This Healthy Buffalo Chicken Dip is a delicious and flavorful appetizer that you’re going to love snacking on! Perfect with crackers or veggies, this simple recipe is a fast appetizer that will quickly get gobbled up.
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Looking for a healthy buffalo chicken dip? You can’t beat this one! It contains zero mayonnaise, but the recipe doesn’t suffer one little bit.
We’ll go ahead and call it healthy(ish) buffalo chicken dip.
What is Buffalo Chicken Dip Made Of?
This recipe is rocking:
- Shredded chicken breasts
- Plain Greek yogurt (I used 5% fat)
- Cream cheese – I used Neufchatel (super similar to regular cream cheese but it is higher in moisture and lower in fat)
- Spices – dried parsley, onion powder, and garlic powder. This mimics the ranch seasoning that a lot of recipes call for.
- Buffalo sauce (have some leftover? Make a batch of Buffalo Hummus)
- Shredded medium cheddar and mozzarella. This is totally optional but delicious.
For the chicken, I cooked two pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts in my Instant Pot. Add the chicken to the insert, cover it with water, and set it to manual>high pressure> 10 minutes. I allow for a full natural release, but a 10-minute natural release and then a quick release will work too.
You can also cook the chicken breasts covered in water on low for 3-4 hours in a slow cooker, or for 15-20 minutes in a saucepan of water on the stovetop.
It’s also a great way to use up leftover chicken, like from a dry brined chicken, air fryer chicken tenders, or a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you sure can. This recipe calls for 3 cups of shredded chicken, which would be 24 oz of canned chicken.
Make sure you fully drain the juices from the canned chicken.
You bet! Mix all the ingredients, except the shredded cheese. Add to your slow cooker and cook on low for 2-3 hours. Top with the shredded cheese in the last 30-60 minutes of cooking.
A few favorites are veggies, crackers, pita chips (or pita bread), and Air Fryer Pretzel Bites.
This is a hefty dip, so I recommend choosing crackers that are strong enough to support the extreme dipping action that’s going to be happening.
Allow leftovers to fully cool and store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
You can use leftovers in sandwich wraps, or add some to egg roll wrappers and make buffalo chicken egg rolls. You can find egg roll wrapping and cooking instructions in this post on egg rolls in the air fryer. The filling will be different but the rest of the directions will apply.
Bake leftover dip at 350F for 5-10 minutes. You can also microwave it at medium power for ~90 seconds.
Yes, you sure can, but with a few caveats. One, if you use lower fat dairy products, the texture will become pretty grainy when thawed.
Two, even with fuller-fat dairy products, you might have a bit of a grainy texture upon thawing. When that happens, I put a little extra shredded cheese on top, warm it up, and call it a day!
If you plan to freeze it, leave the green onions and any bleu or gorgonzola cheese crumbles off until right before serving.
I freeze my dip in the 1-cup Souper Cubes.
You bet! You can use your favorite non-dairy yogurt and non-dairy cream cheese. Plant-based sour cream would work great, as would a cashew cream base.
If you need instructions on how to make cashew cream, you can find them in this post on vegan aioli.
Meal Prep Tips
You can cook and shred the chicken 2-3 days before mixing and baking this easy buffalo chicken dip. If you’re pressed for time, you can also shred the cheese up to a week before baking. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge.
You can also mix everything up and keep it in the fridge for 24 hours. Bake and serve!
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Everyone’s preferred level of spice can vary. I recommend starting with 1/2 cup of buffalo sauce and then adjusting to taste. I like 2/3 cup, but I love spice.
- No Greek yogurt? You can sub in sour cream in a pinch.
- Instead of cheddar and mozzarella, sub in pepper jack if you love your food to have some kick.
- Top with crumbled gorgonzola or bleu cheese.
- You can sub in 1 cup of cottage cheese instead of using cream cheese.
Healthy Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup Franks buffalo sauce {up to 2/3 cup}
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken breasts
- 1/3 cup shredded medium cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Lightly grease an 8×8 baking dish.
- Soften cream cheese for ~20 seconds in the microwave.8 oz cream cheese
- Add Greek yogurt, buffalo sauce, parsley, garlic, and onion, and stir until combined. Some lumps of cream cheese will remain and that's ok.1 cup plain Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup Franks buffalo sauce, 1 tsp dried parsley, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder
- Add the shredded chicken and stir until fully combined.3 cups cooked shredded chicken breasts
- Scoop the mixture into the baking dish, and sprinkle with (optional) cheddar and mozzarella cheese.1/3 cup shredded medium cheddar cheese, 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.
- (optional) sprinkle the top with gorgonzola or bleu cheese and sliced green onions.
Notes
- Everyone’s preferred level of spice can vary. I recommend starting with 1/2 cup of buffalo sauce and then adjusting to taste. I like 2/3 cup, but I love spice.
- Instead of cheddar and mozzarella, sub in pepper jack if you love your food to have some kick.
- You can sub in 1 cup of cottage cheese instead of using cream cheese.
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