Buffalo Chicken Soup

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 the heck else to include in the recipe.

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?

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! 

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 for 12 minutes. 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

• Don’t be shy… 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.