Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Chowder
An appetizer reinvented into a fun, spicy and comforting chowder. This slow cooker buffalo chicken chowder is loaded with chicken, potatoes and tons flavor. Perfect for cold weather months.
I made this before Thanksgiving. A full week to be exact. So I’ve been sitting on this recipe for a bit. Sometimes that happens. If you’re a food blogger you understand, if not… well, it happens more than people like to admit sometimes. We cook ahead of holidays. Days, weeks, sometimes even months ahead. People prepare. Now this isn’t the case here, it’s just that I didn’t want to push this recipe on you before or immediately after Thanksgiving.
I hope you’re not sick of chicken and turkey yet. Please don’t say you are because you absolutely need to make this if you like buffalo chicken items. If you do for some awful reason happen to be sick of chicken and turkey at the moment then at the very least bookmark this for later. It’s a perfect easy and fresh slow cooker chowder. A nice updated version with a twist. The twist obviously being the buffalo chicken part. I’ve seen buffalo chicken soups in the past but never chowder so I had to give it a try.
I did some playing around creating my own recipe based on ideas from previous chowders and chilis I’ve made. I did some slight tweaking along the way but had a nice base before I started. It was a success. The Mr (the one who loves buffalo anything) loved it. Spicy, comforting, filling and just down right delicious. It smelled great. Let that be a warning to you if you happen to make this while you’re going to be home for the hours it’s cooking!
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Chowder
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 C russet potatoes
- 3 C boneless chicken breast
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 C yellow onion, chopped
- 1 C celery, chopped
- 1 tsp celery seed, divided
- 1 1/4 tsp salt, divided
- 2 tsp ground black pepper, divided
- 1/8 tsp ground thyme
- 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
- 1/4 C all purpose flour
- 2 C half and half
- 1 C chicken broth
- 1/4 C buffalo sauce
- 2 Tbsp corn starch
- blue cheese crumbles for topping
Instructions
- Prepare vegetables: peel and cube potatoes into bite sized pieces, add to the slow cooker. Chop onion and celery, set aside in a small bowl. Warm a medium skillet over medium heat while trimming and cubing chicken breast into bite size pieces. Add butter or olive oil to skillet. Season chicken with 1/2 tsp celery seed, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Cook chicken until no longer pink and heated through. Just before chicken is completely cooked add onion and celery. Cook until onions are translucent and tender.
- Add chicken and vetegables to the slow cooker. Carefully pour in half and half, chicken broth and buffalo sauce. Gently stir. Remove roughly 1 1/2 cup worth of liquid, add flour to the liquid. Whisk well until smooth. Pour back into the slow cooker. add remaining spices: 1/2 tsp celery seed, 3/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, ground thyme and red pepper flakes. Stir well.
- Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or low for 10. Or until potatoes are tender. To thicken, repeat the process used with flour previously: transfer 1 1/2 cup worth of liquid to a small bowl or measuring cup. Add 1 tbsp corn starch. Mix well. Add back to chowder. Repeat with additional liquid and 1 tbsp corn starch. Stir chowder well after adding liquid back in.
- Divide among bowls. Top off with blue cheese crumbles and a drizzle of buffalo sauce if desired. Serve with celery slices.
Looks perfect! I am a celery girl too so I’m lovin that stalk dipped right in there.
Hey we are with you on the “prepare ahead” thing. It’s kind of like an “incase of emergency break glass” or to give yourself a little buffer.
I loooove buffalo chicken. In dip, on my pizza, in my mac and cheese. I love it. And I love this recipe. I’m absolutely bookmarking this. Rachel doesn’t like Buffalo, so it will be all mine! *evil grin*
Looks like perfect cold weather food!
Sounds so warm and delish……love chowder….think I’ll def. put this on my list of things to try/have in the next few weeks :-)
That looks awesome – so creamy! I think my husband would really love it.
we LOVED buff chicken chili (I think from your site maybe?) so I must try this soon!
It’s possible it was one of mine. I do have one on here! :) Let me know if you end up trying this.
This looks awesome. I love the bleu cheese on top! A must make. Thanks for sharing!
Yummmm! Sounds delicious :)
Sounds great! Question, why are you cooking the chicken ahead of time and then putting in the crock pot? Does it make a difference if you just put the chicken in the pot? It’s gonna cook all the way through in there anyway.
I’ve always done it this way in part to avoid the chicken sticking together while cooking and also to avoid any issues with cross contamination. When I first got a slow cooker I tried looking up info to find out if you could in fact cook raw chicken with other items at the same time – the responses were mixed. So to be safe I’ve just done it this way. Not a huge deal really. I know many probably just throw everything in! :)
I want to make this! But I need to figure out how to do it so the chicken is not cut up…. i’m so weird.
What a fantastic idea! We love all things buffalo here, but I’m a wimp when it comes to heat so I have to keep things tame :)
i love love love buffalo chicken and chowder. BRILLIANT idea to put them together!
Buffalo chicken is always a hit in my house, but I’ve never seen or eaten it this way before…so creative and fun!
Make more of this soon pls kthx. ;)
I love buffalo sauce and this sounds like the perfect cold weather dinner!
Can I ask if it would work to not use the flour and instead us more cornstarch? I can’t have gluten so I try to adapt most recipes.
You should be able to. I’d suggest starting out with 2 tb in place of the flour and then continue with that method at the end as well if it needs additional thickening.
They served a soup similar to this at my work recently and I thought about how I should try to make it at home! Bonus that it is done in the crockpot!
What a creative soup!! I love buffalo everything. Looks delicious. The chili I just posted was actually made over 2 weeks ago…maybe 3? lol
…YES!
This looks amazing! I’m from Buffalo and I can’t wait to try it. Do you know about how many servings this recipe makes? Thanks!
Thanks! :) Depending on the size bowls you use, I’d say 6 servings give or take.
I will be making this tomorrow!
I just stumbled upon this from pinterest and it looks AMAZING! One quick thing, I’m lactose intolerant, so do you think the half&half is vital for the creaminess? Or could I maybe use just lactaid or soy milk in it’s place?
You might want to look into dairy free half and half options. Half and half has a much higher fat content and is much creamier than regular milk so even the dairy free version would be best to use if you can find it.