Ask me to tell you what my family’s favorite meal is, and I will just show you a picture of this Buffalo Chicken Soup recipe. It’s as good as I ever need a chicken soup to be, if I’m being real with you (I’m always real with you), and it’s INCREDIBLY easy to make.
That’s primarily due to the fact that we’re using a rotisserie chicken ( fave Homemade-ish trick of mine, a la my cookbook). I’m doing this for both efficiency and effectiveness, though. It’s efficient because it’s cooked for you already, so we can just skip that part entirely. It’s effective because, unlike most recipes for buffalo chicken soup, we’re using both light and dark meat – so the flavor’s on point.
If you like the sounds of our rotisserie chicken buffalo chicken soup recipe, you should definitely check out our Curried Turkey and Sweet Potato Soup (it’s super healthy) or our Easiest Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup (a 15-minute recipe). I’ve also got a Thai-inspired Khao Soi, which is a reader favorite over here. If cozy is your thing, then you for sure need to check out my Chicken, Sausage, and Wild Rice Soup.
Why We Love This easy buffalo chicken soup recipe
Honestly? The answer is all in the name, right there in plain sight. The ease of this soup’s preparation is pretty lovable, of course. I’d say this takes all of 15 to 20 minutes to make, and most of that time is spent chopping the onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper, garlic and the chicken itself. It all just goes right in the pot, along with some poultry seasoning, chicken stock concentrate, and a bay leaf or two if you’ve got them.
Some cream cheese goes in and the not-so-secret ingredient – ranch dressing mix – gets added as well. I sprinkle in a little flour or cornstarch at this point, to thicken the body of the soup a bit. But this is honestly also an optional step. The soup is still addictingly delicious without the thickening part of the program.
Chicken stock floods the pot at this point, turning things into a proper soup. I finish with the most key element – the hot sauce. It’s basically gotta be Frank’s Red Hot, yes? Yes, I think so. I add a few tablespoons to start with, taste, and then adjust things as needed. Depending on who you’re feeding, you may want to more more or less conservative as per their preferences.
Topped with celery leaves, cilantro, and crunchy tortilla chips – this soup is just the best, and we love it to infinity and beyond, and all the way back again.
Buffalo Chicken Soup Recipe Tips and Tricks
Chicken Fat is Where It’s At
There really are a few tricks/hacks to this Buffalo Chicken Soup recipe that make it so clutch – both from a speed/easy standpoint and a flavor one. Firstly, we’re going to use the chicken fat (schmaltz) in the rotisserie chicken bag. All store-bought rotisserie/roasted chickens are essentially packaged more or less the same way – warm and in a bag or small box. And their hot drippings typically congeal around them as they cool and wait for you to scoop them up.
Do not be turned off by this step! It’s such a great way to make the absolute most of the money you spent on that bird. And similar to how we often sing the praises of what we can do with rendered bacon fat (I use it in these cookies and in this salad), so too, can we do great things with chicken fat.
In this Buffalo Chicken Soup Recipe, we’ll use it too soften the veggies and add a great base of flavor to the whole soup.
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
The true flavor hero of this Buffalo Chicken Soup recipe is actually not even the chicken. Or the buffalo sauce for that matter. It’s the damn ranch dressing seasoning (isn’t it always?). This stuff is just crazy flavorful and it creates the most deliciously addictive backbone to this soup. It’s what keeps the people coming back for more, and without itm things just wouldn’t hit the same. All this said, this stuff tends to be VERY salty, so I use a heaping tablespoon to start with, taste, and go from there.
You can always add more, but it’s tough to take out, right? The same rule holds true for the buffalo sauce actually, start with a few tablespoons and build the heat from there.
Ring My Bell (Pepper)
I add some chopped bell pepper to my veggie mix at the start of this soup. Soup (especially such crowd-pleasing ones like this) is SUCH a wonderful way to weave more veggies into your meals, and in the case of this Buffalo Chicken Soup Recipe, it just adds that little bit of extra aromatic flavor to things.
The fact that we’re using the Cajun-Creole trinity is not unintentional, here. Just as it adds the most perfect flavor base to our favorite Etouffee, Chicken Fricassee and this Shrimp Creole – so too does it add the perfect undertones to what we think is the greatest Buffalo Chicken Soup recipe of all time. Ahem.
Concentrate!
Just as I use it in my Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi, Chicken Meatball Ramen, and Colombian Chicken Stew, I’m using in here, in our Buffalo Chicken Soup Recipe. I’m talking, of course, about Chicken Stock Concentrate – that delightful invention from the food gods that just helps us reach max flavor heights in our kitchens without really having to exert much effort at all. YESSSSS.
How to make our easy buffalo chicken soup recipe
- Begin by pulling all of the meat from the bones of your chicken, discarding the skin. I usually pull and shred the meat with a fork, but chopping it works fine, too. Set this aside for now.
- Add the oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add the chopped celery, carrot, bell pepper, onion, and a small pinch of salt (the ranch mix is very salty, so is the hot sauce) to the pot and sauté until tender; about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more.
- Sprinkle over the flour or cornstarch and cook for one minute, stirring to mix it all in. Add the ranch dressing mix, the chicken stock concentrate, 4 cups of the stock, and the buffalo sauce. Increase the heat a bit and bring the soup to a low boil. When it boils, reduce the heat to low and add the cream cheese, stirring to gently melt it into the soup.
- I taste it now and adjust things as needed. You might want to add more ranch into the mix, or Buffalo sauce. If you want to bulk it up more, you can add more stock. It might need salt and pepper – totally up to your preferences here! Let the soup simmer for just a couple of minutes to allow it to thicken slightly. Ladle into bowls and serve with all of your favorite toppings (I highly recommend tortillas chips or bread, crumbled blue cheese, fresh chopped celery, scallions, and/or cilantro).
Easy Buffalo Chicken Soup
A super quick and easy take on a buffalo chicken soup that you will want to make over and over again. Ranch dressing mix, fresh garlic, cream cheese, and a rotisserie chicken make fast and tasty work of this absolutely fantastic soup.
- Yield: Serves 4
- Category: Soups
Ingredients
- 1 store-bought rotisserie chicken, any flavor you like is fine
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 large carrots, thinly sliced
- 1 bell pepper (any color), diced
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (cornstarch also works)
- 1 heaping tablespoon ranch dressing seasoning mix, plus more as desired (such as Hidden Valley Ranch)
- 3 teaspoons chicken stock concentrate
- 4 to 6 cups chicken stock (as needed)
- 3 tablespoons buffalo hot sauce (such as Franks Red Hot)
- 8 ounces cream cheese
Serving suggestions: tortilla chips, crumbled blue cheese, fresh celery, cilantro, scallions
Instructions
- Begin by pulling all of the meat from the bones of your chicken, discarding the skin. I usually pull and shred the meat with a fork, but chopping it works fine, too. Set this aside for now.
- Add the oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add the chopped celery, carrot, bell pepper, onion, and a small pinch of salt (the ranch mix is very salty, so is the hot sauce) to the pot and sauté until tender; about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more.
- Sprinkle over the flour or cornstarch and cook for one minute, stirring to mix it all in. Add the ranch dressing mix, the chicken stock concentrate, 4 cups of the stock, and the buffalo sauce. Increase the heat a bit and bring the soup to a low boil. When it boils, reduce the heat to low and add the cream cheese, stirring to gently melt it into the soup.
- I taste it now and adjust things as needed. You might want to add more ranch into the mix, or Buffalo sauce. If you want to bulk it up more, you can add more stock. It might need salt and pepper – totally up to your preferences here! Let the soup simmer for just a couple of minutes to allow it to thicken slightly. Ladle into bowls and serve with all of your favorite toppings (I highly recommend tortillas chips or bread, crumbled blue cheese, fresh chopped celery, scallions, and/or cilantro).
