Lightened Up Buffalo Chicken Dip

It’s Super Bowl Sunday!! Today is what I like to refer to as Trashy Thanksgiving. Wings, dips, chips, pizza, ribs…all the things you love but know you shouldn’t eat all of the time. In an effort to save some calories, I wanted to provide a quick and easy recipe for Buffalo Chicken dip that delivers ALL of the flavor, with less of the guilt!

For me, Buffalo Chicken dip is one of those things that everyone loves for some reason. Probably because it’s cheesy and spicy and delicious! It’s one of those things I used to just say I’d bite the bullet and eat, regardless of the calories, but I wanted to stop using that excuse and find some ways to cut calories and make it lighter. Even still, this dip is cheesy, spicy, creamy and impossible to stop eating!

Starting with roasted chicken, this recipe ensures that the meat in here isn’t just filler, but a flavor producer that you can actually identify (unlike canned chicken breast). Then we go with reduced fat cream cheese which not only has 1/3 less calories than full fat cream cheese, but also more calcium per serving too! In total, this dip will make about 12, ¼ cup servings that all come in under 200 calories!! I served mine with endives and homemade tortilla chips to keep the calories low, but you can serve with other veggies as well.

Enjoy this today as you cheer on your favorite team (or commercials like me), or add to your arsenal and whip out this recipe for any gathering!!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Author: Monique Manning

Servings: 8 ¼ c servings

Nutrition: 173 calories, 13.2g fat, 2.7g carbs, 11.4g protein

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic, grated or minced finely

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• 1 8 oz package reduced fat cream cheese

• 1/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

• 2 oz cheddar cheese, grated

• 2 oz mozzarella, grated

• 1 1/2 cup shredded, roasted chicken Breast

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• 1/2 tsp pepper

Method:

1. Next, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. When oil flows throughout skillet easily, add in garlic and cook until fragrant.

2. Next, add in cream cheese and hot sauce and stir continuously to melt cream cheese. When cream cheese is almost completely melted, add 2/3 of the cheese and melt. If necessary, add cheese in batches to get it fully incorporated. Add in spices and stir to combine.

3. Next add in chicken and toss to fully coat. Make sure that all of the chicken is coated in the mixture to prevent it from drying out while baking. Taste mixture and adjust for seasonings.

4. At this point, if your skillet is not oven safe, transfer mixture into a greased baking dish and top with remaining cheese. If your skillet is oven safe, simply add cheese to mixture while in pan.

5. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until mixture is bub-bling and cheese is slightly browned on top.

6. If desired, sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles and serve hot