Easy Buffalo Chicken Chili
on Sep 25, 2025
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This chili delivers bold, tangy Buffalo sauce flavor with creamy white beans and tender chicken, and it’s all made in one pot. Ready in under an hour (or totally hands-off in the slow cooker), it’s perfect for busy weeknights, crowd-pleasing dinners, or game-day parties. Leftovers? Even better the next day.
If you’ve ever wanted all the spicy, tangy kick of Buffalo wings in a cozy spoon-friendly bowl, this Buffalo Chicken and White Bean Chili is going to be your new obsession (it’s mine!). The recipe combines tender chicken, mild white beans, and a rich, Buffalo-sauce-spiked broth into an easy one-pot meal.
Give it an hour (or let your slow cooker do the work) and the result is a hearty chicken chili, perfect for cozy dinners or game-day festivities. Also, think of this for tailgating!
What's In This Post?
What Makes This Chili Awesome
- White beans provide a creamy body without any cream or dairy.
- Buffalo sauce provides that addictive tang.
- One pot means less cleanup.
- This chili is super high in protein.
- Great make-ahead meal: This gets even better after a day or two.
Ingredients
If you’ve picked up some chicken breasts, you probably have the rest of these ingredients in your fridge or pantry! You can serve this with brown or white rice if you like.
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- Chicken – The recipe calls for diced chicken breasts, though you can use other boneless chicken pieces (like chicken thighs), or even ground chicken or turkey (see Variations below for tips).
- Onion, carrots, and celery – A perfect base of flavor.
- Garlic – Be sure to mince the garlic.
- Chili powder and paprika – Along with salt and pepper, these seasonings amplify the flavors in the chili.
- Chicken broth – Try to use less-sodium broth so you can control the salt.
- Frank’s Red Hot Sauce – The key ingredient that makes a Buffalo wing a Buffalo wing, in many people’s opinion (including mine). The sauce has that perfect balance of cayenne peppers and vinegar; just the smell alone makes your mouth water.
- White beans – Dealer’s choice! Any white beans work. Try cannellini, navy, Great Northern, or whatever you like. I most often used canned beans, but have at it if you want to pre-cook dried beans for this recipe.
Serving Suggestions and Topping Ideas
All of the classic chili toppings are great here: sour cream, shredded cheese, guacamole or diced avocado, salsa, chopped onions or scallions, and so on!
If you have leftovers, scoop some onto nachos! Or make chili quesadillas.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken and White Bean Chili
- Sauté the aromatics: In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil, then sauté the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic until they’re tender.
- Add broth and season: Stir in the chili powder, paprika, salt, and pepper, then pour in the broth and hot sauce.
- Add beans and chicken: Stir in the beans and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken and simmer for 15 minutes, adjusting the seasonings as needed.
- Serve hot in bowls with all of your desired garnishes.
Variations
You can also make this with ground chicken or ground turkey, which saves you from dicing the chicken breasts. If so, add the ground meat just after sautéing the vegetables and allow it to get cooked through and crumbly before adding the liquids.
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Chili
To make this in a slow cooker, you can simply add all of the chopped vegetables, diced chicken, beans, broth, spices, and hot sauce to your crockpot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours until the chicken is cooked through and tender, and the flavors have melded.
Buffalo Chicken and White Bean Chili Questions, Answered!
Add more hot sauce if desired, or some cayenne pepper.
It’s already dairy-free and gluten-free! Just be careful with your toppings to stick to those dietary guidelines.
Yes, you can — just shred or dice, and add in place of the raw chicken so it becomes nicely seasoned in the chili.
Leftovers will last for 5 days in the fridge. You can freeze the chili for up to 6 months.
What to Serve With Buffalo Chicken Chili
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Easy Buffalo Chicken and White Bean Chili (in an hour!)
Ingredients
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 3 large carrots (peeled and chopped)
- 3 stalks celery (chopped)
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 cup chicken broth (preferably less-sodium)
- ⅓ cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
- 2 (15-ounce) cans white beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 pound diced boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
To Serve (Pick and Choose)
- Shredded cheese, chopped tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole or diced avocado, chopped onions or scallions, cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes until the vegetables start to become tender.
- Stir in the chili powder, paprika, salt, and pepper, then pour in the broth and hot sauce and stir in the beans. Bring to a simmer, then add the chicken and simmer for another 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
- Serve hot in bowls with all of the desired garnishes.
Excellent flavors! I would have given it 5 stars, but the cook time for the veggies is way too short. Easy to fix, though. Thanks for an easy and tasty dish!
I made this Sunday. It is delicious. I upped the spices, and added cumin. As with most chilis, the flavor really develops after it sits for 24 hours. I will make it again. It is easy to sneak extra veggies in this too. I added minced mushrooms and diced zucchini. Thanks for a great recipe.
Fantastic!