Elina's Buffalo Chicken Dip

Do you know who makes the best snacks? Youth group leaders' wives, that's who! I mean, come on, when you're constantly around young people who are always hungry, you learn a thing or two about keeping them happy by feeding them. Plus, you make your husband look good because everyone wants to hang out at your place. If you feed them, they will come.

My sister, Elina, is an expert in this department. She's had many years of practice as a youth group leader's wife. Not only does she make the best desserts, I'm talking about cupcakes, cookies, cakes rolls, etc., but one of her specialties is this Buffalo Chicken Dip. It's creamy, cheesy and tastes like a buffalo chicken wing. What's not to like? Plus, you don't have to deal with the bones. The dip also has Ranch dressing and blue cheese in it, so it's all the best features of chicken wings mixed into one awesome, hot dip. Serve it with celery and it's the whole package. We also like it with chips, carrot sticks, cauliflower and cherry tomatoes.

If you make this for teenagers, you won't have any leftovers, but if you make it for a small family, you can spread the dip in between some tortillas and cook it in a skillet to make some really awesome Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas. You know what else is great? This appetizer takes about 10 minutes to make, and that's really important if you have 3 little children like Elina does. She is a superwoman, of course. 
Ingredients:

1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened

16 oz. sour cream (2 cups)

1 cup creamy salad dressing (Ranch, Blue Cheese, Green Goddess, etc.)

2 ½ - 3 cups shredded cooked chicken

2 cups shredded cheese (I usually use a mixture of Mozzarella and Parmesan)

½ cup crumbled blue cheese

½ cup Buffalo hot sauce (more or less to taste)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sour cream and salad dressing until smooth. If the cream cheese is softened, you shouldn't have any trouble mixing it. You can also use a standing mixer or a hand mixer. Fold in the chicken and cheeses. You can use leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken for a shortcut. 

Add the buffalo sauce, tasting it and adding more or less, depending on hot hot you want it to be. I love Frank's hot sauce. They sell small 5 oz bottles, so if you don't usually use hot sauce, you can just buy that and use the entire bottle. It's a tad bit more than the recipe calls for, but it's not too spicy at all.

At this point, taste it for seasoning and add salt if you want to. I usually don't.

Scoop out the mixture into a 2 quart sized baking dish. Bake, uncovered, in the 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven, for 30 - 40 minutes, until bubbly. Serve with tortilla chips or a mixture of vegetables, such as celery or carrots sticks, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, etc.

You can prep the Buffalo Chicken Dip ahead of time, store it in the refrigerator and then bake it when you're ready to serve it. Bring the cold mixture to room temperature before baking it.