Buffalo Chicken Chowder is a tasty, spicy and comforting soup great for warming you up from the inside out. An easy, nutritious chowder made in the slow cooker.
About Buffalo Chicken Chowder
Slow cooker recipes are some of the most popular recipes on the blog and my favorite as well. I love throwing everything into the slow cooker and letting it cook all day so it's ready in time for dinner. I mean, is there anything better than coming home to a meal that's ready to enjoy when you are?
This Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Chowder is easy to make, and you simply toss all the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook all day. I find it best if cooked for at least 6 to 7 hours on High or 10-12 hours on Low. This helps soften the veggies and the potatoes absorb some of the spiciness of the soup.
It's creamy and rich without being too heavy -- and it has no butter or cream. I love making this when it's cold outside because it warms you up from the inside out. Plus, it makes a lot and is a fabulous to serve a crowd, especially on gameday when you want something more substantial than appetizers.
Buffalo Chicken Chowder Ingredients
Potatoes: Any type of potato will be fine in here. Usually, I use a Russet potato, but a red potato or white potato will both work.
Chicken breast: Boneless, skinless chicken breast is what I use. You can use any type of boneless, skinless chicken in here. Breast, tenderloins, thighs are all fine. Thighs will add some extra fat into the chowder which will be fine, but you will notice a little grease in the pot after cooking.
Veggies: In this Buffalo Chicken Chowder, I use onions, celery, and red bell peppers. Originally, I only used celery and onions but added the bell peppers on another batch and really liked it. Feel free to change up the veggies based on what you like. I think carrots and corn would also be good in this chowder. You could also buy a bag of frozen onions, bell peppers and celery to save time.
Spices: To season the chowder, I use thyme, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. This is pretty spicy, so feel free to decrease the amount of red pepper flakes or black pepper. Garlic powder isn't mandatory and neither is the salt. You can replace the dried thyme with fresh or use chopped fresh or dried rosemary.
Milk: Either 2% or whole milk works in this chowder. Do not use skim or 1% milk because it might not hold up well in the slow cooker. Plus, make your chowder too thin.
Buffalo wing sauce: Be sure you use wing sauce or buffalo wing sauce instead of hot pepper sauce because hot pepper sauce is very different from wing sauce. And yes, buffalo wing sauce is very high in sodium, so you can use a little less and make sure to use no salt added other ingredients (and skip the salt in the recipe) if sodium is a concern.
Chicken broth: Preferably use a no salt added broth. I like to make it myself to control the amount of sodium. Click the links for easy recipes to make homemade chicken broth, vegetable broth, beef broth. Additionally, water works just fine in this chowder.
Cornstarch: Cornstarch helps thicken the chowder. Arrowroot powder and flour can be used as well.
Blue cheese: The blue cheese helps balance and cool down the spiciness of the Buffalo Chicken Chowder. You can omit or use a different cheese if you want.
Cost of Buffalo Chicken Chowder
- Potatoes 1.5 pounds: $0.75
- Chicken breast 1 pound: $4.59
- Onion 1 medium: $0.68
- Celery 4 stalks: $0.56
- Red bell pepper 1 medium: $1.50
- Thyme ½ teaspoon: $0.10
- Garlic powder ½ teaspoon: $0.04
- Salt ¼ teaspoon: $0.01
- Black pepper ¼ teaspoon: $0.09
- Red Pepper Flakes ¼ teaspoon: $0.05
- Milk 2 cups: $1.28
- Buffalo wing sauce ½ cup: $1.92
- Chicken broth 2 cups: $1.14
- Cornstarch 3 tablespoons: $0.18
- Blue cheese 4 ounces: $2.25
TOTAL COST: $15.14 (Based on San Diego Sprouts 2019) or $2.52/serving
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Chowder
The slow cooker makes preparing Buffalo Chicken Chowder quite easy. Here are the step by step instructions for how to make buffalo chicken chowder:
- Add potatoes to a slow cooker.
- Top with chicken breast, onions, celery, red bell peppers, and spices.
- Pour in milk, wing sauce, and broth.
- Whisk together cornstarch and broth.
Pour into slow cooker.
- Gently stir together.
Cover and cook.
- When done cooking, stir before serving.
Serve with blue cheese crumbles and celery stalks if desired. Enjoy!
Tips for Making Buffalo Chicken Chowder
Variations
Ingredient Options
- Veggies: Onions, celery, bell peppers (any color), carrots and corn would all be good in this Buffalo Chicken Chowder. Frozen chopped veggies will work too. Use any combo of about 4-5 cups (or around 18 ounces) veggies.
- Broth: Use chicken broth, vegetable broth, beef broth or water.
- Spices: Ground or whole dried thyme work in the chowder. Cayenne pepper can be used to replace the red pepper flakes (use ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper). Or omit for a more mild chowder. Also, use less black pepper or none at all for a more mild soup.
- Blue cheese: Feta, gorgonzola, cheddar or goat cheese can be used in place of blue cheese.
How to Make Allergy Friendly
This Buffalo Chicken Chowder is gluten free, egg free and soy free. Double check that the ingredients do not have any of those if necessary. There is dairy in the buffalo wing sauce and milk, so it'll be more difficult to make this recipe dairy free.
Flavor Substitutions
For a substitute for blue cheese, you can try gorgonzola, feta, cheddar or even goat cheese in its place.
Alternative Prep & Cooking
This could be made on the stove top. Add the chicken, onions, celery and bell peppers to a large pot. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add potatoes, wing sauce, spices, and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer for 2-4 hours until potatoes are soft. Pour in 1.5 cups milk. Whisk together cornstarch and remaining milk, and add to the pot. Stir and cook for another 15 minutes until thickened. Serve with blue cheese.
How to Fix a Mistake
Like many slow cooker recipes, it's hard to make a mistake. However, if you want the chowder to be thicker, you can whisk together another 1 tablespoon cornstarch + ¼ cup cold water and add to the chowder. Cook on High for 15-30 minutes until thickened.
Make Ahead Ideas
You can chop all the veggies ahead of time and keep in airtight container in the fridge for up to 48 hours. The chowder can also be prepared ahead of time and reheated on the stove over medium heat or in a microwave safe bowl. If needed, add a little water or broth to get the soup to come back together.
Storage Suggestions
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days and in the freezer for up to 1 month. Heat in a saucepan over medium heat or in a microwave-safe bowl in 45 second intervals.
If cooking from frozen, defrost in the fridge overnight. Or use your microwave directions for defrosting before cooking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Like many buffalo recipes, the sodium content in this chowder is pretty high. To reduce the sodium, be sure to use unsalted broth (it's best to make your own so you can control how much salt is in the broth). Also, skip adding the salt in the recipe and omit the cheese.
Nutrition benefits of Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Chowder
One serving of Buffalo Chicken Chowder is an excellent source of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, iron, potassium and calcium. There are also multiple veggies in the soup which provides your body with an array of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
Note that the soup is very high in sodium if that is a concern for you. Omit the salt, use half the amount of buffalo wing sauce, and use no salt added broth or water to decrease the sodium in the chowder.
What to serve with Buffalo Chicken Chowder
Buffalo Chicken Chowder is a complete meal in and of itself, but I highly recommend topping it with blue cheese. Other toppings you can add is fresh celery, chopped green onions or parsley. You can also add a slice of garlic bread on the side or some celery stalks. This can be pretty spicy, so you can always add a glass of milk to counteract the heat.
Final thoughts:
For someone who rarely repeats a recipe (unless I'm testing for the blog), I make this Buffalo Chicken Chowder a lot. I love how it turns boring chicken breast into something really exciting, and it's a great way to use up buffalo wing sauce if you have some leftover after making Buffalo Chicken Salad, Buffalo Brussel Sprouts, or Buffalo Chicken Dip.
MORE SLOW COOKER CHICKEN RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE:
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala
- Crock Pot Lemon Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo
- Crock Pot Chicken Ranch Tacos
- Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot
Buffalo Chicken Chowder Recipe
Buffalo Chicken Chowder
Ingredients
- 3 medium potatoes unpeeled and cubed (1.5 to 2 pounds)
- 1 pound chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4 stalks celery chopped {about 1 cup}
- 1 medium red bell pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme ground or whole
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cups milk 2% or whole
- ½ cup buffalo wing sauce
- 2 cups chicken broth or water or vegetable broth, divided
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup blue cheese crumbles for topping
- celery stalks cut in half, for serving
Instructions
- Add the potatoes to the bottom of the slow cooker. Top with the chicken, onions, celery and red bell peppers. Season with the thyme, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Pour in milk, buffalo wing sauce, and 1.5 cups chicken broth.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ½ cup chicken broth and the cornstarch until no lumps remain. Slowly stir mixture into the slow cooker.
- Gently stir everything together. Cover, and cook on High for 7-8 hours or Low for 12 hours.
- Stir well before serving. Serve with celery stalks and ¼ cup cheese crumbles on each serving.
Notes
What to Use in This Recipe
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Recipe adapted from PreventionRD Slow-Cooker Buffalo Chicken Chowder
Meme
This post was originally published September 17, 2012. Text, recipe, and photos have been updated.
Doesn't this recipe look good?! You should probably share it:
Michelle says
Meme,
This looks amazing! I can't wait to try the recipe. It's perfect for cold Fall days 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday. Can't wait to see what you share next week! Have a wonderful weekend
Michelle
memeinge says
Thanks! It's a great recipe for warming you up on those chilly days