A “Healthier” Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe for Game Day
Ready to snack while watching the big game, but want some healthier alternatives to your favorite tastes? You’ve come to the right place; here are some ideas on how to make a “healthier” buffalo chicken dip.
Game day food, without the guilt of indulging; talk about the best of both worlds!
Listen, I am not the biggest sports girl. truthfully, most of the time I’m there for the food. And if we’re talking game-day food, there is a clear favorite for me; buffalo chicken dip.
Now there is nothing wrong with buffalo chicken dip as the original recipe (that I often steal straight from the Franks Red Hot website), but as someone that has been on my fair share of diets, I quickly learned that buffalo chicken dip is one of the easiest game day meals to make “healthy” and macro friendly.
I have made so many different versions of buffalo chicken dip over the years, and honestly, they all turn out delicious. It’s one of those dished where you don’t have to think too hard about the portions either. No matter when you put in there, all those ingredients mixed together… it’s going to be good.
The Go-To Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe
If we’re talking the go-to, don’t care about calories, buffalo chicken dip recipe, these are the main ingredients:
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- 1 (8ounce) pack of cream cheese
- 1/2 cup of hot sauce
- 1/2 ranch dressing
- 1/2 cheese (you can use blue cheese, or if you hate blue cheese like I do, you can use cheddar or whatever other cheese you like.)
The Semi-Healthier Buffalo Chicken Recipe
This recipe is essentially exactly the same, you’re just subbing out ingredients with “healthier” versions of themselves
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- 1 8 ounce pack of cream cheese (low fat)
- 1/2 cup of hot sauce
- Believe it or not, hot sauce is quite low salary. Just make sure you check for how much sodium/ calories are in your favorite brands but as far as sauces go, it’s one of the better ones.
- 1/2 low fat ranch OR ranch seasoning packet.
- You can use a ranch seasoning packet instead of the dressing itself. By doing so, you will eliminate calories, however you may need to add extra hot sauce to get the dip to the consistency you like.
- 1/2 cup low fat cheese
- Look for lower fat cheeses when picking out what cheese to use. Cheese is notorious for adding a lot of calories sneakily into many dishes, so you can also use less cheese.
The “Healthiest” Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe
This recipe is for if you’re REALLY trying to be good, and watch your food intake. I was on a pretty strict diet where I had to his high protein amounts last year, and this version of the recipe was a savor for me on game days where I was desperate for a good snack that wouldn’t get me too off track.
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- You can cook your own in a crockpot, use a rotisserie chicken, or even canned chicken works great.
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- If you are weird about cottage cheese’s texture (which is what most people tend to have an issue with) you can blend the cottage cheese before mixing it in, but cottage cheese is PACKED with protein.
- 1/2 cup buffalo sauce
- Ranch packet (measure with your heart on this for flavor)
- 1 cup nonfat greek yogurt
- Greek yogurt is another food that is packed with protein, and all in all pretty good for you. Mixed with a ranch packet, it can act as a healthier alternative to ranch dressing.
- 1 cup low fat cheese
Whichever version you decide to try, mix those ingredients together, top them with the cheese, and put them into the oven till the dip is nicely warm, and slightly golden on top, and I promise you cannot go wrong.
Whether you want to eat them with chips, or are being extra cautious and eat them with your favorite veggies, buffalo chicken dip always satisfies that wing craving I have while watching sports.
Hope you enjoy!