This slow cooker buffalo chicken dip is the easiest appetizer for casual parties, game day, and holidays! Just pour everything in the slow cooker and you have a creamy, spicy, low-effort, high-reward app for a crowd. Amazing for dipping, snacking, and sharing!

A white oval dish with slow cooker buffalo chicken dip on a wood table next to bowls of veggies, pretzels, and chips, glasses of beer, and brown plates.

I have been on a buffalo chicken KICK lately. Buffalo chicken pinwheels, buffalo chicken pizza, buffalo chicken sliders, you name it. Sometimes, my husband and I will head to the bar down the street for beer and wings, and the next day I’m craving it all over again. Buffalo sauce + blue cheese has me in a chokehold these days.

The thing is that sometimes, I lack the utter patience to eat wings. And sometimes, I just don’t want saucy fingers. And sometimes, I just want to scoop everything up with a chip and move on with my life.

Enter dip. This is a recipe my mom has been making as long as I can remember. Family dinners, Super Bowl, holidays? Dip. It’s a crowd-pleaser through and through. And so, I took my mom’s recipe, added a few things for extra flavor, and here we are.

This dip uses Frank’s buffalo sauce, which I originally started using when I was in culinary school, and I’ve never turned back. It also has ranch, blue cheese, cheddar, cream cheese, and a good sprinkling of chives for a hint of freshness. And here’s just a few more highlights!

  • The dip comes together in a slow cooker.
  • It’s a classic set it and forget it recipe.
  • Make it for Super Bowl, game day, holidays, or casual parties.
  • Serve it with chips, crostini, veggies, & more!

Canned or rotisserie chicken

White and brown bowls of chicken, spices, hot sauce, ranch, chives, cheddar, blue cheese, and cream cheese on a white counter next to a small white crock-pot.

For a little shortcut, I like to use rotisserie chicken in this recipe. I buy it pre-shredded at my local grocery store, but you can also get a rotisserie chicken and shred it yourself. Just make sure to remove any skin and bones. If you want to use canned chicken, that’s totally fine too! Pour any liquid out before adding it to the dip.

Then, you’ll need cream cheese, buffalo wing sauce, ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, shredded cheddar cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, white or black pepper, chives or green onions, and blue cheese crumbles. And make sure you’re using freshly-grated, freshly-crumbled cheese tysm.

I like Frank’s RedHot Wing sauce in this recipe. If you like extra spicy dip, use extra hot wing sauce. For a milder dip, make sure to buy the mild sauce.

Raw chicken

You can also use raw chicken in this recipe! Just make sure you start the recipe 3-4 hours earlier so it has time to cook.

  1. Place about 1-1 1/4 pounds (454-680 grams) of skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs in the bowl of a slow cooker.
  2. Sprinkle the chicken lightly with Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Cover with 1 cup (240 milliliters) of low-sodium chicken broth or water.
  3. Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or LOW for 6-8 hours, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F (74°C).
  4. Using two forks, shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Pour off any extra liquid and proceed with the recipe as written.

3 simple steps

A white slow cooker with chicken, cream cheese, ranch, blue cheese, cheddar cheese, and buffalo sauce on a white counter.
Add the cream cheese, shredded chicken, wing sauce, ranch, blue cheese dressing, cheddar, & spices to a slow cooker.
A white slow cooker with buffalo chicken dip on a white counter.
Then, cook on LOW for 2 hours, or until the cream cheese is melted and the dip is nice and hot. Stir often so it doesn’t burn!
A white dish of dip on a white counter.
Lastly, pour the dip into an oven-safe baking dish. Sprinkle with more cheddar & broil. Garnish with blue cheese & chives.

You can also skip the broiling step and make the whole recipe in the slow cooker. Once the dip is done, just sprinkle the cheddar over the top, cover, and let it cook 15-20 more minutes, until the cheese is melted. Garnish with blue cheese and chives and serve the dip straight out of the crock-pot!

Slow cooker settings

The cook time will 100% depend on your slow cooker. Mine cooks super fast, so I set it to LOW for 1 1/2-2 hours, stirring often. Then, I set it to WARM to keep it hot while my guests are snacking. If your crock-pot cooks slow, you may want to set it to HIGH for 1 1/2-2 hours. Or, cook it for closer to 3-4 hours.

Make it in the oven

To skip the slow cooker all together, you can also make this dip in the oven! Just mix the ingredients well with a rubber spatula and spoon the dip into a greased baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350°F (177°C) for 20 minutes, until hot. Remove the foil, sprinkle more cheese on top and bake another 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly. Garnish and serve!

A white dish of crock-pot buffalo chicken dip on a wood table next to a green plate of veggies, glasses of beer, and white and brown bowls of chips.

Dippers & snacks

Now for the best part – the dippers. You want a variety of fun snacks for scooping up all of that amazing dip. These are my favorites that I’ve tried!

  • Potato chips
  • Pretzel chips
  • Tortilla chips or scoops
  • Crudités (carrots, celery, cucumbers, etc.)
  • Homemade crostini
  • Crusty bread or breadsticks

Have leftovers? You can use it on sandwiches, wraps, pizza, pasta, over mac and cheese, or in quesadillas. It’s good on basically any carb!

Yield

This recipe will make enough dip for about 8 people, or 12 if you’re serving other appetizers. But you can easily halve it for a smaller group or double it for a big crowd!

Store & reheat leftovers

Scoop any leftover dip into an airtight container. Cover and refrigerate it for up to 4 days. To reheat it, you can use a microwave or oven. I like the oven better for that crispy topping but the microwave will still work!

  • Oven – cover the pan with foil & bake at 350°F (177°C) for 15-20 minutes. Uncover and bake 3-5 more minutes, until the top is bubbly.
  • Microwave – spoon the dip into a microwave-safe dish. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in-between, until the dip is hot throughout.
A hand scooping a chip into a white dish of slow cooker buffalo chicken dip on a wood table next to glasses of beer, a green plate of veggies, and bowls of chips.

If you make this recipe, I would love it if you left a star rating and review! I read every single comment and love hearing what you think about my recipes. Thank you for supporting Sunday Table!


No ratings yet

The Best Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Dip

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
This slow cooker buffalo chicken dip is the easiest appetizer for casual parties, game day, and holidays! Just pour everything in the slow cooker and you have a creamy, spicy, low-effort, high-reward app for a crowd. Amazing for dipping, snacking, and sharing!

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces full-fat cream cheese (226 grams)
  • 3 cups shredded cooked chicken, packed (400 grams)
  • 3/4 cup buffalo wing sauce like Frank's (180 grams)
  • 1/2 cup ranch dressing (120 grams)
  • 1/2 cup blue cheese dressing or more ranch (120 grams)
  • 1 1/2 cups freshly-shredded cheddar cheese, lightly packed, divided (150 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper or black pepper, more to taste
  • 2 Tablespoons freshly-snipped chives or green onions, for serving (8 grams)
  • Freshly-crumbled blue cheese, for serving (optional)
  • Chips, crostini, veggies, etc. for dipping

Equipment

  • Slow cooker
  • Small baking dish (optional)

Instructions 

  • To the bowl of a slow cooker, add the cream cheese, shredded chicken, buffalo wing sauce, ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, 1 cup (100 grams) of shredded cheddar cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, and white or black pepper. Stir to combine.
  • Cover the slow cooker and set it to LOW for 1 1/2-2 hours, or until the cream cheese is completely melted and the dip is hot. Stir the dip often to prevent burning. Taste and add more spices, if needed.
  • BROIL IN OVEN – this is my favorite way to finish the dip for that crispy top! When the dip is done, grease a small baking dish. Spoon the dip into the baking dish and sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup (50 grams) of shredded cheddar cheese. Broil on HIGH until the cheese is bubbly.
  • SLOW COOKER – this is a better choice when you want to serve the dip in the slow cooker. When the dip is done cooking, sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup (50 grams) of shredded cheddar cheese. Cover and cook for 15-20 more minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted.
  • Garnish the finished dip with the chives or green onions and the blue cheese crumbles, if using. Serve with chips, pretzels, veggies, & other dippers. Enjoy!

Notes

I use rotisserie chicken in this recipe but canned chicken works too. To use raw chicken, please see full details in the post.
I like Frank’s RedHot Wing sauce in this recipe. If you like extra spicy dip, use extra hot wing sauce. For a milder dip, make sure to buy the mild sauce.
For the best flavor, I like the good-quality ranch and blue cheese dressing from the refrigerator aisle. It adds so much extra flavor!
If you’re not a fan of blue cheese, feel free to leave it out. Just replace the blue cheese dressing with more ranch and omit the blue cheese crumbles entirely.
The cook time will depend on your slow cooker. Mine cooks super fast, so I set this dip to LOW for 1 1/2-2 hours. If your crock-pot cooks slow, cook the dip on HIGH for 1 1/2-2 hours.
You can use leftover dip in sandwiches, wraps, pizza, pasta, over mac and cheese, or in quesadillas. It’s good on basically any carb!
Cuisine: American
Course: Appetizer
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 355kcal, Carbohydrates: 3g, Protein: 20g, Fat: 28g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Cholesterol: 93mg, Sodium: 1236mg, Potassium: 194mg, Sugar: 2g, Calcium: 203mg, Iron: 0.9mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @sundaytable.co on Instagram!