Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Chili

**originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 10-20-14**

It's BACK! Season FOUR of "Julie's Crock of the Week" is here! I just want to say thank you to all the folks who chat with me year 'round about the Crock of the Week. It is so much fun for me! Happy to be kicking off another season here on WGLR!

I'm going to start with a chili I made over the summer. This isn't your typical chili recipe though! This caters to those with a love of heat, specifically, the kind of heat you get when you eat some buffalo wings covered in sauce. My husband LOVED this one, it's definitely a "man-pleasing" meal, haha! I am a fan of dousing buffalo wings in ranch dressing when I eat them to counter the heat. So, this chili was a bit hot for me, BUT I stirred in a few tablespoons of light ranch dressing into my bowl and it gave it a great flavor and helped turn it down a notch for me to enjoy. Leftovers tasted even better with this one. Top with some crumbled blue cheese or mozzarella, and it's a delicious meal in a bowl! Enjoy!

BUFFALO CHICKEN CHILI

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup diced onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• ½ cup diced bell pepper (any color you prefer)
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 cups diced chicken breast
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 2 cans pinto beans rinsed and drained
• 1 28 oz canned diced tomatoes
• 28 oz chicken broth
• ¾ cup Buffalo wing sauce (or to taste. I used 1/2 cup of Frank's)
• Blue cheese or fresh mozzarella for topping (optional)

Throw veggies and garlic with the olive oil into a skillet, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Dump into crock pot. Using the same skillet, salt and cook the diced chicken breast until it is browned up. Add to slow cooker. Stir in remaining ingredients of cumin, paprika, chili powder, oregano, pinto beans, canned tomatoes, and chicken broth. Cook on low for 7.5 hours. THEN add wing sauce, and cook for another half hour on low.  When serving, top with cheese if desired (or stir in some ranch dressing to "cool" it down a bit!).

Crock Pot Shredded Buffalo Chicken

Well, it is that time of year! Superbowl time! Even though my Green Bay Packers are not making a repeat appearance this year, we will still watch, of course. And that also means eating lots of food at a Superbowl party! So, if you are hosting or bringing a dish to a Superbowl get-together, I will help you out with this week's recipe, Shredded Buffalo Chicken! I posted a Buffalo Chicken Penne recipe a few months back that got a lot of good comments, so I am sure you will all enjoy this one too. The best part is that you can use it as a base for SO MANY dishes! My family enjoyed it this weekend in sandwich form, on toasted sourdough sub rolls. But it would also work great for tacos, nachos, on crackers, or even made into a buffalo chicken cheese dip, just throw it together with some velveeta! You can even freeze it to use later if you don't eat it all. Yum. Also, if you are like me and often forget to thaw the meat you intend to cook for dinner, this uses FROZEN chicken, so you don't even have to think too much in advance :) So, have fun with it, it will be a big hit at your Superbowl party, or any time of the year!

Shredded Buffalo Chicken

3 pounds FROZEN chicken breasts (I like tenderloins, but regular breasts will work well too)
1 large bottle Frank's Red Hot Buffalo WINGS sauce
1 envelope ranch dip dry mix

Place the frozen chicken breasts in the crock. Pour about 3/4 of the bottle of Frank's over the chicken (I used the whole bottle but it was a bit too juicy, you can always add more sauce at the end of you think the mixture is too dry). Sprinkle the envelope of ranch dip over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.

Take the breasts out of the crock onto a plate, and use 2 forks to shred the chicken (if it doesn't shred easily, the chicken isn't quite done, but after 6 hours that really shouldn't be an issue), and return the shredded chicken into the crock pot. Continue to cook on low for another hour, to let all of the shredded chicken soak up the sauce. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Penne

This week's recipe is not one of my tried and true recipes, this is a new one! I got it last week from a friend on Facebook, and thought that it sounded so delicious, that I simply had to try it ASAP. So I threw it in my pot this weekend, and it is so tasty. My husband LOVED it. It is a bit of an untraditional crock pot recipe, and it does have a bit of a kick to it. But there is enough "cooling" ingredients to bring the kick down a bit. And you can control the hotness of it by what wing sauce you choose to use. I used Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce. To cut some fat, I used light sour cream and light ranch dressing, worked fine. I also didn't put any salt in. My 2 year old gobbled it up, so if he can handle the heat, you know it isn't THAT bad! This one is great for football Sundays.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Penne

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb, thawed and chopped bite size)
1 medium onion (chopped finely)
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
3/4 cup Buffalo Wing Sauce
1/2 cup Ranch Dressing
1 cup Sour Cream
1/8 tsp of Salt
1/2 to 1 tsp of Black Pepper (to taste)
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1 lb. Penne Pasta (cooked)

Use a 5-quart slow cooker. I used my 7 quart, and I shouldn't have, things got a bit burned along the edges. Place in the chopped up chicken and diced onion. Mix together the cream of chicken soup, buffalo wing sauce, salt and pepper. Pour over chicken and onion. Stir. Cook on low for 7 hours.

Once 7 hours is up... start to boil water for the pasta. At this point add the sour cream, cheese and ranch dressing to the slow cooker. Mix well. Continue to cook on low while the pasta cooks.

When the pasta is al dente. Drain. Mix into the buffalo chicken sauce. Let stand 5 minutes. Enjoy on it's own or with a few slices of garlic bread!