buffalo chicken dip

i had this at a friend's apartment when she hosted a party, and i was next to the dip bowl all night. this is a PERFECT game day dip or dip for a party or get-together. you can serve this with crackers or chips, but i wouldn't recommend any kind of thick crackers. something crispier definitely pairs better. chicken in a biscuit crackers come to mind. or tortilla chips.

i'm sorry if i'm typing pretty choppy. i'm devouring this right now.

i'm posting this today in honor of the SEC championship. i'm rooting for the georgia dawgs... but still showing some TENNESSEE PRIDE b/c this dip has an orange color. no matter what other team i root for, i always root for TENNESSEE first!

ok. enough of that. onto the recipe.

disclaimer. i am posting the "half version" of this recipe. double it if you are making it for a large group.

ingredients:
1 1/2-2 breasts of chicken or 3-4 chicken tenderloins, boiled then shredded (OR 1 (10 oz) can of chunk chicken, drained)
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup ranch dressing
red pepper sauce (i use Frank's Red Hot)
3/4 cup shredded mild Cheddar cheese

directions:
1. boil chicken until cooked through. take out of pot. let cool. hold chicken in place with one fork and shred with another. if you want to save time, you can use a can of chunk chicken, drained. since it cooks in with many other ingredients, you can't really tell a taste difference, but just use whatever you have on hand. i had chicken tenderloins, so that's what i used.

2. heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. the recipe calls for about a third cup of hot sauce. i find that the hot sauce is overwhelming with that much, so i just sprinkled the top of the chicken with hot sauce as desired and cooked on medium until the chicken had saturated the hot sauce.

3. stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. cook, stirring until well blended and warm. 

4. mix in half of the shredded cheese. (i may have used a little more cheese than the recipe calls for, but that shouldn't really shock anyone...)

5. transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. (i found my little dipper to be quite appropriate, and this is the first time i got to use it! YAY!)

6. sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook. if using a regular crockpot, put it on the low setting until hot and bubbly. 

 serve with chips, crackers, and/or celery sticks! 


HAPPY SEC CHAMPIONSHIP DAY! GO DAWGS!


fin.