Experience a gold star, award-winning buffalo chicken chili recipe with the spot-on amount of spice, a smooth creamy base, lots of tender chicken, and takes only 10 minutes to prepare while your crock pot does the work. Be ready to win chili contests and hand out the recipe because this is the best buffalo-style chili you’ll ever make! Instant pot directions also included.
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Hands-Down Best Buffalo Chicken Chili Recipe
Once you make this recipe for buffalo chicken chili you will be amazed how ridiculously easy it is and how mighty tasty it is. Pin it, print it, and tape it to your fridge because this a stress-free, delicious meal to make over and over again.
#1 It pretty much requires zero brain cells. If you have mastered operating a can opener and correctly using measuring spoons, it’s game on.
#2 If you are too busy to find ten minutes to make dinner, call for pizza and I won’t judge. But if you can manage ten minutes of prep and clean-up time, you will have the most delicious chicken chili waiting for you in eight hours.
#3 Given how ridiculously easy this slow cooker recipe is to make, it’s impressively delicious. In fact, it is so impressive, I often make it for entertaining, tailgating, or to take to a friend.
They WILL ask you for the recipe, though, so be careful with feigning how much effort you put into making it. Awkward.
#4 Is there really nothing better than buffalo chicken ANYTHING?! Whatever classic dish is morphed into “buffalo chicken” flavors like these family-favorite Buffalo Chicken Tacos, I am sold. The bit of spice with creamy ranch and tender chicken gets me every time.
#5 Can you ever really have enough chicken soup recipes? If chicken is a starring protein at your house, this easy chili recipe can be put into a rotation with some of our family’s most requested dishes, like velvety, creamy chicken dumpling soup or a red chicken chili – chorzio chicken chili.
I made this chili last year for our annual chili cook off at my kids school, and it won! Buffalo chicken chili is hands down my favorite, and apparently it was the favorite of the night. People STILL talk about it. TODAY is our chili cook off for the year, and I’m planning on taking it again. Everyone is making SURE it’ll be a contender this year, so how can I possibly say no to that?! I make a couple of tweaks to it, but just as it is is perfectly delicious! This recipe comes HIGHLY recommended, and is in fact, award winning!
—Vanessa
Fantastic recipe! Won a soup/chili contest with it and have been asked by several people to share the recipe. One of those people won a chili contest with it too! At home, we like to eat it with tortilla chip scoops.
—Megan
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Ingredient Tid Bits
- Chicken – The recipe calls for skinless chicken breasts, but boneless chicken thighs or cooked ground chicken would work as well. The cooking time would remain the same.
- Ranch seasoning – Use one dry ranch seasoning packet. For gluten-free soup recipes, use Hidden Valley Ranch brand.
- Beans – White beans, such as Great Northern, navy beans, or cannellini beans blend in with the creamy consistency. However, readers have also sang the praises of substituting different beans, such as black beans or kidney beans.
- Hot sauce – I prefer Franks Red Hot Sauce and the spice level can be adjust based on personal preference, just like buffalo chicken wings. Adding 1/4 cup will be mildly spiced, while 1/2 cup will give medium heat.
- Cream cheese – Soften to room temperature before adding for the creamiest results. Light cream cheese may be substituted, but it doesn’t blend in as smooth.
- Diced tomatoes – I prefer the flavor of fire-roasted tomatoes, but any diced tomato may be used.
- Additional veggies – Besides corn, add in diced celery, peppers, even carrot! You can also leave out the corn if you’re not feeling it. Read through the comments under the recipe to get more ideas.
- Optional seasonings – If you’d like to add your own flavor, consider adding a dash of chili powder, ground cumin, paprika, or even a squeeze of lime juice!
Let’s Make This Together!
(Below shows step-by-step photos and modified instructions. For the complete recipe, along with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.)
Dump and go prep
If the taste alone isn’t enough to win you over, you can’t argue with the easy prep work. Dump the raw chicken, seasonings, beans, tomatoes, and broth in the crock pot. Give a stir and let it cook. On low heat it will take about 6-8 hours, high heat 3-4 hours.
Shred time
Now it’s time to shred the chicken. You can either use two forks and do it right in the pot or remove the chicken with a slotted spoon, shred on a cutting board, and then transfer it back to the slow cooker.
Add the creaminess
Lastly add the cream cheese. I like to put the block in and let it sit for 5 minutes to soften, then stir until smooth. I find full-fat cream cheese breaks down into a smoother consistency than light. But, I’ve made it with either!
If you’d like to swap out the cream cheese for something else, heavy cream or sour cream works as well.
Can you freeze this chili?
There are a lot of rules for freezing soup, so you might be wondering if this chili can be frozen. Normally chili recipes freeze without an issue, but this recipe contains cream cheese, which can make it tricker.
If you do want to freeze it, I recommend reheating low and slow. You can add additional cream cheese, freshly grated cheese, or a 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with water to help thicken and smooth the chili.
For a make-ahead freezer meal, complete the recipe, but leave out the cream cheese in the last step. After the chili has been thawed and re-warmed, add the softened cream cheese.
Yummy Toppings and Sides
Buffalo chili can be a meal in itself, or served with side dishes. If serving this recipe at a party, check out these are our easy side ideas to serve with chili, including some classics and unique twists.
If making this for a dinner party or a chili contest, I recommend at the very least offering blue cheese crumbles, tortilla chips, and fresh cilantro. For bonus points, offer up additional hot sauce, diced celery, sliced jalapeños, green onions, or avocado.
Chili Cook-Offs Won By Readers!
This recipe has won 63 cook-offs and contests entered! If this was the winning recipe for you as well, be sure to add a comment below and I will add your win to the tally. 🏆
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Did you make this recipe? I love hearing from you! Leave a star rating and comment below the recipe card. It helps others when searching for recipes and I appreciate feedback from our community. You will always hear back from me! -Melissa
Award Winning Buffalo Chicken Chili (Slow Cooker)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds (1.5 lbs.) boneless chicken breasts
- 14.5 ounce (14.5 oz.) can Great Northern beans, drained
- 14.5 ounce (14.5 oz.) can fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained (can substitute regular diced tomatoes)
- 14.5 ounce (411.07 g) can chicken broth, (read label to make sure it’s gluten free)
- ¼-½ cup (0.5) buffalo wing sauce*, I used Frank’s Red Hot
- 1 (1) package ranch dressing mix envelope, (Hidden Valley brand is gluten free)
- 14.5 ounce (14.5 oz.) can sweet corn kernels, drained
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 tsp.) onion powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 tsp.) garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 tsp.) celery salt
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 tsp.) dried cilantro
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 tsp.) salt
- 8 ounce (8 oz.) cream cheese**, softened
- Optional toppings: tortilla chips, fresh cilantro, blue cheese crumbles, chopped celery, additional hot sauce
Equipment
Instructions
Slow Cooker Directions:
- In a 5 quart slow cooker combine all the ingredients except the cream cheese and toppings.1 ½ pounds boneless chicken breasts, 14.5 ounce can Great Northern beans, 14.5 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes, 14.5 ounce can chicken broth, ¼-½ cup buffalo wing sauce*, 1 package ranch dressing mix envelope, 14.5 ounce can sweet corn kernels, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon celery salt, ½ teaspoon dried cilantro, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
- Shred the chicken in the slow cooker using two forks. You can also use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken to a cutting board, shred it, and then return to the pot.8 ounce cream cheese**
- Add the cream cheese and let it sit for 5 minutes to soften, then stir until it is incorporated. Serve with desired toppings.
Instant Pot Directions:
- Place all the ingredients in the instant pot EXCEPT beans and cream cheese. Cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 15 minutes. Naturally release for 10 minutes and then quick release remaining pressure.
- Use two forks to shred chicken in instant pot or remove chicken to cutting board to shred. Add chicken back to pot.
- Add drained beans and cream cheese to instant pot. Stir until chili is creamy and smooth. Serve with desired toppings.
Notes
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was really good only thing was it was the consistency of a soup more than a chili, other wise I liked it a lot
I’ve had this problem before with one of my slow cookers. It cooks a little too hot, makes too much moisture, and makes the chili thinner. You can try leaving the lid off the last hour so it cooks down more and see if that helps. I’m glad you enjoyed it though, Dan!
Made this in my Instant Pot tonight and it was delicious! I did it on Manual for 15 minutes with frozen chicken breast. Unfortunately I didn’t have dried cilantro (I looove cilantro) but it was still fantastic.
I’m so happy you wrote to let me know. I’m sure lots of readers will love to hear it turns out in the instant pot too! Thank you Vanessa 😘
Love the idea of using the Instant Pot! Did just just dump everything in (minus the cream cheese), and then cook on Manual for 15? Did you slow release the steam? I’m still learning how to use my instant pot but wanted to fix this delicious recipe tonight!
Hi Kayla, Vanessa can chime in if I’m incorrect, but I’m thinking she put everything in except cream cheese. Set it to cook high pressure 15 minutes. I would do slow release just to give chicken more time to get tender enough to shred, but I’m sure quick release would work too. Then turn the instant pot off and stir in cream cheese. Hope that helps! And, if that works for you will you please let me know? I’ll add it to the recipe card. Thanks! Melissa
Do you think I could make this as a freezer meal? I would wait to add the chicken broth after thawing out the meal and assembling it in crock pot. Oh and wait to add the cream cheese too. Looks yummy! Thank you!
yes, for sure it can be. I’ve made the soup in it’s entirety and froze it, but I’m sure you would get much better results when reheating if you do what you say! Thanks for the idea, Alicia 🙂
Just curious did anyone use the dried cilantro in theirs or no? I plan to make tomorrow
Hi Shanelle, I always use the dried cilantro when I make it, but if you don’t have it you can leave it out without affecting the taste too much. I always add fresh cilantro when I serve it too because I’m a HUGE cilantro fan.
ok thanks so much…I was curious bc im not really a fan and its hard to find in my area…I will make w/o lol
How big is each serving?
About 1 1/2 cups per serving
I won our chili cook-off at work with this recipe! It’s amazing! I don’t usually like chili so I wanted to try this one since it’s totally different. I loved it! And clearly my coworkers did too!
That’s fabulous! I’ll add it to the official CHILI COOK OFF COUNT. That brings us up to 6. Thanks for writing and letting us know 🙂
Count it as one more first place win in a chili cook-off against 15 competitors!
(I think that brings it up to 5?)
That’s amazing! You didn’t tell anyone how easy it was to make, did you? I hope you acted like you slaved over it all day. We should have a running total going on this recipe page for the winners. Maybe I’ll add it!
Funny thing: a colleague who was running the cook-off needed more people to enter, and she suggested I make this recipe. I thought, “sure, that looks easy!”
Lo and behold…
Yes, this should be entered, and it should win!!!
Thanks Wendy! I completely agree, friend.
I’m cooking this now but gonna make it in my instaPot. Will post results when finished.
Awesome! Thanks so much for doing that. Can’t wait to hear the results and I’m sure a lot of other people will be interested as well.
Can the chicken breast be put in frozen or do they need to be thawed?..
I wouldn’t advise it because of safety issues. The slow cooker cooks at a lower temperature and wouldn’t thaw and cook fast enough to put chicken in a safe zone. It puts you at a greater risk for food borne illnesses. Just my 2 cents, I know some people do it, though, all the time. So I guess, at your own risk 😊
Usually when I cook chicken in the crock pot it comes out so tough. Any ideas as to why? Anyone else have this problem?
Hi Amber,
I think it has a lot to do with your crockpot. I had a very cheap one that cooked okay and a more expensive one that absolutely sucked. It cooked way too hot, everything was overdone, and it always made way too much liquid. Recently I ponied up for a highly rated one, which does cost more, but I absolutely love it. It always has consistent results and the food that comes out of it looks like the pictures instead of shriveled up garbage😉. The one I use now is the KitchenAid 6 quart (affiliate link). My sister swears by her All-Clad slow cooker, but it’s pricier. I will say Cook’s Illustrated just rated the KitchenAid one the best, over All-Clad (sorry sis).
Can u use a rotesserie chicken for this
You can, but decrease the cooking time by half in the slow cooker. You can also cook it on the stove.
Made this last night and another winner of a chili cook off! Everyone loved it!!
Oh yeah! We need to start adding a tally of how many chili cook offs this has won. 🤗
I make this at least once a month and it ends up being lunch for a whole week! One of my favorite recipes, and you can’t beat those macros!
I never thought about the macros, but I know a lot of my friends track that. I’ll have to let them know! Thanks for writing 🙂
I won my office chili cook off with this recipe
Favorite comment ever! Thanks for writing Allie. 🤗
This chili is really good, however I will say I think the 1/2 cup of hot sauce makes it pretty spicy. I did use franks red hot buffalo sauce, which may be the reason why it’s more spicy. Still really good recipe though!
Yep, hot sauce taste is pretty subjective. I judged it by if my kids would eat it with 1/2 cup, and they did with no complaints. They’re usually pretty wimpy when it comes to stuff like that, so maybe it does differ with brands. Glad you enjoyed it, though!
Do you use Franks Original Red Hot Sauce or Franks Red Hot Wing (Buffalo) Sauce?
Hi Tracey,
I use Franks Original, but you may also use the buffalo sauce. I don’t believe it will be as spicy because there are probably other ingredients added besides the hot sauce…
Best,
Melissa
If you want to use fresh onions, celery and garlic how much would you recommend??
I would say 1/2 cup each of celery and onions and 2 garlic cloves. Those sounds like great additions! Let me know how it turns out.
I just made chili two nights ago and totally forgot I had entered in a chili cook-off today. I decided to switch it up and make this for the first time. I WAS NAMED THIS YEAR’S CHAMPION! Such a great recipe and I was happy to see I am the second one to win using it! My biggest change was I added diced onion to mine. Thanks for such a great recipe!
That’s what I love to hear! Way to go. I hope you pretended like it was really complicated to make and you slaved over it all day to really hammer your win home. 😉
I won’t have time to slow cook this. Would cooking on stovetop be the same, but less time obviously.
Yes, for sure you can. I would just cook the chicken separately by baking or boiling, cut it up, and then add it in at the end. Enjoy!
I am clueless when it comes to cooking. This was super easy, turned out delicious, and freezes/reheats well. If I can make it anybody can.
That’s funny because I’ll my friends who hate to cook say this is the one recipe they can make! Glad you enjoyed it 🤗
Could I substitute greek yogurt for the cream cheese?
Hello! I haven’t tried that, but I don’t see why not. I would let it come to room temperature first before adding it. It may not be as creamy as a version, but it would be lighter.
So good and so easy to make. Crowd pleaser for sure !
So glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
All I could think about when I saw this chili was how good it would be at a Superbowl party. But then, we had a chili cook-off at work. I wasn’t sure what kind of chili to make, and remembered this recipe. I ended up winning FIRST place out of 13 chili’s with this recipe, and it was DELICIOUS. All of my co-workers want to know how I made it. The only substitution I made was that I couldn’t find dried cilantro…so I replaced it with dried parsley. 5 stars; would absolutely recommend and will for sure make again!
Hey Michelle, Nothing makes me happier than hearing the words “chili-contest-winner.” That’s big time! So glad it worked out for you. Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know. Definitely brightened my day!
My family loves Buffalo chicken dip so I thought I would give this recipe a try. I didn’t have the tomatoes or the celery salt and it was still WONDERFUL! I actually doubled the beans to give it more substance…..i have made it twice in 2 weeks with no leftovers. Great recipe!
Wow, that’s amazing to hear. I imagine most people don’t just have celery salt laying around the house, but I get my moneys worth out of it because I make this chili a ton! In the future, you can also just sub in regular diced tomatoes too. Thanks for writing!
Very tasty and the easiest dish I ever made. I added quinoa as the slow cooker dish was rather watery at the end, and I felt it needed some carbs. Thanks for the recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and that’s a great idea with the quinoa. I do think slow cookers sometimes I have a tendency to make things too liquidy with all the condensation. You can also leave the lid off for the last 30 minutes and turn up the heat to high so it simmers, some of the liquid evaporates, and it reduces.
I’m don’t care for prepared ranch dressing but I’ve never tried the seasoning before. Does it taste a lot like prepared ranch dressing or more like the ranch seasoning on cool ranch doritos? I would love to try this recipe but I wouldn’t know what to substitute for the seasoning if it’s really ranch-y, if you know what I mean! Thanks! 🙂
LOL, I love this. I know exactly what you mean because I’m not a real ranch seasoning sort of girl either. No, the ranch seasoning doesn’t really stand out. It just gives an overall creamy seasoning to it. Plus, it’s a big shortcut because you don’t have to measure out a lot of spices. I hope you give it a try because this chili is always such a huge hit when I make it!
Silly question but are the great northern beans drained like the fire roasted tomatoes are?
Thank you!
Not a silly question at all, and I’ll make sure to denote it on the recipe. Yes, they are drained and I usually give them a quick rinse too, but not necessary.
Looks yummy trying it for Super Bowl have some that don’t like traditional chili
Amazing. Thank you for sharing! Can’t wait to make this for Super Bowl ❤️
Yes! Please do! You will love how easy it is to throw together. Have fun!!
This is amazing! It was so easy and tastes like I actually know how to cook! Thank you, MamaG!
LOL, I’m glad I can do you a solid.
Unbelievable!! I’ve already made it twice in one week. Very easy recipe for busy weeknights!
So great to hear and so glad you like it! 🙂