Baked Buffalo Chicken Dip

A backyard birthday party for a one-year old needed me to bring something for the grown-ups, and I figured that since we’re all Western New Yorkers, I couldn’t go wrong with Chef John’s (Food Wishes) baked Buffalo chicken dip. I don’t like to steal other bloggers’ recipes and basically repost their stuff, but this was another one that I just couldn’t resist. And I get the sense that he’s really cool and wouldn’t mind. Anyway, I NEEDED to make this.

I revisted Chef John’s January post before trying it out, though. I skimmed the comments and laughed when I saw that one woman had commented, “I don’t like chicken or hot sauce, so what substitutions can I make?”

She must have been disappointed by all the responses that suggested she substitute another recipe for something that didn’t involve chicken or hot sauce.

Ahem. Anyway.

I started with one rotisserie chicken. Wegman’s had many different flavors, but I went with plain.

I pulled off all the meat, discarding bones, skin, and tendons.

And then used a big knife to chop it all up.

Puppy sure loved this step. She would have loved it more if I’d dropped things.

To the chicken, I added my favorite ingredient! Lots and lots of cream cheese. You know it’s going to be good if it has cream cheese.

And then add Frank’s Red Hot sauce. I bought the biggest bottle of it that Wegman’s had. I’m not sure why, really, since it’s not something that I use often. But I know I will use it again and I will want lots of it. That’s how you know I’m a true WNYer.

Puppy is still hoping that I drop some. She doesn’t know that she won’t like the Frank’s.

This dip isn’t just about the chicken and hot sauce – it’s also about the blue cheese. I used both dressing and crumbles (the real good kind).

I may have put more in that measuring cup than I was supposed to.

Next, add some Old Bay seasoning.

And grate some pepper jack cheese, too.

Finally, add a generous sprinkling of cayenne pepper.

And then mix it all up. I mixed and mixed and mixed, and then tasted. I decided to add more cayenne at this point.

After I took that picture, I mixed again and added more cayenne again. And went through that process maybe 3 times. I just wanted a lot of heat, I guess.

Finally, I smooshed everything into a baking dish.

Sprinkled a little more cayenne on top, just to give people a visual warning about the potential for heat.

And then topped with a bit more pepper jack cheese.

At the host’s house, I stuck the dip into a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. When it came out, it looked fantastic!

I didn’t take pictures of it being eaten, though. I was preoccupied with holding the baby birthday girl.

But the next day, when I heated up some of the leftover dip, I did finally take a picture or two.

Chef John did good. This was yummy! It was creamy and spicy. You could taste the blue cheese and the hot sauce and it was kind of like eating wings that had been put in the blender (minus the bones). And it’s addictive.

Definitely a keeper. I might have to make this a regular dish, maybe for football parties.

Have I mentioned how happy I am to be back in NY?