Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip

This extra cheesy, creamy buffalo chicken dip is packed with protein and can be customized to be surprisingly low calorie. You can make it in an Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or even a crockpot. And since it reheats really well, it’s great for a make-ahead healthy appetizer for your next hootenanny.

I’ll walk you through the recipe below and cover questions like Instant Pot vs crockpot, ingredient notes, and more. If you’re confident and would like to skip ahead, there’s a full recipe card at the bottom of the post.

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Dip in an Instant Pot

This is an easy recipe, but I have a few equipment notes before we get into things.

I used an Instant Pot Air Fryer + Pressure Cooker combo which has an 8-quart pot. I’ve tested cook times in comparison to my 6.5-quart Ninja Foodi, and they are nearly spot on. For example, I prepped my shredded buffalo chicken nachos in the Ninja Foodi, and the cook time was about the same.

This buffalo chicken dip does call for broiling cheddar cheese on top in the final step, which will be unique to the Instant Pot Air Fryer or Ninja Foodi, but I’ll cover some alternative methods if you’re using a standard pressure cooker. Now, to the recipe!

Step 1: Sauté diced onion and minced garlic in olive oil for 8-10 minutes. 

These goodies will completely cook down by the time your chicken dip is done. I have one of the world’s leading experts on picky eating living under my roof, and she loves this dip. Just be sure to cook the onion and garlic until the onion softens before moving on.

Step 2: Stir in buffalo sauce, chicken broth, and ranch seasoning before adding 1 pound of chicken breast.

From my buffalo chicken mac and cheese to buffalo air fryer tuna cakes, I use Frank’s RedHot buffalo sauce. If you don’t have any ranch seasoning on hand, you could add some extra garlic and onion powder, dill weed, and parsley. And if you happened to have buttermilk powder for some reason, you’ll pretty much have ranch seasoning.

Step 3: Pressure cook for 12 minutes with quick release pressure.

Again, different Instant Pot models or pressure cookers may affect the cook time. Check your chicken to make sure it reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF before shredding. If you vent your pressure cooker at the 12-minute mark and the chicken is not fully cooked, you can simply reseal and cook for another minute or two.

Step 4: Shred the chicken in a separate bowl and add cream cheese to the Instant Pot.

The recipe card below includes nutrition facts for both fat free and reduced fat cream cheese. Fat free cream cheese is an elusive thing, but I can always find it in HEB (if you’re a fellow Texan) or Walmart.

It’s hard to notice any major differences in the finished buffalo chicken dip, and you’ll cut the fat and save 40 calories per serving with the fat free. If you have trouble finding fat free, Trader Joe’s has a great light option that I used to make my Cheesy Chicken Cowboy Caviar Dip.

You can also make the buffalo chicken dip dairy free by using a plant based cream cheese. My buffalo chicken chili and bang bang chicken dip use Kite Hill, which has similar macros to reduced fat cream cheese.

Step 5: Add the shredded chicken back to the creamy buffalo sauce. 

I like to shred with two forks. But if you have a stand mixer in your kitchen, using the paddle attachment to shred your chicken really speeds things up.  You could also use something like the meat claws I used in my pork tenderloin carnitas recipe.

No matter how you shred, you’ll want it finely shredded for an easy-to-dip buffalo chicken dip.

You could also dice the cooked chicken like in my slow cooker chicken stew recipe.

Step 6: Top with shredded cheddar and broil for 8-10 minutes.

Here are a few workaround ideas if you’re using a standard pressure cooker:

• cover it and let the cheddar melt on top via residual heat
• mix the cheddar straight in with the dip
• transfer the buffalo chicken dip to an oven safe dish and broil in your oven (I don’t think the Instant Pot’s stainless steel pot is oven safe)
• omit the cheddar altogether (not recommended, obviously)

And that’s that. Top your buffalo chicken dip with some freshly sliced green onion and go to town!

Okay, a couple of recipe questions to wrap things up.

Can I make this buffalo chicken dip in a crockpot?

Totes. You could sauté the onion and garlic on the stovetop in a separate pan before transferring to a crockpot with the chicken breast, buffalo sauce, chicken broth, and ranch seasoning. OR you could throw everything in together and expect slightly more prominent onion in the finished dip.

Cook on high for 1.5-2.5 hours before shredding the chicken and adding the cream cheese. Yes, you read that cook time correctly. Like I mentioned in my Carolina BBQ crockpot shredded chicken recipe, most people are over cooking their chicken in crockpot recipes. Get it to 165ºF and shred that chicken before turning it to rubber!

What to serve with buffalo chicken dip?

My dipping apparatus of choice will be tortilla chips 10 times out of 10. However, here are other options:

• celery or carrot sticks
• crackers or pretzels
• toasted or grilled bread (see my whipped feta dip for ideas)

If you need a lower calorie dipping apparatus without going the celery route, you could always toast low calorie flatbreads and tortillas in the oven. My low calorie tortilla chips, for example, use Mission extra thin corn tortillas. And my creamy low carb chicken enchiladas use CutDaCarb flatbreads.

And then you always have the option of pre-made options, but there are too many to keep up with at this point. So let me know in the comments below what you’re serving your buffalo chicken dip with!

Stuffed Peppers

Using my buffalo chicken stuffed peppers recipe as a guide, you could stuff this buffalo chicken dip into 8-10 bell peppers and bake for 40-50 minutes covered for the first half and with shredded cheese on the back half.

Buffalo Chicken Dip Pizza

You could also use your buffalo chicken dip to make non-dip options like quesadillas, stuffed baked potatoes, loaded fries, or a buffalo chicken dip pizza. I used my cheesy air fryer bread recipe as a base and topped it with 3/4 cup (210g) of dip and 1/4 cup (28g) of shredded cheddar.

This bread is easy to make, and you could do it right in your Instant Pot Air Fryer or Ninja Foodi. All you’ll need is some all purpose flour, salt, garlic powder, baking powder, and fat free Greek yogurt. Go check it out!

Smoked Stuffed Peppers in a Traeger Grill

Cut 5 large, long bell peppers in half and remove all the membranes and seeds. Fill the peppers and smoke at 350ºF for around 40 minutes directly on the grill grates. Add gorgonzola or cheddar and smoke an additional 5-10 minutes.

Now, that’s all the notes I have for you. The printable recipe card is below. Enjoy your buffalo chicken dip!