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A black ceramic crock filled with bubbling creamy buffalo chicken dip, orange-red color, melted cheese on top, garnished with sliced green onions and crumbled blue cheese, surrounded by tortilla ch...
Sarah Mitchell

Buffalo Chicken Dip in the Slow Cooker

This dip has saved more parties than I can count. Anytime I'm hosting and need a guaranteed crowd-pleaser that requires almost zero effort, I pull out the slow cooker, dump in five ingredients, and walk away.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 40 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Calories: 210
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the Dip
  • 3 cups cooked shredded chicken (rotisserie works perfectly)
  • 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup Frank's RedHot or favorite hot sauce
  • 1/2 cup ranch or blue cheese dressing
  • 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
Optional Add-Ins
  • 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
For Serving
  • Tortilla chips
  • Celery sticks
  • Carrot sticks
  • Pretzel chips or crackers
  • Slice d green onions for garnish

Equipment

  • 4-6 quart slow cooker
  • Cooking spray
  • Wooden spoon or silicone spatula
  • Cheese grater (if shredding your own)
  • Sharp knife

Method
 

  1. Spray the inside of a 4-6 quart slow cooker with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
  2. Add the shredded chicken, cubed cream cheese, hot sauce, ranch dressing, and 1.5 cups of the shredded cheddar to the slow cooker. Stir to combine roughly — it'll be lumpy, that's fine.
  3. Cover and cook on LOW for 2-3 hours, stirring once or twice during cooking, until everything is melted and combined. (Or on HIGH for 1-1.5 hours.)
  4. Once melted, give it a vigorous stir until smooth and creamy. Adjust seasoning — add more hot sauce if you want more heat, or a squeeze of ranch if you want to mellow it.
  5. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar on top. Cover and let cook another 10 minutes until melted.
  6. Sprinkle with green onions and crumbled blue cheese if using. Serve directly from the slow cooker on the warm setting, with chips, celery, and carrots for dipping.

Notes

Don't be tempted to crank the heat to high to speed things up if you've got the time — low and slow gives you the creamiest texture without any breaking or oil separation. Also, give it a good vigorous stir at the end. The cream cheese can pool if undisturbed, and a strong stir incorporates everything into the silky dip you want. If the dip looks oily on top, that's normal — stir it back in and it disappears.