It should come as no surprise that I absolutely love buffalo chicken wings. I’m the guy that can put down a dozen and a half on an off night, and I’ve found bourbon buffalo wings on the grill are my favorites.
The problem with wings these days… the price. Have you seen the price of wings lately?
I went to the store the other day to buy some wings and seriously couldn’t believe it. You’d think I was trying to buy a baby panda.
Not willing to pay $4.49 per pound for wings, I set out to create a smoked buffalo chicken dip that would satisfy my craving. If you like buffalo wings, you’re going to love this smoked buffalo chicken dip, guaranteed.
I use chicken breasts to create this smoked buffalo chicken dip recipe, but smoking a whole chicken and pulling it would work as well. I like to serve this piping hot with celery sticks and corn chips.
It makes an excellent game day snack, or make it ahead and take it to a tailgate for the big game. This is a fan favorite for sure and will have guests hitting you up for the recipe.
Tips For Making Smoked Buffalo Chicken Dip
The Smoke: I prefer pecan for this dip, and use wood chunks, not chips. Chips burn up too quickly and are messy.
The pecan chunks from Cutting Edge Firewood are the best I’ve found; they burn longer and provide a cleaner smoke than other chunks I’ve burned in the past. Cleaner smoke of course means better flavor — give them a try.
The Meat: I like to use chicken breasts because I can make extra and then slice them super thin for some excellent smoked chicken sandwiches. It’s so much better than anything you can get at the deli, at less than half the price.
You could use a store-bought rotisserie chicken, but you won’t get as much of the smoky flavor that takes this dip to the next level.
The Ranch: You can use the store-bought ranch dressing, but I encourage you to try my amazing homemade ranch. It’s seriously soooo much better than the stuff on the store shelf and again, way less expensive. You probably have most of what you need to make it in your pantry already.
The Sauce: This recipe was influenced from the original buffalo wings. As such, it would almost be sacrilegious to not consider Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce, but if there’s another hot sauce you like better, by all means use that.
Personally, I love using this bourbon barrel aged hot sauce. Talk about next level!
The Rub: I prefer my poultry rub below; the quantities listed will make more than you need for this recipe, but I suspect you’ll use it over and over again. That’s the hope anyway. If you have a favorite rub though, use that.
The Cheese: Don’t use the pre-shredded stuff because it doesn’t melt well. It’s also less expensive to buy the cheese in block form and shred it yourself.
Smoked Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe
Serves: 20 | Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 70 minutes
Ingredients
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature and cut into ten equal-size squares
8 oz block Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
8 oz block Colby Jack cheese, shredded
½ cup blue cheese crumbles
¾ cup hot sauce
½ cup ranch dressing
3 green onions, greens sliced thin
¼ tsp smoked paprika
For the Rub:
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup smoked paprika
3 tbsp coarse sea salt
2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp granulated garlic
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp dried sage
How To Make Smoked Buffalo Chicken Dip
Step 1: Light grill or smoker and set up for two zone cooking, establishing temperature at 225° F as indicated on a reliable leave-in thermometer.
Step 2: While grill is preheating, season your chicken breasts evenly with rub. Once the grill has preheated, add a chunk of pecan wood to the coals and place the chicken over indirect heat. Let chicken smoke until internal temperature reaches 145° F, about 40 minutes.
Step 3: While chicken is smoking, add cheeses to a large mixing bowl, reserving 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese.
Step 4: Remove chicken from the grill and adjust the temperature of the grill to 300° F. Let the chicken cool and chop it into quarter-size pieces that are about 1/2-inch thick.
Add the chicken to the mixing bowl and fold in one tablespoon of rub, then add the ranch and wing sauce and stir until thoroughly mixed.
Step 5: Transfer the dip to a cast iron pan, and top it with remaining shredded cheese and paprika. Place dip on grill over indirect heat for 30 minutes.
Step 6: Remove dip from the grill, garnish with green onions, and serve hot.
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature and cut into ten equal-size squares
- 8 oz block Pepper Jack cheese shredded
- 8 oz block Colby Jack cheese shredded
- ½ cup blue cheese crumbles
- ¾ cup buffalo sauce
- ½ cup ranch dressing
- 3 green onions, greens sliced thin
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
For the Rub:
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup smoked paprika
- 3 tbsp coarse sea salt
- 2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp dried sage
Instructions
- Light grill or smoker and set up for two zone cooking, establishing temperature at 225° F as indicated on a reliable leave-in thermometer.
- While grill is preheating, season your chicken breasts evenly with rub. Once the grill has preheated, add a chunk of pecan wood to the coals and place the chicken over indirect heat. Let chicken smoke until internal temperature reaches 145° F, about 40 minutes.
- While chicken is smoking, add cheeses to a large mixing bowl, reserving 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese.
- Remove chicken from the grill and adjust the temperature of the grill to 300° F. Let the chicken cool and chop it into quarter-size pieces that are about 1/2-inch thick. Add the chicken to the mixing bowl and fold in one tablespoon of rub, then add the ranch and wing sauce and stir until thoroughly mixed.
- Transfer the dip to a cast iron pan, and top it with remaining shredded cheese and smoked paprika. Place dip on grill over indirect heat for 30 minutes.
- Remove dip from the grill, garnish with green onions, and serve hot.