Photo by Stacy Zarin Goldberg for The Washington Post via Getty Images; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post via Getty Images. Pictured: Buffalo chicken dip
The Super Bowl offers everything that is right in this world: games, sports betting, booze and food — including dips as far as the eye can see.
Everybody has their favorite dip, whether it’s guacamole, salsa, taco dip or that delightful cheeseburger dip served in a crock pot. But in my mind, buffalo chicken dip is the one that reigns supreme.
While we can certainly argue about what is the top dip, that’s not the point of this article.
I think we can all agree that buffalo chicken dip is amazing and, at the very least, owns real estate on the Mount Rushmore of dips. But the problem is that most people have been making it wrong, screwing up something so beautiful, like putting pineapple on pizza or listening to John Mayer on purpose.
Here’s the correct way to make buffalo chicken dip for any party, especially one as important as the Super Bowl.
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Super Bowl Food Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Dip
The basic recipe for buffalo chicken dip is quite simple, and I mostly follow the one listed on bottles of Frank’s RedHot:
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 package cream cheese
- 1/2 cup of hot sauce
- 1/2 cup of ranch dressing
- 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
I’m not crazy about blue cheese, especially since there’s the dressing GOAT, ranch, already included, so I substitute shredded cheddar, which is also popular in most buffalo chicken dip recipes, for blue cheese.
Now, the recipe says mix ALL ingredients in a large bowl, then bake. It does not say mix MOST ingredients in a large bowl, bake, then at the last minute melt shredded cheese on top before serving.
But many recipes still call for the sprinkled-cheese disaster. The VERY FIRST result when you Google “buffalo chicken dip recipe” includes such phrases as “sprinkle with cheese,” “bake uncovered” and “until cheese is melted.”
Why do people insist on doing this? The second that cheese starts cooling it transforms into a layer of concrete blocking your tortilla chip from the deliciousness that lies beneath.
If you’re among friends and/or family and see this dip, just take a seat and watch. Over and over people try to pierce the cheese armor, which obviously results in their chip shattering, forcing them to drag that misshapen nub of a tortilla through the dip down to their knuckles.
And don’t even get me started on whether people drinking during the Super Bowl are washing their hands properly.
You might as well do everyone a favor and right when that dip is served, Gronk spike the bag of chips, stomp on it a few times, then serve.
Buffalo chicken dip is a beautiful thing, just don’t eff it up.
