How to Make Buffalo Chicken Dip in the Instant Pot
Get ready for game day with this easy and delicious recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip, made in the Instant Pot. Perfect for parties and potlucks!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Learn how to make a delicious and easy buffalo chicken dip using your Instant Pot. This creamy and spicy dip is perfect for parties or game day snacks.
One of our followers on YouTube asked us to create this recipe. As fate would have it, around the same time, my husband had a potluck at his office, and his coworker brought his homemade Buffalo Chicken Dip.
Luckily, he was kind enough to share his recipe with us, and it was a great fit for making in the pressure cooker.
Now I’m excited to share it with all of you!
✅ This easy recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, Cosori, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
Benefits of Using the Instant Pot to Make Buffalo Chicken Dip
Buffalo chicken dip is a cheesy, tasty dip that’s a perfect appetizer to eat with crusty bread, chips, crackers, or even celery sticks.
You can definitely make this buffalo chicken dip recipe in the oven or slow cooker, but I really prefer making it in the pressure cooker:
- The pot in pot method gives you a gentler, even heat to warm through this dip.
- You can have the dip ready to serve much faster.
- You don’t have to smell it cooking all day and don’t have to worry about overcooking it once the cook time ends.
- Plus, you can serve it right out of the pot you “bake” it in.
More Recipes in our Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Series:
This is another post in our Shredded Chicken series; we’ll update this list with links as we publish more recipes.
- Big Batch of Shredded Chicken
- Chicken and Rice Soup
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Chicken Pasta Bake
- Creamy Chicken Taquitos
- Chicken Cheesesteak (coming soon!)
- Green Goddess Salad (or Wraps) (coming soon!)
- Pulled Buffalo Chicken Melts (coming soon!)
Want more in-depth information, ingredient suggestions, tips, and tricks for making this recipe? You can now find it below the recipe card.
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Buffalo Chicken Dip | Instant Pot recipe
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot Pro Pressure Cooker
- 1 HIC Souffle Dish, 7.5-Inch, 48-Ounce
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 2 package (8 oz each) cream cheese softened
- 1 cup ranch dressing
- ¼ cup red hot sauce we use Frank’s hot sauce
- 1 cup shredded cooked chicken we used batch-cooked chicken, you can also use rotisserie or canned
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese plus more for topping if desired
- Blue cheese crumbles for topping, optional to taste
- Green onions thinly sliced on the diagonal, for garnish
- Chips or bread for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, ranch dressing, hot sauce, chicken, and shredded cheese.
- Spray a small baking dish (1-quart) or 7-inch cake pan that will fit in your pressure cooking pot with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and cover the dish tightly with foil.
- Pour 2 cups of water into the cooking pot and place a trivet in the bottom. Carefully center the filled baking dish on a sling and lower it onto the trivet. Fold the sling down so it does not interfere with closing the lid.
- Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and set the cook time for 15 minutes.
- When the cook time ends, finish with a quick pressure release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
- Give the dip a thorough stir to make sure everything the cheeses are well combined, then check to ensure the temperature is around 140F.
Finish the Dip:
- If desired, sprinkle additional cheddar cheese (and blue cheese, if using) on top and transfer the dish to a broiler. Or use the Air Fry setting on your Duo Crisp, CrispLid, or Ninja Foodi to brown the top.
- Garnish with blue cheese crumbles and/or green onions, if using. Serve hot with sliced baguettes, tortilla chips, or crackers.
Notes
Nutrition
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
It doesn’t take many ingredients to make a rich, flavorful, and cheesy Buffalo chicken dip.
- Cream cheese: You definitely want to soften the cream cheese before using. (If you haven’t planned ahead, you can use the same time-saving trick we use to soften cream cheese for cheesecake.)
- Ranch dressing: This one adds a lot of flavor to the dip! Be sure to use your favorite brand.
- Buffalo Sauce: To make this recipe easier, we’re calling for buffalo sauce and not mixing the hot sauce and butter. Make sure to use your favorite brand since this ingredient gives a lot of flavor. We used Frank’s Buffalo Sauce.
- Cooked chicken: We tested this recipe with shredded chicken breasts, rotisserie chicken, and canned chicken, and it tasted great with all three. Use what works best for you.
- Cheddar cheese: We find that cheese that’s shredded from the block melts the best for this recipe. However, pre-shredded cheese works as well, you might just have to stir it longer to get it incorporated.
- Blue cheese crumbles: Since this tends to be a polarizing flavor, we prefer to leave this on the side so that guests can decide for themselves how much to add.
Don’t forget the sides you’ll serve it with to scoop up this tasty dish!
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Dip in an Instant Pot
I love how easy it is to make this buffalo chicken dip recipe in an Instant Pot. All you have to do is combine the ingredients, transfer them to an oven-safe pan, and pressure cook it.
After pressure cooking, you have the option to serve it as-is or to pop it under the broiler and melt the cheese on top.
Cooking Pot-in-Pot
You can use any oven-safe dish to make this easy Buffalo Chicken Dip in your electric pressure cooker. When I’m making this to take to a potluck, I’ll prep it in a pretty souffle dish. However, when I’m just making it at home for my family, I’ll make it in my trusty 7-inch cake pan.
Don’t forget to use a foil sling and trivet or combination trivet with handles to make it easier to get the dish out of the cooking pot!
For a more detailed explanation of pot-in-pot cooking, check out our YouTube video. https://youtu.be/N97QcwUMaGA
Make-Ahead Instructions
Another reason I love making this dip in the pressure cooker is the ease of making it ahead of the event!
I’ll often mix all the ingredients together the morning before an event, that way I can have everything cleaned up ahead of the big event. Keep in mind, it will take a little longer to come to pressure from refrigerated as from fresh.
If I’m hosting, I’ll pressure cook everything, give it a good stir, then return it to the pressure cooker to sit under the keep warm setting and let it stay warm until all the guests have arrived. Then I’ll broil it and finish it up right before everyone dishes up.
Tips for Adjusting the Spice Level
Your dip will get 100% of its spicy-ness from the Buffalo sauce you use. We call for Frank’s Mild Buffalo Sauce, so it’s pretty tame.
You can amp up the spice by swapping out the sauce for a spicier version.
To meet in the middle, add 1 tablespoon (or two) of a more intense sauce to the mixture along with the Buffalo sauce. You could also add several twists of freshly ground pepper or finely diced spicy peppers. Whatever flavors work best for you!
Serving Suggestions
We love to serve this with baguettes sliced on a diagonal. It’s also great with tortilla chips, pita chips, and crackers. We also really liked spooning it into celery (like you would with peanut butter). It’s a little messy but delicious.
Serve this dip with lots of chopped veggies like carrots and celery.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
To store: Store leftover dip in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.
To reheat: If I’m reheating a decent amount of dip, I’ll just return the pan to the pressure cooker. Pressure cook in 5-minute increments until your instant-read thermometer reads at least 140°F after cooking.
If necessary, add a splash of water or broth if your dip is too thick.
(Or, if you’re impatient like me, a small bowl of leftovers also reheats well with a few minutes in the microwave at 50% power, stirring in 30-second increments until it reaches your desired temperature.)
MORE Appetizer Recipes
The Instant Pot is a great tool for making appetizers! Here are a few of our favorites for you to keep in mind for your next get-togethers:
- Homemade Loaded Queso
- Asian Lettuce Wraps
- Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Teriyaki Chicken Wings
- Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks
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