make the perfect buffalo chicken dip for you and your family and friends.
Here are some suggestions.
- Garnish with chopped green onions or fresh/dried parsley to add some green color
- Stir in blue cheese crumbles after pressure cooking
- Add either ranch dressing or ranch seasoning packet into the dip after pressure cooking.
- Add chopped jalapeno (or green bell) peppers and/or red bell pepper after pressure cooking for a festive look.
- Use sour cream or Greek yogurt in place of some of the cream cheese for a tangier dip.
- Add red pepper flakes before pressure cooking for a spicier dip.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Dip in a Pressure Cooker
The reason I like to make this dip in my pressure cooker is I can use frozen chicken breasts and have a great outcome in under an hour. For me, this works great because I am not always the best planner and almost always forget to take the chicken out of the freezer!
If you prefer to make the dip in your slow cooker, the directions for that are in the next section.
Mise En Place (prep for recipe)
NONE! Don't you love that!
You don't even need to trim the chicken breasts, but you certainly can if they are thawed.
Pressure Cook
Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the pressure cooker pot and add the water or chicken broth.
The chicken can be frozen or thawed/fresh, trimmed or not.
Add in the butter in a large piece and it is best to have it cold, but room temperature works too. Don't melt the butter before adding it to the pot.
Sprinkle the salt over the chicken and pour the Cholula and honey over the chicken breasts. Try to keep the honey on top of the chicken as much as possible to avoid any issues with it scorching while building pressure.
Quick Tip
If you are using a bottled Buffalo wing sauce instead of homemade, make sure it isn't too thick for pressure cooking. If in doubt, you can add it after the pressure cook time is done.
Place the lid on the pressure cooker and turn the valve to the sealed position. Select high pressure and set the time for 20 minutes when using fresh/thawed chicken breasts and 25 minutes for frozen chicken breasts.
Press Start and the pressure cooker will begin heating the thin liquid to produce steam to put the pot under pressure. This takes between 8-12 minutes usually.
Once the pressure cook time is done, allow the pot to do a full natural release. This means you do nothing until the pin in the back drops. This usually takes 15-20 minutes.
If you are in a hurry, you can release the pressure after a 10 minute natural release.
Finishing the Buffalo Chicken Dip
Once all the pressure has been released and the pin has dropped, you can open the pressure cooker lid.
Don't be alarmed by the amount of liquid in the pot, once you shred the chicken and add the cream cheese, the dip thickens nicely.
Shred the chicken right in the pot with tongs and add the cream cheese. Break up the cream cheese so it melts quicker and put the pressure lid back on and let it sit on the Keep Warm function for 5-10 minutes.
Quick Tip
You can speed this process up by using sear/sauté on medium and stirring in the cream cheese as it heats up.
Stirring and Serving Buffalo Chicken Dip
Once the cream cheese has melted, stir the chicken dip until it is creamy and all the ingredients are combined.
You may think the dip is too runny, but as it sits it thickens quite a bit. I don't recommend thickening it if you are going to hot hold it on the Keep Warm setting or bake it in the oven with cheese on top to serve as a casserole type of dip.
If you do want to thicken it, you can either let it sit on Keep warm for 20-30 minutes or switch over to slow cook on low for 20-30 minutes. You can also add more cream cheese or shredded cheddar cheese, but don't forget to adjust the hot sauce for the perfect spice level.
Serve the Buffalo chicken dip with assorted crackers, corn chips, tortillas, crusty bread, soft pretzels, celery and carrot sticks.
Don't forget the ranch dressing and/or the blue cheese dressing!
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Dip Instructions
Making Buffalo chicken dip in a slow cooker or crock pot is basically the same process as pressure cooking, it just takes takes longer.
There are so many different brands and styles of slow cookers that I can only give timing suggestions based on my experiences with the slow cookers I have.
For example, the Ninja Foodi Possible Cooker Pro is much faster on high slow cook than my Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper using high slow cook. Having an understanding of how your slow cooker works will help in determining the total time needed to cook the dip.
Buffalo Chicken Dip in a Slow Cooker using Frozen Chicken Breasts
When using frozen chicken breasts, I recommend only using high slow cook to ensure that they thaw and get up to the correct food safety temperatures within 2 hours.
Add the frozen chicken breasts and salt to the slow cooker along with the butter, hot sauce and honey. Adding liquid is optional, but I usually add ½ cup of water even when slow cooking. There will be more evaporation during the slow cook time and I find the chicken cooks faster with a little thin liquid.
Put the lid on and slow cook on high for 2-3 hours or until the chicken easily shreds.
Shred the chicken with tongs and add the cream cheese. Put the lid on and slow cook another 30-60 minutes or until the cream cheese has completely melted.
Stir and serve.
Buffalo Chicken Dip in a Slow Cooker using Thawed/Fresh Chicken Breasts
When using thawed chicken breasts, you can slow cook on low or high and the chicken will reach the food safety temperature within 2 hours.
Add the chicken, salt, butter, honey, and hot sauce to the slow cooker. If you are slow cooking on low, I would skip adding in any liquid, but if you are slow cooking on high, I would add about ¼ cup just to help prevent the chicken from scorching before it releases its juices.
Put the lid on and slow cook on low for 3-4 hours and high for 1-2 hours or until you can easily shred the chicken.
Shred the chicken and add the cream cheese. Put the lid back on the slow cooker and slow cook on low for another hour or two and on high for 30-60 minutes.
Stir and Serve.
Storage, Hot Holding & Reheating Instructions
How to Store Leftover Buffalo Chicken Dip
Refrigeration
Place any leftovers in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
If the dip was left out longer than 2 hours without being properly hot held, throw it away.
Freezer
Refrigerate leftovers overnight before freezing.
If the food is warm when packaged for freezing, steam can be produced inside the container or freezer bag, resulting in ice crystals forming.
Place the dip in a freezer bag or airtight freezer container and freeze up to 6 months.
How to Reheat Buffalo Chicken Dip
Slow Cook
Place the refrigerated or frozen dip in the slow cooker and reheat using low slow cook. Begin stirring after 30 minutes and continue to cook until the dip reaches 165℉/74℃.
If the dip is too thick, add a little water or chicken broth.
Quick Tip
Quickly thaw and reheat from frozen using pot in pot pressure cooking! Place the frozen Buffalo chicken dip in a covered pan and place on the rack of your pressure cooker. Add 1 cup of water to the inner pot and pressure cook on high for 10-15 minutes with an immediate release of pressure.
Frequently Asked Questions
That depends on how much hot sauce you use and the type of hot sauce. I find that the Cholula hot sauce with the butter and honey gives the dip a mild spiciness.
You can omit the hot sauce if you don't want any spice or add more to increase the spice level.
You can easily cut the recipe in half or double or triple it by decreasing or increasing all of the ingredients according to how much dip you want to make.
The only thing that doesn't change is the amount of water used. ½ cup is all you need no matter how much chicken or other ingredients you use.
The pressure cooking time remains the same as well.
Use it as a sandwich spread and bake open-faced in the oven or make a grilled Buffalo chicken dip sandwich!
Make Buffalo Chicken Dip wraps by spreading the warm dip on flour tortillas and wrapping.
Turn it into a soup or chili by adding chicken broth and black beans.
More EASY Appetizer Recipes
Appetizers come in all shapes and sizes, from dips to finger foods and sliders. Here are a few of my favorite appetizer recipes that are easy to make and taste amazing!
Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast frozen or fresh (thawed)
- ½ cup water or chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon fine grind sea salt or kosher salt
- 6 Tablespoons salted butter
- 6 Tablespoons Cholula hot sauce
- 3 Tablespoons honey
- 12 ounces cream cheese
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Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts into the inner pot of your pressure cooker. Add the water and salt.1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, ½ cup water, ½ teaspoon fine grind sea salt or kosher salt
- Add the butter and hot sauce sauce. Pour the honey over the chicken breasts. This helps keep the thicker honey off the bottom of the pot for pressure cooking.6 Tablespoons salted butter, 6 Tablespoons Cholula hot sauce, 3 Tablespoons honey
- Put the pressure lid on and turn the valve to the sealed position. Pressure cook on high for 25 minutes if using frozen chicken breasts and 20 minutes for thawed/fresh chicken breasts. When the pressure time is up, allow a full natural release of pressure. This can take 15-20 minutes. If you are in a hurry, you can release the pressure after 10 minutes. I don't recommend an immediate release of pressure because that can dry out the chicken.
- Open the lid and shred the chicken in the pot with tongs. Add the cream cheese and break it up. Put the pressure lid back on and let the pot sit on the keep warm setting (it automatically switches over to that after pressure cooking on most electric pressure cookers) for about 5-10 minutes. (You can speed this process up by using sear/sauté on medium and stirring in the cream cheese as it heats up.)Remove the lid and stir to combine. The buffalo chicken dip may be a little liquidy still. You can add more cream cheese if desired, but it will thicken as it sits. Taste and add more hot sauce if needed. You can serve the dip immediately or hot hold it using the keep warm function OR transfer it to a serving dish.12 ounces cream cheese
- Serve with assorted crackers, crusty bread, carrot and celery sticks, soft pretzels or anything else you like!
Notes
Nutrition
About the Recipe Author, Louise Long
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
She published her first cookbook in the Fall of 2018 and is very interested in writing several more.
Louise is also the creator of an online Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooking Course with over 100 instructional step-by-step videos. People absolutely rave about the course and all the value they have received from it.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and learning more about the appliances they love.
Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper 101
Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill & Smoker
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can. Get more Information about Louise & contact information
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