Buffalo Chicken Chili

This Buffalo Chicken Chili is a fun variation on a winter staple! Swap out your usual chili recipe for this slightly spicy, tangy, ground chicken-based, white bean chili. It’s filled with some sneaky cauliflower rice and finished off with blended cottage cheese for a creamy texture! This would be a perfect cozy dinner, especially on Sunday night while you watch football.

I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately – I’ve made so many buffalo recipes! It’s never been my favorite flavor profile, but Kyle is fully obsessed, so I’ve made an effort to create more recipes utilizing buffalo sauce and now it’s really grown on me. We’ve also just entered chili season and I found myself craving something different than the usual. I’m bored of the typical beef chili with like 4 cans of beans lol. Enter: my Buffalo Chicken Chili, which is made with ground chicken, white beans, buffalo sauce, lots and lots of veggies, and is ultra-creamy thanks to some blended cottage cheese. I hope you love this one!

Why You’ll Love this Buffalo Chicken Chili

• It’s a fun and unique chili recipe if you want to switch things up a bit!
• This Buffalo Chicken Chili is the perfect meal to make for Sunday night football!
• It makes a lot so you’ll likely have leftovers to eat for lunch throughout the week 🙂
• It’s full of protein, fiber and some healthy fats.
• Even your picky husband will like it!
• This recipe uses very simple ingredients that you likely already have on hand, or can find easily at the grocery store.

What You Need to Make this Buffalo Chicken Chili

• Olive Oil
• Onion
• Carrots: Not the most classic ingredient for chili, but very common in soup and this is like a crossover recipe!
• Celery: Another way to sneak in your veggies! Celery just pairs really well with buffalo flavors.
• Garlic: Fresh minced.
• Ground Chicken: To give it more of that chili feel, I like to use ground chicken instead of shredded chicken breast…but either will work. If you’re using fully cooked shredded chicken, just add it in closer to the end of the cooking time.
• Dried Dill, Parsley, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Celery Salt, Salt, Pepper & Cayenne: This Buffalo Chicken Chili is loaded with ranch-inspired seasonings. If you don’t have celery salt, feel free to just swap in some more kosher salt.
• Fire-Roasted Diced Tomatoes: You can find these at most grocery stores and they’re a bit more flavorful than normal diced tomatoes. Feel free to sub normal diced tomatoes if that’s all you can find though. Don’t drain the liquid from the can!
• Great Northern Beans: What’s a chili without some beans!? Great Northern Beans are a soft, mild white bean. You can also use cannellini beans instead. Please drain & rinse before adding to the chili.
• Frozen Cauliflower Rice: I’m always looking for ways to amp up the veggies in my recipes and frozen cauliflower rice is the perfect addition to this Buffalo Chicken Chili. My husband couldn’t even tell it was in there!
• Buffalo Sauce: Well, duh! I like to use the Primal Kitchen brand but you can also use the classic Frank’s Red Hot.
• Chicken Broth: I like this one, but bone broth is another great option for extra protein and nutrients.
• Cottage Cheese: Surprise! We’re using some blended cottage cheese, added at the very end, to make this chili creamy. I recommend full-fat for the best, rich taste. For substitution options, check out the section below.

How To Make this Buffalo Chicken Chili

I think we all love chili for how easy and cozy it is! You pretty much just throw everything into a pot and let it simmer as you go about the rest of your day. The same is true for this Buffalo Chicken Chili! There’s a little bit of work on the front end, but I promise it’s quick and easy. Let’s get into it…

Make the Mirepoix:

Mirepoix is just a fancy word for the fat, onion, celery and carrot combo that’s the foundation for almost all soups. It’s not necessarily the most common thing in chili but I like to sneak in extra veggies into my Buffalo Chicken Chili so this is one of the easiest ways to do so!

After you’ve chopped up your onion, celery and carrot, bring a large pot to medium heat. Once hot, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Then, when the oil is hot, add the onion, celery and garlic. Season with salt to taste. Continue to let that cook down, stirring occasionally, for about 3-5 minutes, until onions are starting to turn translucent and veggies are getting tender. Next, add in the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.

Brown the Chicken:

Now, it’s time to add the ground chicken. It’s safe to add it to the veggies that are already in the pot because everything is going to be in there until the chicken is fully cooked through anyways. Break apart the ground chicken with your spatula so that it’s in tiny chunks. Season it with all of the spices (dill, parsley, celery salt, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, salt & pepper. Cook the chicken until it’s browned (this should only take roughly 3 minutes).

Let it Simmer:

This is where it gets easy! Add in all of the remaining ingredients (except for the cottage cheese). Stir, and then increase heat to high and bring the chili to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and let it simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes if time allows. The longer you let it simmer, the more time the flavors have to meld together. But if you’re in a pinch, it’ll still be yummy with less simmering time!

Add in the Blended Cottage Cheese:

At the very end of the chili’s simmering time, whip out your small food processor or high speed blender and add the cottage cheese. Blend until it’s smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Once smooth, transfer the blended cottage cheese to a bowl. Take a ladle and scoop out some of the broth from the chili pot. Slowly, add it in to the blended cottage cheese, whisking constantly. This is called tempering, and it will help prevent the cottage cheese from separating when you add it to the soup. Trust me on this and don’t skip it! Slowly, add the tempered cottage cheese mixture back into the chili pot, stirring constantly. Then, plate and enjoy!

Are There Any Substitutes for the Cottage Cheese?

If you’re dairy free or just don’t like cottage cheese, you can totally leave it out! I really like how it adds an element of creaminess to this recipe, giving it more of a chili vibe vs soup, but it’s not necessary.

I have not experimented with any substitutes yet, but I would imagine that using cream cheese or even full-fat plain greek yogurt would work. If you’re using cream cheese, make sure it’s softened and cubed and then you should be able to just add it directly to the simmering pot of chili. If you go the greek yogurt route, I recommend following the tempering method as written in the original recipe.

Can I Make This Recipe in a Crockpot / Slow Cooker Instead?

Guys, believe it or not…I don’t even own a crockpot. At least, not yet. I did add one to my Christmas list this year though! So, I can’t vouch for how this recipe would work in a crockpot although I think it should be just fine. I will update this recipe if and when I get a crockpot and will let you know specific instructions on how to do so.

How Does This Buffalo Chicken Chili Store as Leftovers?

Surprisingly, I actually think this Buffalo Chicken Chili gets better as it sits in the fridge! That’s because it thickens up even more. So, it would be a really great meal prep option! I am always a warm-up-the-leftovers kind of person, but for this recipe I actually enjoy eating it cold. However, if you want to heat it up, you definitely can pop it into the microwave for a minute or two, stirring every so often.

Find the full recipe below. As always, please let me know if you tried it by commenting below or tagging me on Instagram, @munchinwithmaddie_.

Looking for more Soup Recipes?

• Creamy Chicken, Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup
• Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
• Lasagna Soup
• Broccoli Stalk, Potato & Leek Soup

5 from 10 votes

Buffalo Chicken Chili

Swap out your usual chili recipe for this Buffalo Chicken Chili – a slightly spicy, tangy, ground chicken-based, white bean chili. It's filled with some sneaky cauliflower rice and finished off with blended cottage cheese for a creamy texture!

Servings 6 people

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Equipment

• cutting board
• knife
• large pot
• spatula
• Food Processor or high speed blender

Ingredients

• olive oil
• ½ yellow onion diced
• 3 large carrots peeled & finely diced
• 2 celery stalks finely diced
• 2 large garlic cloves minced
• 1 lb ground chicken *
• 1 tsp dried dill
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp celery salt **
• salt + pepper to taste
• cayenne optional, for extra spice
• 12 oz frozen cauliflower rice
• 1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (15oz)
• 1 can great northern beans drained & rinsed (15oz, can sub cannellni beans)
• ½ cup buffalo sauce (I used Primal Kitchen, can sub Frank's)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 8 oz full-fat cottage cheese

Instructions

• Bring a large pot to medium heat. Once hot, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, carrots and celery. Season to taste with salt. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 3-5 minutes, until the onions are starting to turn translucent and the veggies are getting tender. Then, add in garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.
• Add in the ground chicken and break apart with your spatula. Season with all of the spices. Continue to cook until browned (about 3 minutes).
• Then, add in the cauliflower rice, beans, diced tomatoes, buffalo sauce and broth. Stir. Increase heat to high and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.*** Then, turn off the heat.
• Add cottage cheese to a small food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Then, transfer the cottage cheese to a small bowl.
• Scoop out one ladleful of broth from the pot of chili and slowly add it into the blended cottage cheese, whisking constantly. This is called tempering. Once fully incorporated, slowly add the tempered cottage cheese mixture back into the pot of chili, stirring constantly.
• Serve with an extra dollop of greek yogurt, blended cottage cheese or sour cream, a drizzle of buffalo sauce and some chopped parsley. Enjoy!

Notes

*NOTE: If you happen to use ButcherBox, you’ll notice that their ground chicken comes as 1.5lbs per package. You can use 1.5lbs instead and then just increase the amount of broth to 3 cups! Everything else should stay the same.

**NOTE: Don’t stress if you don’t have this! You can omit it and just add more normal kosher salt.

***NOTE: Letting the chili to simmer for 30 minutes allows all the flavors to meld together. If you’re in a pinch, you don’t have to simmer it for the full 30 minutes but I definitely recommend it!

 

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: buffalo chicken, Buffalo Sauce, Cauliflower Rice, Chili, Cozy, Easy Dinner, Ground Chicken, Soup, White Beans

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @munchinwithmaddie_ on Instagram and/or hashtag it #munchinwithmaddie.