This Cold Buffalo Chicken Dip just may be the most versatile easy appetizer ever—perfect any time of year and for any occasion!

Cold Buffalo chicken dip with carrots and celery

It’s casual enough for game day, yet it looks pretty enough for a holiday party. It’s the color of fall, and cool for summer. And it’s so simple, you’ll wish you had this Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe sooner!

This crowd favorite has classic Buffalo flavor without the mess of eating wings. You’ve likely been to more than one Super Bowl party where orange smears were on everybody and everything. Not with this dip!

Cold Buffalo Chicken Dip Ingredients

This easy recipe requires just a handful of simple ingredients and about 10 minutes to create the flavors of beloved Buffalo wings in dip form.

Ingredients for Cold Buffalo Chicken Dip

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Cream Cheese

The best thing about using whipped cream cheese in this recipe is that you do not need to use a hand mixer or food processor with it. If you use regular cream cheese, make sure it’s softened and be ready to pull out the power tools to achieve the best results.

Ranch Dressing

Ranch dressing is a shortcut ingredient. If you don’t have it, you can whip some up by combining equal parts sour cream, mayonnaise, and buttermilk, then adding seasonings like garlic powder, onion powder, dill, and a squirt of lemon juice.

Buffalo Wing Sauce

Since buffalo sauce takes center stage, use a trusted brand that you like. Our family favorite is Frank’s.

Chicken

If you have leftover rotisserie chicken (1½ to 2 chicken breasts), that’s perfect! Or you can use any other type of leftover chicken.

I prefer shredded chicken over chopped. Large chunks of chicken can be awkward for dipping, so if you chop the chicken, chop it really small. If you have any large ropy shreds, cut them too.

I like white chicken breast meat over dark meat mainly for the color, but any type of cooked chicken from any part will work, even canned chicken.

Blue Cheese

When my husband and I order chicken wings, we hem and haw between ranch dressing and blue cheese. We always wind up asking for both, and you can have both in this chicken dip too.

If you’re not a blue cheese fan, leave it off and you won’t miss it.

Green Onions

Green onions add a little zip to the dip, and they are colorful too. If you prefer diced red onion or nothing at all, no one will complain.

Cold Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe

Makes 1½ cups of dip

Ingredients

¼ cup whipped cream cheese
¼ cup ranch dressing
¼ cup Buffalo wing sauce
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
1 tablespoon blue cheese crumbles
1 tablespoon chopped green onions

Instructions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, ranch dressing, and wing sauce together with a silicon spatula until well combined.

Mixing the wet ingredients for Buffalo Chicken Dip

2. Stir in the chicken and mix well.

3. Transfer to a serving bowl.

4. Top with blue cheese crumbles and green onions.

Serving Cold Buffalo Chicken Dip

You can actually serve this easy Buffalo chicken dip cold, at room temperature, or heated in a baking dish. I prefer it cold, and it’s easiest, so for me, it’s a no-brainer.

Serve With . . .

I like to serve my Buffalo chicken dip with fresh-cut celery and carrot sticks. But tortilla chips, pretzels, potato chips, pita chips— really, chips of any kind—are always good dippers. And, of course, any dip will be welcomed on slices of crusty bread.

Make it a Meal

The first time I made this delicious recipe, I thought it was so yummy I turned it into wrap. Buffalo chicken wraps and salads both make terrific lunches! Spread it on pizza dough and top it with mozzarella and you have an easy weeknight dinner.

Make Ahead / Leftover Dip

If your chicken is freshly cooked, the dip should last up to five days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Just give it a stir before serving and you’re good to go.

Origin of Buffalo Wings

If you’re serving Buffalo wings or Buffalo chicken dip, know the story of their origin!

Why are they called Buffalo wings? Because Buffalo wings come from Buffalo, New York! Anchor Bar owner Teressa Bellissimo invented them in 1964, when she tossed fried chicken wings in hot sauce and served them with blue cheese and celery sticks.