Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip

This Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip is just as creamy, cheesy, and delicious as my reader-favorite baked buffalo chicken dip. Made with juicy shredded chicken, creamy ranch dressing, hot sauce, and loads of cheese, enjoy this easy-to-make and easily transportable recipe at your next potluck or party!

Buffalo Chicken Dip in the Slow Cooker

Buffalo chicken dip is by far the best party food that ever existed – and this Crock Pot version is so easy to make! Filled with simple ingredients like chicken, shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese, cream cheese, hot sauce, and ranch dressing, this amazing chicken dip is the less messy equivalent of cheese-covered hot wings dipped in ranch dressing.

Some simple prep work followed by a little dumping and stirring and waiting is all it takes to make this delicious, creamy, spicy recipe. Guaranteed to disappear at your next party, you’ll be lucky to bring home any leftovers.

If you don’t have a Crock-Pot, check out my favorite baked version of buffalo chicken dip and buffalo sauce recipe.

Ingredients in Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip

• Chicken – This recipe was made using shredded poached chicken breasts. Feel free to use leftover chicken, cooked chicken thighs, rotisserie chicken, or canned chicken (as a last resort).
• Cream cheese – Full-fat block cream cheese will give the best results.
• Ranch dressing – I try not to cook with Dry Ranch Dressing Mix and use the real deal instead. Fortunately, I’ve been making this homemade ranch dressing nonstop lately so the swap was no problem. If you don’t have any homemade on hand, use your favorite store-bought variety in its place.
• Hot sauce – Specifically, Frank’s RedHot Sauce. The original kind, not the wing sauce.
• Garlic powder and Onion powder – In this case, it’s better to use the concentrated powdered version rather than fresh.
• Cheese (cheddar and mozzarella) – For best results, purchase blocks of the cheese and shred them yourself. Pre-shredded cheese that comes in a bag can sometimes clump together.

How to make Crock-Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe

First, cook the chicken. Here, we’re poaching chicken breasts, but feel free to use your favorite cooking method or save time by using leftover chicken, cooked chicken thighs, rotisserie chicken, or canned chicken.

How to poach chicken: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, fully submerge all of the chicken pieces in the boiling water. Return to a boil, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and remove from heat. Allow chicken to poach in the water for 25-30 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees F. Remove from the pot.

Next, shred the chicken. If you are cooking your own chicken, wait until it has cooled slightly then shred using two forks or your hands.

Third, dump the chicken, hot sauce, ranch dressing, cream cheese, shredded cheese, salt and pepper, and green onions into the bowl of a large Crock-Pot. Mix well.

Last, cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 3 hours. Mix well before serving.

Tips and Tricks

• Grate your own cheese. This is a somewhat minor tip, but freshly shredded cheese always comes together better when compared to pre-shredded cheese. This is due to the anti-caking agent that is added to cheese when it is packaged.
• For best results, serve it in the bowl of the slow cooker with the slow cooker set on warm. Cheesy dips cool quickly and this will help prevent the cheese from hardening.
• Feel free to swap the ranch dressing for blue cheese dressing. Or, go in half and half. Top your buffalo chicken dip with big chunks of blue cheese crumbles or, leave it out and add extra cream cheese instead.
• If you do use canned chicken, take extra care when mixing as the chicken is crumbly and will break apart.
• To help make it easier to stir everything together, bring the cream cheese to room temperature before mixing everything together.

Can you Freeze Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip?

I do not personally recommend freezing leftover buffalo chicken dip. The cheese mixture becomes somewhat chalky, lacking that luxurious, creamy texture we love so much. However, you can. It will still taste good. To freeze, transfer leftover dip to freezer-friendly containers, removing as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.

How to Serve

There are so many fun ways to serve buffalo chicken dip. For game days or as an appetizer recipe I like to serve it with warm pita bread, celery sticks, carrots, and other crunchy raw veggies. As leftovers, I’ll fry it up with eggs and wrap it in a tortilla, mix it with spaghetti squash, or scoop it into a fluffy baked potato.

Have you tried making this Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe?

Tell me about it in the comments below! I always love to hear your thoughts. And tag me #theforkedspoon on Instagram if you’ve made any of my recipes, I always love to see what you’re cooking in the kitchen.