White Bean Buffalo Dip
Buffalo Dip Without the Chicken
One of my first recipes ever, even before the creation of this blog, was a buffalo chicken dip (or chicken lip dip as I grew up calling it). My first experience with buffalo dip was at a get-together in high school and instantly became obsessed with figuring out how to make it myself. Ever since, I've had a major soft spot for a buffalo dip at a party and love to make variations on the classic. Recently, I had the idea to create a vegetarian version of my classic dip and after a bit of thought, I landed on incorporating white beans. They give great texture and the flavor is subtly earthy, making it a great chicken lip dip alternative if you’re interested in a vegetarian option. This white bean buffalo dip is perfect for your next party, tailgate, movie night in, or after school snack!
Tips For Making This White Bean Buffalo Dip Recipe
If you plan on making this buffalo bean dip, here are a few tips to extra successful:
- The best option for hot sauce when making any type of buffalo dip is Frank’s Red Hot Original (affiliate link). It’s the perfect spice level and is exactly what you expect when eating a buffalo-flavored item. Feel free to use your favorite if you have one, but if you’re making this for the first time I strongly recommend starting with this brand!
- If you don’t have a food processor at home, you can instead mix the ingredients by hand. It will take an additional few minutes, but you’ll ultimately end up with a similar result! If you go this route, use a wooden spoon to smash up the first half of beans into the cream cheese mixture. This will help you gain the best consistency!
- When serving this for a party, you can alternatively warm up the buffalo white bean dip in a slow cooker, instead of baking it in an oven. You’ll follow the same instructions to mix the dip, then add it to the bowl of your slow cooker. Cook on high for 30 minutes, stir, and then top with the ½ cup of cheese. Add the lid back on the slow cooker to have the cheese melt, and then switch your slow cooker to “keep warm”. This will make sure your dip stays warm through your entire party!
Recipe Details
This dip has everything you could be looking for in a party dip. It’s easy to bring together, bakes in a few minutes, and requires very minimal dishes! You’ll have a delicious dish ready to serve up in no time!
To begin, you’ll make the base of the white bean buffalo dip by pulsing cream cheese, white beans, ranch dressing, hot sauce, a clove of garlic, onion powder, and cayenne pepper in a food processor on high, until really smooth and the ingredients are incorporated. To save on making more dishes, add the shredded cheese and the remaining white beans to the bowl of the food processor and mix into the base.
Transfer the dip into a small casserole dish, I used the smaller one in this set from Staub (affiliate link), and then bake in a 350°F oven for 25 minutes. Once the white bean buffalo dip is warmed through and the cheese is melty, you’ll switch the oven to broil for a couple minutes to help the cheese on top become a bit crisp around the edges.
Let the dip cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes and then garnish with chopped fresh dill and serve with your favorite scoopable chips. For leftovers, transfer the dip to an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat leftovers in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until warmed through, or transfer into an oven-safe dish and reheat at 350°F for 5-10 minutes until warmed through.
If you like the sound of this recipe, you should also check out these buffalo recipes:
Be sure to tag @laura.loves.to.cook on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook to let me know how your recipes turn out. I hope you love it as much as I do!
Creamy, spicy buffalo dip with white beans and ranch dressing makes for a delicious appetizer. This vegetarian take on a classic dish is simple to pull together and incredibly tasty.
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 15 oz can of white beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup ranch dressing
- 1/3 cup hot sauce, such as Frank’s Red Hot Original
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1-2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- Chips for serving, such as Frito Lay Scoops
Preheat your oven to 350°F and set out a small, oven-safe casserole dish
Add the cream cheese, ½ of the can of rinsed white beans, ranch dressing, hot sauce, clove of garlic, onion powder, and cayenne pepper to a food processor. Pulse on high until all ingredients are mixed and a smooth dip is formed.
Mix in the remaining ½ can of white beans and 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese until evenly distributed.
Transfer the dip to the oven-safe casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of cheddar cheese onto the top of the dip.
Bake the dip for 25 minutes, until the white bean buffalo dip is warmed through and the cheese is melty.
Switch the broiler in your oven on to High and broil for 2-3 minutes, until the cheese on top starts to crisp slightly and is slightly browner in color.
Remove the casserole dish from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle with chopped dill and serve with your favorite, scoopable chips.
