Dairy Free Buffalo Chicken Dip (No Expensive Substitutes!)

A dish full of dairy free buffalo chicken dip next to some crackers.

Football is officially starting up, and that means it’s time for all the game day snacks.  Most dips are tough if you’re on a dairy free diet, because many contain cream cheese or cheese.  But with this dairy free buffalo chicken dip, you get all the rich indulgent flavor with none of the dairy!

Plus, this recipe uses no expensive dairy-free cheese substitutions. It’s made with staples you likely already have on hand.

Note: This post was first published in 2018. It has been updated in 2023.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn a commission on qualifying purchases.

Ingredients

Here’s a photo of everything you’ll need to make this recipe – just 3 main ingredients and 4 seasonings! – along with ingredient notes:

Cooked chicken, mayo, hot sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
  • Mayonnaise – This is the secret ingredient for a creamy buffalo chicken dip without any expensive dairy substitutes! Yes, I know it sounds kind of gross.  A dip with a bunch of mayo – for real?  But I promise, it tastes amazing. The mayo mixes together with the buffalo sauce to create that indulgent flavor you’re craving.
  • Cooked chicken – You can make plain shredded chicken ahead of time, or if you know of a store that sells a safe rotisserie chicken, you can use that. You can also simply bake chicken breasts and chop them up instead of shredding the chicken. This recipe is flexible.
  • Frank’s Red Hot Original – The classic hot sauce for making buffalo chicken dip! You can use another hot sauce if you prefer; this is simply always my go-to. Note that I use the original version, not the buffalo sauce version.
  • Seasonings – This recipe is seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

Instructions

You’ll find full instructions and ingredient amounts in the recipe card below, but here’s a helpful overview with photos. Luckily, this recipe is crazy simple!

Start by mixing together all the ingredients in a bowl – the cooked chicken, hot sauce, mayo, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.

A glass mixing bowl with all the dip ingredients combined together.

Dump that into a casserole dish. Pop the dish in the oven, bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, and boom – your dip is ready to serve.

A spoonful of dairy free buffalo chicken dip.

Recipe FAQ

Here are some common questions that may arise as you prepare this recipe:

How should you store leftover dairy free buffalo chicken dip?

Store leftovers in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave when ready to enjoy leftovers.

Can you freeze dairy free buffalo chicken dip?

It’s not recommended to freeze this recipe, as mayonnaise can change texture upon thawing. However, you can always make shredded chicken in advance and freeze it, then thaw that and use it to quickly prepare the dip.

Can you use canned chicken instead of regular cooked chicken?

Canned chicken sometimes carries a slightly different flavor. While it can be used for dip, the flavor of the dip tends to be best with fresh cooked shredded chicken.

Allergens in this recipe

Disclaimer:  Always double check ingredients and labels yourself prior to making a recipe.  While I try to check all ingredients for allergens, there’s always the chance I may miss something, or manufacturer formulations can change.

As written, this buffalo chicken dip is dairy free, peanut free, and tree nut free.

This product does contain eggs in the mayonnaise. However, you can easily make this egg-free by using a vegan mayo like Hellman’s vegan mayo or Chosen Foods Vegan Mayo. I’ve used Hellman’s vegan mayo several times to make this recipe as we have a friend with an egg allergy, and it’s come out great.

This recipe may contain soy or wheat/gluten depending on your choice of mayo and hot sauce. At the time of publish, Frank’s Red Hot did not contain either of these ingredients. You’ll need to look at the brand of mayo you’re using to confirm it does not contain these ingredients (wheat/gluten is unlikely in mayo, but some contain soy).

A woman's hand holding a cracker that has scooped up some dairy free buffalo chicken dip.

What to serve with this dip

My go-to is the standard pairing of crackers.  Despite their buttery taste, most crackers on the market these days are surprisingly dairy free (but of course, product formulations can change so always double check the label prior to eating any of these).

For example, at the time of this post, the following varieties were all dairy free:

You can also serve this dairy free buffalo chicken dip with:

  • Homemade French bread (either regular or gluten-free)
  • Celery sticks
  • Carrot sticks
  • Sliced cucumbers
  • Zucchini sticks
  • Sliced bell peppers
A plate with crackers, celery, and dairy free buffalo chicken dip.

More Dairy Free Appetizers

If you’re looking for some other tasty dairy free appetizers and finger food to serve at parties or for game day snacks, try one of these ideas:

I hope you enjoy this dip as much as I do – and if you do, be sure to leave a comment or rate the recipe! 🙂

5 from 14 votes
Print

Dairy Free Buffalo Chicken Dip

Whether you’re looking for a game day snack or a party appetizer, this dairy free buffalo chicken dip has all of the tasty flavor – with none of the dairy!

Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword dairy free buffalo chicken dip, dairy free dip
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 180 kcal
Author Dairy Free for Baby

Ingredients

  • 2 ¾ cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or chopped
  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • ½ cup Frank's Red Hot (or another hot sauce)
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

  2. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Pour into a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until mixture is hot and bubbly.

  3. Let cool for a few minutes and then serve with crackers, celery, or other desired items!

Recipe Notes

Notes:

  • You can use any cooked chicken that meets your needs. I generally just take extra plain chicken that I made for another recipe, chop it up well, and use that.
  • The mixture may look a little oily when you take it out of the oven; that’s OK.  It won’t taste oily.

 

Nutrition analysis (approximate per serving):  180 calories, 12.5 g fat, 770 mg sodium, 0.5 g carbohydrate, 15 g protein, Vitamin D: 0%, Calcium: 1%, Iron: 4%, Potassium: 3%

Share with me:  What’s your favorite game day snack or party appetizer?  If you made this recipe, what did you think?

Feel free to pin this post to save for later!

Dairy free buffalo chicken dip on a cracker, with a text overlay with the name of the recipe.

40 thoughts on “Dairy Free Buffalo Chicken Dip (No Expensive Substitutes!)”

  1. Pingback: Dairy Free Spinach Artichoke Dip - Dairy Free for Baby

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  3. 5 stars
    This looks so good. I may try dairy free blue cheese dressing instead of mayo. I love, love, love blue cheese on chicken wings, so I think adding it to this dip would work for me. Maybe a combination of mayo and blue cheese dressing. I have tried Daiya blue cheese dressing on chicken wings and really like it. Thanks for the recipe.

    1. Hi Ellen! I hope you got a chance to try the dip! Love your idea of adding the Daiya blue cheese dressing to it 🙂

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  5. Looks delish! If I wanted to add cashew cheese, would you completely replace the mayo, half the mayo with the cheese or simply add the cashew cheese to the original recipe? Thanks!!

    1. Great question! I’d personally try 1/2 and 1/2 to start with, and then modify from there. If you give it a whirl, let me know how it turns out!

      1. I’m so excited to make this tomorrow as my husband is dairy free. I was thinking of using Frank’s buffalo sauce instead of hot sauce. Any thoughts??
        Thank you!

        1. Hi Kelly! Sorry I missed this comment – hopefully you were able to give it a whirl! I think Frank’s buffalo sauce would work just fine. If I’m remembering correctly, the buffalo contains “natural butter type flavor” but I *believe* it’s non-dairy sources. Might be worth a quick email to the company though just to double check. 🙂

  6. 5 stars
    I have never been the cooking type, but I found out I have Celiacs and a dairy allergy! So I decided to start cooking, and found this recipe. This is AMAZING. I’ll personally use less hot sauce next time because I’m a wuss 😂😂😂 but it was absolutely perfect the way it was. Thanks!!!

    1. Aw, thanks so much for the kind words Jessie!! So glad to hear you enjoyed it (even if it was a bit too spicy for ya, haha!) 🙂

  7. Pingback: 14 Mouthwatering Dairy Free Appetizers - Dairy Free for Baby

  8. 5 stars
    This recipe is spot on! Our new favorite. I use Veganaise due to a variety of allergens and it comes out perfect!! I can’t wait to use it to make a buffalo chicken pizza

  9. Elizabeth Collins

    A friend made this for me and it was delicious. I wouldn’t change a thing except to maybe double. Ha ha. I can’t wait to make it again. Seite makes a grain free chip that is great with it.

    1. Chrissy Carroll

      Awesome! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂 And yes, I LOVE Seite chips. Their dairy free queso is awesome too if you haven’t tried it yet.

  10. 5 stars
    Great recipe! I made two serving for a family cook out and everyone loved it! I used vegan mayo and slow cooked the chicken because I preferred it have more of a shredded texture. It was so good!

      1. 5 stars
        We are newly dairy free and this was great! I threw a handful of vegan cheese shreds on top for extra taste but even without that it was still great.

  11. 5 stars
    Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.

  12. 5 stars
    Thank you sooo much for sharing this recipe! I’m have been dairy free for about 5 yrs and I been trying to find dip recipes that I can eat. This is amazing and taste just like regular Buffalo chicken dip!!

  13. Love this dairy-free recipe!

    Can you tell me what hot sauce you use to get to the 187 mg sodium / serving cited in the nutritional analysis? I use Frank’s Redhot sauce which contains 190 mg / tsp. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup (24 tsps) of hot sauce which equals 4,560 mg sodium. Divided by 8 servings = 570 mg / serving (if using Frank’s).

    1. Sharon – thank you for catching this! I did this recipe analysis a few years ago on an older software, and it appears the generic “hot sauce” entry in the system was missing the sodium input. I just fixed the nutrition analysis in my newer software and updated it above – around 620 mg/serving. 🙂

  14. 5 stars
    love this dip. Taste no different then regular buffalo dip. Dairy free and no heavy icky feeling after eating it. Another plus to dip is making my own mayo with health oil and pasture raised eggs.Thank you for the recipe.

    1. Chrissy Carroll

      I use Frank’s Red Hot and prefer that to Tabasco, but you can definitely use that if it’s what you have on hand!

  15. Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.

  16. 5 stars
    Just tried and it was good! Will definitely help me with my buffalo chicken craving I get! But mine came out runny, Any reason why this happens and tips on how to decrease it?

    1. Chrissy Carroll

      Hi Jessica! I haven’t had many issues with this being runny, but here’s some troubleshooting. 🙂 The brand of mayo may affect the texture – I might try with another brand if you’re having issues. Sometimes it may also seem a little runny right out of the oven, but as it cools a little the form thickens up – so be sure to give it at least 5-10 minutes to cool.

      One other thing you can try if it’s still runny is mixing in a small amount of cornstarch slurry, which can help thicken up the mixture right out of the oven.

      Hope that helps!

    1. I haven’t tried it, but I imagine that would work. I would ensure you’re using a thicker dairy-free ranch (as a thinner dressing may mean the dip gets too liquidy) and start with 1/4 cup mayo and 1/4 cup dressing. If you try it, let me know how it works!

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