With the Super Bowl this weekend, I thought you might need a good recipe to the watch party! Whether you’re joining friends or watching at home, this one is packed with flavor and will satisfy anyone who tries it. I made this, gave some out and it was well received.. and damn good. Smoked. Bacon. Chicken. Buffalo. Ranch. There’s a lot going on – I was hesitant thinking it might be too much. But it was not. Read along, steal the recipe and get ready for the game!
The Prep Table
Naturally, my Jack cheese of choice was going to be hot. Found this Ghost Pepper Jack cheese and thought – perfect. We’re going to hot brine the bird, smoke it with the bacon and throw it all together. This is going to be fun. To prepare, we’re going to get the shred out of the way. MrsForensicBBQ doesn’t buy the pre-shred anymore.. Me? I’m okay with it – but there is something to shredding it at home.
Sixteen (16) ounces of cheese shredded up – and you can get the veg done while we’re prepping. Cilantro, onion, and jalapeno is what I went with to top it at the end, but make it your own!
While I could’ve put the brine up here in the prep table, it’s more along the lines of the process – so we’re going to push it below.
The Process
Pretty simple brine – brown sugar, sea salt and hot sauce. I can’t help myself – always have to do hot sauce. Dissolve a cup of brown sugar, half a cup of salt and maybe a half cup of hot sauce. I had these small sauce bottles on hand, so I used ’em up. Once dissolved, make sure the bird is completely in the water and let it soak overnight.
I like to spatchcock the bird – makes for an even cook. I used my own “bird” rub to dress it up after the bath and it was ready to smoke! I know my bacon is always 225F for 2 hours – The bird I wanted a little bit higher so the bacon had to adapt to the way I was cooking the bird. I went a little bit higher – like 250F and cooked until the bacon was slightly crispy, but more importantly the bird was 160F breast/170F thigh.
Looking damn good already.. but we’re just getting started.
The Result
Bird is cooked, but now it’s time to get into chicken dip mode. I upped the RecTeq to 350F and of course lopped off the wings and ate them as is. SO juicy, such a treat. I could’ve high-heated the skin a bit to make it more bite-through.. but we’re shredding the bird anyway and it wasn’t a big deal. If the chicken was this good, this dish was only going to get better.
You saw I had diced the bacon earlier – This was also when I decided to prepare my toppers (the jalapeno, cilantro, onion). I didn’t know then how I wanted it topped.. but after it was made – I confirmed what I cooked.
Putting it all together – grab your dutch oven and throw in the cream cheese, sour cream, hot sauce and ranch packet. If you have a stand mixer – I suggest you use it for this step. I wanted to use my MrsForensicBBQ-purchased pig spatula.. so I went with elbow grease. Once that’s all good and combined, add your chicken and cheese, and mix it up! Top it with some blue cheese and your bacon and let’s go!
Couldn’t wait to see how this was going to taste coming out of the RecTeq! We’re throwing heat on this thing for about 20 minutes. I went closer to 30.. was looking for the mix to bubble and the color to start browning. Check every five minutes or so after twenty minutes and you’ll know when it’s good!
Once you get that color, give it a little mix and throw your toppers on there! Jalapeno, Cilantro and Onion for me.. and get eating! I used these little naan bread dippers and it was fantastic!
Whether you’re rooting for Kansas City or Philadelphia this Sunday – one thing is for sure, this dish will be the winner of the day! If you give it a try, let us know!
The Recipe
Smoked Buffalo Chicken Dip
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Smoked Chicken (ish) shredded
- 8 oz Cream Cheese softened
- 1 Cup Hot Sauce (Wing sauce)
- 16 oz Shredded cheese (Hot)
- 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
- 1 Packet Ranch Seasoning
- 6 Strips Bacon Crumbled
- 2 oz Bleu Cheese Crumbles
Topper
- 1 Tbsp Red Onion Minced
- 1 Tbsp Cilantro Rough Chopped
- 1 Jalapeno Sliced
Brine
- 1 Gal Water
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Hot Sauce
- 1/2 Cup Sea Salt
Instructions
Bird
- Dissolve the brown sugar, salt in a gallon of water and mix in the hot sauce. Throw the bird in and let it brine overnight.
- Heat the RecTeq to 250F. Spatchcock the bird and throw your favorite bird rub on there.
- Throw 6 strips of bacon on a frog mat and add it to your RecTeq while the bird cooks.
- Cook for 2.5-3hr.. until your bird reaches an internal temp breast 160/thigh 170F. The bacon will finish far quicker, so keep an eye on the bacon.
Dip
- Up the RecTeq to 350. Shred the bird when cooled (I ate the wings separately.. I was hungry and deserved it). Crumble or slice/dice the bacon.
- I mixed everything in the dutch oven, but if you're fancier than me – use a stand mixer and combine cream cheese, sour cream, ranch seasoning, and hot sauce.
- Fold in the cheese and shredded chicken. Transfer to an ovenproof dish (if you had it separately) and top with blue cheese (?) and crumbled bacon.
- Throw the dutch oven directly on the grates and cook until it's starting to bubble and the top is starting to grab color. For me, it was closer to 30min.. I'd check every 5 minutes after the 15 minute mark.
- Give it a mix and top it with your favorites! For me, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno.
- Enjoy!