This buffalo chicken chili has all of the flavors you love in a basket of buffalo wings, but in chili form. It's loaded with chicken, beans, veggies, buffalo sauce, and cheddar cheese, so it's full of flavor. Best of all, I made it in one pot and it comes together in about 30 minutes.
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Why We Love This Chili
It's fast: This buffalo chicken chili comes together in about 30 minutes and only requires one pot, so cleanup is quick and easy.
It's easy: Just throw the ingredients in a pot...it's pretty much that simple.
It's delicious: If you like buffalo chicken and nourishing fall and winter recipes, you'll love this chili. It's full of flavor and such great comfort food.
Looking for other great soup recipes? Try our kale meatballs soup, turkey lasagna soup, or chicken and stars soup.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Chicken breasts: You can also substitute boneless thighs or chicken breast tenderloins. If you like white meat, stick with the chicken breasts or tenderloins.
Onions: We use sweet onions. Yellow or white onions can be substituted.
Carrots: Any kind of carrots will do.
Celery: Don't substitute the celery. If you really don't like celery, you can omit it.
Jalapeño: Fresh jalapeños work best. If you don't have any fresh jalapeños, pickled jalapeños can be substituted.
Lime juice: Fresh lime juice works best.
Garlic: Fresh garlic works best.
Chicken broth: We like to use bone broth, but use whatever you have on hand or normally buy.
Cannellini beans: These are also called white kidney beans. They're similar to great northern beans or navy beans, but have a slightly smoother texture.
Canned chopped green chilis: These are usually in the international section of the grocery store.
Frank's RedHot sauce: You can buy this at most any grocery store. If you prefer a different buffalo-style hot sauce, feel free to use that. You could also make your own.
Cream cheese: This recipe works best with full-fat cream cheese.
Cheddar cheese: Buy a block of cheddar cheese and grate it yourself—it melts so much better than pre-grated cheese and will give your soup a better texture.
See recipe card for full ingredient list and amounts.
Step-by-Step Ingredients
Step 1: Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil, onions, carrots, celery, and jalapeños. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for about a minute, until fragrant.
Step 2: Next, add chicken broth, water, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, dried parsley, dried dill, and ground cayenne. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, then add chicken and cover with a lid until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Step 3: Once the chicken is done, remove it from the pot and shred it with two forks. Set it aside.
Step 4: Add softened cream cheese to a bowl and slowly add small amounts of the hot soup, stirring as you add it. Keep adding soup until the cream cheese is melted and the mixture is creamy. Then add the to the pot. This step prevents the cream cheese from curdling in the hot soup.
Step 5: Add chicken, cannellini beans, green chiles, Frank's RedHot sauce, lime juice, and cheddar cheese to the pot. Cook until the cheese has melted and everything is combined, then serve!
Topping Ideas
Looking for ways to serve this buffalo chicken chili? Try these toppings:
- Sour cream
- Greek yogurt
- Fresh cilantro
- Cracked black pepper
- Sliced avocado
- Extra shredded cheese
- Crushed up tortilla chips
Frequently asked questions
I use Frank's RedHot sauce, but you can use your favorite buffalo sauce instead. I know Sweet Baby Ray's is also popular.
Store the leftover soup in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Sometimes it tastes even better after the first day!
We love topping our soup with avocados, cilantro, and greek yogurt. Check out our "Topping Ideas" section above for more ideas. We also love serving it with chips on the side (you can use them as a spoon substitute)!
📖 Recipe
One-Pot Buffalo Chicken Chili
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
This buffalo chicken chili has all of the flavors you love in a basket of buffalo wings, but in chili form. It's loaded with chicken, beans, veggies, buffalo sauce, and cheddar cheese, so it's full of flavor. Best of all, I made it in one pot and it comes together in about 30 minutes.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil (we use avocado oil)
1 yellow, white, or sweet onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 jalapeño, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
32 ounces chicken broth
4 cups water
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon mustard powder
¼ teaspoon dried parsley
⅛ teaspoon dried dill
⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne
1.5 pounds chicken breast or chicken breast tenderloins
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 15.5 ounce cans of cannellini beans
4 ounces canned chopped green chilis
½ cup Frank's RedHot Sauce
Juice of half a lime
1.5 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil, onions, carrots, celery, and jalapeños. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for about a minute, until fragrant.
- Add the chicken broth, water, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, dried parsley, dried dill, and ground cayenne. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, then add the chicken and cover with a lid until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Once the chicken is done, remove it from the pot and shred it with two forks. Set it aside.
- Add the softened cream cheese to a bowl and slowly add small amounts of the hot soup, stirring as you add it. Keep adding soup until the cream cheese is melted and the mixture is creamy. Then add the to the pot. This step prevents the cream cheese from curdling in the hot soup.
- Add chicken, cannellini beans, green chiles, Frank's RedHot sauce, lime juice, and cheddar cheese to the pot. Cook until the cheese has melted and everything is combined, then serve!
Notes
Nutritional information is only an estimate.
Check out our "Topping Ideas" section above for ways to serve this soup.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅙th of recipe
- Calories: 603
- Sugar: 6.2 g
- Sodium: 1860.8 mg
- Fat: 24 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.6 g
- Protein: 48.5 g
- Cholesterol: 132.8 mg
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