Spicy Buffalo Chicken Chili Inspired by Rachel Ray
Inspired by spicy buffalo chicken wings and buffalo wing sauce, this spicy buffalo chicken chili recipe is loaded with spice and perfect for a cold night. Using ground chicken and hot sauce along with some chopped vegetables, it’s an easy recipe and meal idea served with warm tortilla chips with melted blue cheese crumbles.
My husband has always loved super spicy food. We still laugh about one of our earliest dates where he ordered Five Alarm Hot Wings at a restaurant. He spent the rest of the evening with his nose and eyes running! But, he loved it.
So, when I watched an episode of Rachel Ray and saw Rachel’s recipe for Buffalo Chicken Chili, I knew I needed to try it. I’ve made it so many times that it has become a great meal and quick dinner idea that the whole family loves!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
This delicious chili recipe is easily adaptable for your taste and differing levels of spice. If you don’t want it quite as spicy, you can cut back on the spices and hot sauce. If you want it spicier, just add more!
Like many soup recipes, it’s also very adaptable based on the ingredients you have on hand. If you don’t have the exact right type of canned tomatoe products, substitutions can be made and it still turns out great. I’ve done that many times!
Ingredients
(For the exact measurements, please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.)
- olive oil
- butter
- ground chicken
- diced carrots
- diced onions
- garlic cloves
- chipotle chili powder
- bay leaf
- salf and pepper to taste
- chicken stock
- hot sauce (We like Frank’s red hot sauce)
- white kidney beans or cannellini beans
- tomato sauce
- diced tomatoes
- corn torilla chips and blue cheese (to serve on the side)
Instructions for Spicy Buffalo Chicken Chili
- Place a large pot over medium high heat. Add in 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. When the butter melts, add in the ground chicken. Break up the meat with a turner. Cook and stir until meat browns and no red is showing.
- Add the diced carrots and onions to the pan and saute until the onions start to turn clear and the carrots soften – about 5 minutes. Add in garlic and spices and saute until fragrant. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Add in the chicken broth and stir to release browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
- Pour in the tomatoe sauce, diced tomatoes, hot sauce, and white beans.
- Bring the chili to a simmer and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes to let the flavors come together.
Instructions for Oven Baked Blue Cheese Tortilla Chips
- Lay a single layer of tortilla chips (use plain, blue tortilla chips, or any color tortilla chips) on a baking sheet and crumble blue cheese over the top of it.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and then put the oven onto its broil setting. Broil the chips for 2-4 minutes – or until the chips begin to brown and the blue cheese crumbles melt.
- Serve immediatley with hot buffalo chicken chili.
Tips & Tricks
- Spice up your soup slowly. Add in spices and taste. Add more if you’d like. It’s easier to add spice than take it away!
- If you happen to get it too spicy, add some honey to cool down the spice.
Substitutions
If you don’t have ground chicken, ground turkey works just as good. Turns out, turkey buffalo chili is delicious, too!
The original recipe didn’t call for white kidney beans, so don’t worry if you don’t have any to add to the rest of the ingredients.
If you don’t have diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes work as well.
Smoked paprika could be used instead of chipotle chili powder.
To make chicken broth, I stir 2 1/2 teaspoons chicken boullion powder into 2 cups of very hot (or boiling) water.
Add in 3 ribs of diced celery along with the other vegetables if you’d like. It’s delicious in it, too.
Blue corn tortillas are a pretty and colorful option for the baked tortilla chips with blue cheese melted on top.
How to Adapt Buffalo Chicken Chili for Dinner for Two
Now that it is just the two of us at home, it’s sometimes a trick to figure out easy dinner recipes for two. This soup recipe is perfect!
I make the full recipe, and if we don’t want leftovers of it for the next few days, I portion it into freezer ziploc bags or a freezer safe container and freeze it.
When we want to use it for another meal, I take it out of the freezer and either thaw and heat it in the microwave, or put it in the crock pot on low for the day.
Equipment
I love my cast iron coated dutch oven for this recipe. And, since I like to reheat soup in the crock pot for an easy dinner idea, it is also an important piece of my kitchen tools.
(Don’t forget to check out my Amazon storefront for some of my favorite kitchen tools!)
Favorite Tools for making Soup Recipes
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How do I store soup and chili?
Transfer the soup into an airtight container with a tight fitting lid within 2 hours of making the soup. It will keep in the fridge for a few days.
If you want to store this soup recipe for longer than 2 days, place it in a container with a tight fitting lid, or a freezer ziploc bag and freeze it.
Related Soup Recipes:
- White Chicken Chili
- Taco Soup
- Tortillini Soup
- Bring Olive Garden to Your Home Kitchen with this Comforting Chicken Gnocchi Soup Recipe
- Creamy Curried Carrot Soup
- Spicy Pumpkin Soup
- Turkey Pumpkin Chili
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Buffalo Chicken Chili
nspired by spicy buffalo chicken wings and buffalo wing sauce, this spicy chili recipe is loaded with spice and perfect for a cold night. Using ground chicken and hot sauce along with some chopped vegetables, it’s an easy recipe and meal idea served with warm tortilla chips with melted blue cheese crumbles.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 2 large carrots, diced finely
- 1 large onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp chipolte chili powder
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1/4-1/2 cup red hot sauce, use as much or as little as you like!
- 28 ounces diced tomatoes
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 can white kidney or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 bag tortilla chips, any color
- 1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- Place a large pot over medium high heat and add in the olive oil and butter. When the butter melts, add in the ground chicken. Break up the meat with a turner and cook until the meat browns and no red is showing.
- Add the diced carrots and onions to the pan and saute until the onions start to turn clear and the carrots soften – about 5 minutes. Add in garlic and spices and saute until fragrant. Salt and pepper to taste
- Add in the chicken broth and stir to release browned bits on the bottom of the pan.Pour in the tomatoe sauce, diced tomatoes, hot sauce, and white beans.Bring the chili to a simmer and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes to let the flavors come together.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
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