Today, Healthy Recipes 101 welcomes a new take on a familiar dish: our new Instant Pot Buffalo chicken dip recipe. There are many variations on this delicious game day treat but you’ll find our version is one of the most nutritious.
Is This Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip Healthy?
Yes, our Instant Pot Buffalo chicken dip recipe is healthier than most. Here’s why:
A typical Buffalo chicken dip recipe is packed with cheese to make it savory and satisfyingly gooey. This may sound like a delicious dream, but in reality, it’s full of sodium and saturated fat.
Here’s what we do to limit all this salt and fat:
- Reduce the cheese as much as possible: We decided to cap the cheese and instead made a thick cheese sauce that mimics that gooey, oozing effect. This sauce also contains a bit of whole milk and heavy cream to make it similarly rich in taste.
- Make our own Buffalo sauce: Store-bought Buffalo sauce and regular hot sauce are generally insanely high in sodium (over 400mg per 1 tablespoon). On the other hand, our homemade Buffalo sauce contains only 37 mg of sodium per 1 tablespoon.
- Leave out the salt: Salt may seem like a crucial seasoning in most recipes, but you won’t miss it in today’s dip. The cheese is salty enough to give the dish a savory taste.
- Serve it with vegetables: We’re serving our Buffalo chicken dip with raw carrots and celery to increase your fiber intake.
- Make a smaller serving: This dip may be a healthier version of the classic, but it’s still quite rich and addicting. You may want to limit your serving to avoid eating too many calories and too much fat and sodium.
- Boneless, skinless chicken is the way to go: Chicken skin may be delicious in other recipes, but it wouldn’t go well in our dip. And, since most of a chicken’s fat lies in its skin, it’s best to leave that part out.
For instance, 100g of chicken breast without skin contains only 120 calories and 0.6g of saturated fat. Meanwhile, a skin-on piece provides more than 172 calories and 2.7g of saturated fat.
To find out more about your recommended limits on calories, saturated fat, and sodium, check out our healthy eating guidelines.
And if you’re obsessed with this spicy dip, we even have another Buffalo chicken dip recipe for you. Try making both recipes and let us know which is your favorite in the comment section below. For more recipes on instant pot, have a look at our best instant pot dinner ideas.
Main Ingredients
Here are the main ingredients for today’s Instant Pot Buffalo chicken dip recipe:
- Chicken: We’re using boneless, skinless chicken thigh as it is juicier than chicken breast.
- Buffalo sauce: This will give the dip its iconic spicy, tangy flavor.
- White sauce: As mentioned above, we’re making a thick white sauce to give the dip an oozing, cheesy effect. This sauce is made of flour, chicken broth, whole milk, and heavy cream.
- Potatoes: It may sound untraditional to have potatoes in a Buffalo chicken dip recipe, but we guarantee they won’t taste out of place. We add shredded potatoes to give it more body and increase its volume.
- Cheese: We’re using mozzarella and cheddar cheese.
- Seasonings: Dijon mustard and garlic powder are the only spice and condiment for today’s recipe.
- Herbs: We’re using fresh green onions to give the dish a slightly pungent flavor. You can also use chives, spring onions, or leeks.
- Crunchy vegetables: We’re serving the dip with celery and carrot sticks.
Tips for Making
If you want your dip to have a beautiful, caramelized crust on top, here’s what you can do:
- Use a blowtorch: If you have one, use it to char the surface of the dip slightly. Please ensure all safety precautions when you do.
- Bake it on the top rack: This method is for those of you who don’t have a fire-breathing device at home. Bake the dip for 5 minutes on the middle rack first and another 5 minutes on the top.
How Long Is This Buffalo Chicken Dip Good for?
1. How to Store
You can simply wrap the baking dish with cling film or keep it in an airtight container in the fridge.
Our Instant Pot Buffalo chicken dip can last up to 5 or 7 days in the fridge. It can also stay good for about a month in the freezer.
2. How to Reheat
Transfer your refrigerated Buffalo chicken dip to a microwave-safe dish and reheat it in the microwave for 2 minutes. If your dip is frozen, allow it to thaw for 2 hours or so at room temperature before reheating.
If your dip is stored in the baking dish, simply heat it up in a preheated oven. It will take 5 to 10 minutes to warm up at 390°F.
What to Eat With
You can serve the dip with crackers or chips, but those aren’t the best options as they’re loaded with sodium. Here are a few healthier alternatives:
- Raw, crunchy vegetables: In our humble opinion, raw celery and carrot sticks are always the best sidekicks to any dip.
- Garlic breadsticks: It may sound unconventional, but give them a try and you will probably be amazed. The bread is crispy and thick enough to scoop the dip, and the garlic packs a delicious flavor punch.
- Homemade tortilla chips: If you insist on serving the dip with chips, we highly recommend making them yourself. Cut a few tortilla sheets into small triangles and bake them for 5 minutes in the oven or air fryer.
If you don’t have the time to make tortilla chips at home, try to look for unsalted potato chips. But beware: the dip is rather thick, so flimsy chips may crumble when you try to scoop with them.
Flavorful Treats You Can Make With the Instant Pot
If you love one-pot meals, cook this chicken alfredo in your regular pot or Instant Pot. We cook the chicken first, let it all golden brown, then cook the mushroom-cream sauce with the flavorful residue into which we also add raw pasta. Details are in the link, but what we're trying to say is all literally cooked in one pot.
Our Instant Pot chicken enchiladas recipe will assist you in quickly preparing delicious meat rolls. They're chewy, tomatoey, and oh-so-cheesy, and they're ready in 30 minutes.
Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe
If you're looking for a healthy snack during the game, this Instant Pot Buffalo chicken dip is the one. All it takes is 35 minutes to make.
- by Tuyet Pham, Luna Regina, 2021-08-18
- cook TIME 20 mins
- prep TIME 10 mins
- total TIME 35 mins
- INACTIVE TIME 5 mins
- COURSE Side Dish
- CUISINE American
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 208 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 14 oz skinless boneless chicken thigh (cut into small cubes)
- 10 oz carrot (cut into sticks)
- 6 oz celery (cut into sticks)
- 4 oz potatoes (shredded, soaked in water, drained, and squeezed dry)
- 1 oz mozzarella cheese (shredded)
- 1 oz cheddar cheese (shredded)
- 1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted chicken broth
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp green onion (finely chopped)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp traditional Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp homemade Buffalo sauce
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Cook the chicken: Turn on your Instant Pot, set it to the “Sauté” mode, and wait for it to heat up. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, 14 oz cubed chicken thigh, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard, and 2 tbsp homemade Buffalo sauce. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
Make a roux: Add 2 tbsp all-purpose flour to the pot. Mix well and cook for 2 minutes.
Cook the dip: To the pot, add 1/2 cup unsalted chicken broth, 1/4 cup whole milk, 1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream, 1 oz shredded mozzarella cheese, and 4 oz shredded potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Bake the dip: Transfer the dip to a small baking dish. Sprinkle 1 oz shredded cheddar cheese on top. Put it in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Garnish and serve: Remove the baking dish from the oven and allow the dip to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle 2 tbsp finely chopped green onion on top of the dip. Serve with 6 oz celery sticks and 10 oz carrot sticks.
NUTRITION
Tuyet Pham
Head Chef, Culinary Consultant
Luna Regina
Writer, Author
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD
Nutrition Reviewer
- Michel TaylorA spicy and easy appetizer.