This high protein ground chicken chili combines fresh vegetables and herbs with a creamy buffalo sauce. It’s super filling and satisfies the buffalo chicken cravings. There are also options for dairy free and picky eater friendly versions, making it a great weeknight dinner option in a pinch.
How to Make Creamy Buffalo Chili with Ground Chicken
This is a super easy recipe, but I’ve included a visual recipe walkthrough with extra notes on ingredient substitutions, the picky eater version, and general prep tips in the post below. You’ll find a full recipe card at the bottom of the post as well.
1. Brown ground chicken on both sides and add diced onion and celery.
Like I mentioned in my recent ground chicken Dan Dan Noodles recipe, patting the chicken dry with a paper towel, making sure the pot and oil are both really hot before adding the chicken, and exercising patience are all key to successfully browning meat. You are after the golden brown color on both sides, as that creates tons of flavor.
Also, if you’re a fellow central or south Texan, HEB sells pre-diced onion and celery together in the perfect ratios for this ground chicken chili. Not saying that’s what I used to save time. Wink wink.
2. Add chili beans, buffalo sauce, seasoning, and chicken broth.
You’ll find some substitution notes for the seasoning and herbs in the picky eater version below. For the buffalo sauce, I always use Frank’s RedHot buffalo sauce. Since this recipe has a dairy free option, I’ll point out that Frank’s has non-dairy butter flavor, not actual butter in its ingredients. You can also make homemade buffalo sauce.
Want more things to make with buffalo sauce? Check out my Instant Pot buffalo chicken dip and buffalo chicken stuffed peppers.
3. Bring to a boil before reducing to a simmer for about 20 minutes.
You want your ground chicken chili to thicken a bit and have plenty of time for the flavors to get to know one another. The onion and celery should be completely softened and nearly indistinguishable as well.
If you’re using a pressure cooker, I would go with something like 15-20 minutes on high pressure. You can always add a bit more broth at the end if your chili is too thick.
4. Turn off the heat and stir in cream cheese before serving.
At the request of many readers and a personal curiosity, I’ve started testing dairy free cheese options. Kite Hill seems to be the most popular suggestion in reader polls for the best dairy free substitutes. I used their regular and chive cream cheese in test batches and was quite surprised at how creamy and smooth it is.
Is real cream cheese better? You bet. Will you notice a huge difference in the finished product using something like Kite Hill? No.
All that said, if you’re good with dairy, cheese it up and thank your lucky stars! You can also use another dairy free thickener in chopped corn tortillas. Check out my White Bean Ground Chicken Soup for an example.
For Picky Eater Approved Ground Chicken Chili
One of my wife’s favorite recipes ever is a buffalo chicken chili I developed for Stronger U during my tenure as their Food Dude. It was a very basic slow cooker chili with chicken breast, buffalo sauce, ranch seasoning, beans, and cream cheese. I developed this recipe with that in mind, hoping to add some fresh ingredients, ground chicken, and have a dairy free option.
But if you want to appease the picky eater in your house, you can omit the onion and celery. My wife is fine with fresh parsley but you could cut that out, too. So you would brown the ground chicken, break it apart, season with about a tablespoon of ranch seasoning, and add the remaining ingredients. In case you need it, you can make your own dairy free ranch seasoning.
Serving Your Creamy Buffalo Chicken Chili
Green onion, chives, or more fresh parsley are a great topping. And a dollop of fat free Greek yogurt or light sour cream add some great acidity to balance the creamy buffalo sauce.
Sticking with the dairy free theme, Siete makes a non-dairy, grain-free ranch flavored chip that’s really solid. But one thing about buffalo is that it goes with just about anything. Tortilla chips, crackers, pita chips, you name it—this chili will be a good fit. To take it up a notch, you could make garlic bread or some of my air fryer cheesy bread.
If you need something to round out a full meal, you could always go the sandwich route. Since this is a very hearty, meaty chili, you might go with something like a grilled cheese or this grilled vegetable and cheese sandwich.
More Healthy Soup and Chili Recipes
Okay, that’s all you need to know about this buffalo ground chicken chili. Before you go, I’ll leave you with a handful of recipes that are perfect for soup season.
- Creamy Taco Soup
- Ground Chicken Chili
- Instant Pot Turkey Chili
- Air Fryer Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
- Mexican Chicken Soup
- Slow Cooker Texas Chili
If you have a question about this recipe I forgot to cover, you can leave it in the comments below. And recipe reviews are always appreciated!
Creamy Buffalo Ground Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 1 pound Ground Chicken, 97/3
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 medium Onion, diced
- 4 Celery Stalks, diced
- 2 handfuls Fresh Parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Dried Dill
- 2 cans, 15 oz each Chili Beans
- 2 cups Chicken Broth
- 1/2 cup Buffalo Sauce
- 8 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature*
Instructions
- Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and heat before browning the ground chicken for 2-3 minutes on one side. Flip the chicken to brown the other side and add the onion and celery.
- Break the chicken apart and continue cooking until the onion and celery are soft and the chicken is fully cooked, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients except for the cream cheese and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the cream cheese before serving. Salt and pepper to taste. Top with fresh parsley or chives. I served with Siete Ranch Chips.
What is the difference between chili beans and say a can of kidney beans?
Chili beans are typically pinto or kidney beans cooked and canned with a chili and tomato sauce in addition to the beans.
This recipe is amazing. It’s a great, flavorful soup. The entire inside of my mouth is going to be burnt because I couldn’t wait for it to cool off to eat it 😅
Thanks, Alyssa! Remember, good things come to those who wait.
This chili is amazing! My 14 hates chili and she ate this up. Also husband and 11 year old approved. Can’t wait to make it all winter!
Thanks for putting it to the test, Miranda!
I really want to make this but I have never seen chili beans here in Canada. If I use regular canned kidney beans, do you have a suggestion as to other ingredients I can add to make up for the flavour of the chili beans? Thank you!
I would think tomato sauce or paste + chili powder would do the trick. With something like this chili, you can get away with extra ingredients. Use pinto or red kidney beans and add maybe a tablespoon or two of chili powder and 1/4 cup of tomato paste or 1/2 cup of tomato sauce.
Delicious, quick, filling! My whole family loves this recipe and it’s on rotation already!! Great macros
Would this be okay in the crockpot if you add cream cheese last before serving?
Definitely. I would cook the onion, celery, and ground chicken on the stovetop then add everything to the crockpot.
This is a weekly staple in our house. I use frozen chicken breast cooked in the instant pot and shredded instead of ground chicken. And I love the ranch hack. Tons of protein and my kids and hubby love it!
Good flavor and perfectly spicy. Not sure it will ever beat the taco soup but it will be nice to add to my soup rotation!
This recipe is delicious and so easy to make! My husband loves it and asks me to make it weekly!
I love anything Buffalo flavored, and this really hit the spot! On the initial tasting, I thought I might have added too much Frank’s- we were literally wiping sweat from our faces while eating. But I froze the leftovers (it froze and reheated beautifully) and it mellowed out nicely! A great meal prep option!