Buffalo Chicken Chowder

A couple of years ago, my boyfriend and I went to the Chocolate Bar on Chippewa for the first time. We sat down, ordered some spiked milkshakes, and began to peruse their menu until our eyes settled on one thing, Buffalo Chicken Chowder. I ordered myself a bowl, and needless to say, it was the best Buffalo Chicken Soup I ever had, even beating out Danny’s famous chicken wing soup in my book! 

We quickly made it a date night tradition to head over to Chippewa and order bowl after bowl of buffalo chicken chowder until, one day, they took my beloved chowder off their menu. I was devastated. It was at that point I began my hunt for an alternative and I think this is the closest I’ll be able to get!

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup flour
3 cups chicken broth
1 lb chicken breast
Cooking Oil
hot sauce to taste
1 large Yukon gold potato, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces salt and pepper to taste
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook your chicken. I suggest seasoning it up with oil, salt, and pepper and cooking it in a pan with vegetable or canola oil for around 10-14 minutes, flipping it halfway through, and adding an extra knob of butter. Once it’s slightly undercooked (it’ll finish cooking in the chowder), take it off the heat and shred.

2. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes.

3. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.

4. Mix in the flour and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.

5. Add the chicken broth, chicken, hot sauce, and potatoes, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender about 10-15 minutes. I personally judge the amount of hot sauce I need by the chowder’s color, so it’ll take a bit of experimentation to figure out what’s perfect for you!

6. Season with salt and pepper, mix in the blue cheese to taste and cream cheese and remove from heat when the cheese has melted. Serve with extra blue cheese crumble on top.

RECIPE TIPS AND TRICKS

If you find your chowder isn’t thick enough, mix a small amount of corn starch with some water until it combines fully and add it a little at a time over low heat. This will help thicken it up in no time!

If you want to cook this recipe low and slow in a slow-cooker, you can! You can place everything but the cheese and cream cheese into a slow cooker for 2-4 hours on high, then add the cheeses. For this method, also make sure to use raw chicken, it’ll cook in the chowder!