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This irresistibly creamy buffalo chicken soup recipe is a fun and different way to enjoy your favorite hot wing flavors! It’s the perfect game day grub. Blue cheese is optional.
If you like the sound of this, try my Buffalo Chicken Dip, Buffalo Chicken Casserole, and Buffalo Chicken Meatballs as well.
Why you’ll love it
This 35-minute buffalo chicken soup is all about big flavor and easy to make. I used Frank’s Red Hot (the classic hot sauce that you find in buffalo sauce), a little butter (also found in buffalo sauce), chicken (of course), and then I deliberated on what else to include.
I decided on cream cheese and ranch seasoning because it balances the spiciness and conjures up the yummy cooling tangy ranch dip that often comes with hot wings. This combo in soup form may sound a little odd, but it’s amazing! I even included carrots and celery in this soup because they usually come with hot wings. See what I did there?
Is it spicy?
I wouldn’t call this soup crazy spicy or anything (it has a little kick), but there’s always potential to add more heat if needed. My spice level tolerance isn’t high, and I didn’t think it was too spicy. Start with the suggested 1/4 cup of Frank’s Red Hot, and build it up from there if you want more heat.
What you’ll need
- Olive oil and butter – for sautéing
- Onion, celery, and carrots – a great base for many soups. I like using Vidalia (sweet) onions.
- Flour – for thickening up the broth
- Ranch seasoning – for that zesty, cooling quality. I use Hidden Valley.
- Chicken broth – more savory depth
- Hot sauce – Frank’s Red Hot original is the gold standard for hot wings
- Chicken – we’re using boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Cream cheese – it makes the broth irresistibly creamy and mellows everything out
- Garnish – I use scallions for a pop of freshness and a crumble of blue cheese for the purists out there. The blue cheese is totally optional since a lot of people aren’t fans of it, however!
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- I use a Le Creuset Dutch oven to make this soup recipe, and a sturdy ladle makes it easier to dish it up with less spilling.
- Store the other half of your onion in the fridge in a handy onion saver.
- Use a sharp chef’s knife for easily chopping up the veggies and chicken.
How to make buffalo chicken soup
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Take the cream cheese out of the fridge. Sauté the onion, celery, and carrots until softened. Stir in the flour and ranch seasoning, and then pour in the broth and hot sauce.
Add in the chicken, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer with the lid slightly open. Take the chicken out, and cut it up. Meanwhile, add in the cream cheese and stir until melted in.
Put the cut-up chicken into the pot, and simmer until it’s cooked through. Give the soup a taste, and season with salt & pepper as needed. Garnish with the scallions and blue cheese if desired.
Substitutions and variations
- You can definitely add more hot sauce at the end if it’s not spicy enough for ya!
- You could try subbing the ranch packet for ranch or blue cheese salad dressing (but I haven’t tested this, so you’d have to experiment). There are also plenty of recipes out there for homemade ranch seasoning if you can’t find any in stores.
- Chicken thighs would work too in this recipe instead! I’d cook them for a few minutes more since they take a bit longer to become tender and are more difficult to overcook.
What to serve with buffalo chicken soup
- It’s a hearty soup, so a slice of fresh crusty bread on the side or a dinner roll is all you need.
- You can’t go wrong pairing it with hot and melty Extra Cheesy Garlic Bread, though!
- Craving soup and salad? Make my Homemade Ranch Dressing with spring mix or a big Caesar salad with my 10-Minute Caesar Dressing.
Leftovers and storage
- Store leftovers of this easy buffalo chicken soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Reheat in a saucepan slowly and over a low heat for best results.
- While it’s not my preference, you could freeze this soup. Be aware that the texture may get a little grainy, but it’ll still taste good.
If you gave this buffalo chicken soup recipe a try, please leave a star rating and review below! Tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram so I can see your creations.
Buffalo Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 2 sticks celery chopped small
- 2 medium carrots peeled & chopped small
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 (1 ounce) packet ranch seasoning (I used Hidden Valley)
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Original Sauce
- 1.5 pounds uncooked chicken breasts see note
- 8 ounces cream cheese (I used a block of Philly) see note
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Garnish (optional): crumbled blue cheese, chopped scallions
Instructions
- Add the oil + butter to a pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions, celery, and carrots for about 7 minutes.
- Stir in the flour and ranch seasoning, followed by the chicken broth and Frank's Red Hot.
- Add the chicken breasts (no need to cut them up) to the pot. Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once it's boiling, reduce the heat so the soup is simmering. Cover with the lid slightly open, and let it cook for 12 minutes. If the chicken isn't fully submerged, you may want to flip it over halfway through cooking.
- Take the chicken out of the pot and place it on a cutting board. Meanwhile, add the cream cheese to the soup. Cut up the chicken. It should be mostly cooked, but if it's not quite done yet, that's fine. You may need to give the cream cheese a helping hand with your spoon. Add the cut-up chicken into the soup once the cream cheese is incorporated.
- If the chicken isn't quite cooked, let it cook for a few more minutes. Season the soup with salt & pepper as needed. Serve and garnish as desired. If you love blue cheese, you can stir some right into the soup prior to dishing it up.
Notes
- 1.5 pounds chicken works out to two fairly large boneless skinless chicken breasts. You don’t have to be exact with this recipe, and you could even add more chicken than suggested. Feel free to use chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts (I’d use 6 small boneless skinless thighs). I’d then cook the chicken for 15 minutes.
- The cream cheese for this recipe should be super soft so it melts into the soup more easily. I recommend taking it out of the fridge prior to starting the recipe and then microwaving it in 20-30 second intervals until it’s very soft.
- This soup isn’t crazy spicy as written. You can add more Frank’s Red Hot Sauce in at the end if it’s not hot enough for you.
- This recipe is also in the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally published on September 28, 2019. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
Made this tonight for my family! Husband and kids all loved it and so did I. It is creamy, full of flavor, easy to make… just so good!! I dipped my kids soup out before I added the Frank’s Red Hot since they don’t like spice and then I added it in for my husband and I. It was absolutely just as delicious without the Frank’s as it was with it! Will make this again!
Yay!! I’m so happy everyone liked it!
About how many cups or ounces of soup would this make?
Thanks!
Hi Sarah! I honestly don’t know. The nutrition info is for 1/6 of the recipe. I provide that info as a courtesy to give a rough idea of calories, but I am not a trained nutritionist and I don’t know what that equates to in cups/oz/etc. unfortunately.
Made this tonight and it won’t be the last time
So happy with it
I used 1/3 cup of Buffalo sauce
2 Tbsps of flour and 6 cups of homemade chicken broth
Delicious doesn’t do it justice
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Jodi!!! 🙂 Thanks for your review.
Will be trying this for our super bowl party! Looks amazing. Hows the consistency of it, is it thick like a broccoli cheddar soup, or it is more brothy? Has anyone had success adding extra cheese, such as a sharp cheddar or Colby jack? My family prefers a really thick cheese soup 🙂 Thank you!
Hi! It’s fairly brothy. I think you could probably make a roux and/or add in more cheese at the end. Or add in a little more flour, but in that case I’d probably just do a roux.
It’s a great recipe and I’m definitely making it for the super bowl. I doubled up in on the mirepoix and also let it simmer for a while after I cooked it and it thickened up nicely. Just keep an eye on the soup so it doesn’t burn or stick to the pot.
Excellent!
Can I do this with precooked chicken and just skip step 4?
Sure! I think others have done that.
This is my new favorite soup recipe! I made 2 incredibly slight alterations (homemade ranch seasoning and 1/3 less fat cream cheese) and OMG it’s amazing!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe, I am set for the week now!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Jenny!! 🙂
Made this for dinner tonight while we watch the game and it was delicious! I baked some honey cornbread to go along with it and the sweet and spicy paired perfectly. I’m thinking I’ll turn the cornbread into croutons to add right into the leftovers.
I chose to shred the chicken before adding it it back to get the pot and definitely glad I did! Seems like there’s so much more to go around that way!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Cristal! Thanks for your review! 🙂
Looks amazing. Do you think I could do it in a slow cooker? Would I add the cream cheese towards the end?
Yup, that’s what I would do. 🙂
Kristen, did you try making this in the slow cooker? I’m planning to make this tomorrow but would prefer to do in the slow cooker.
Absolutely delicious! Whole family loved it! No leftovers at all. I’ll make this on repeat! Thank you!
Fantastic!! Thanks, Laura!
I had thawed a package of ground chicken and came across this recipe. I love finding a recipe that has normal ingredients that are stocked in the kitchen. This was a home run!! I added shredded cheddar to the top of our bowls and served w hot croissants. The whole family loved it! Will be making it over and over thank you!
I’m so pleased it was a hit!! 🙂 Thanks for your review, Tanya!