Give Your Chili A Flavorful Twist By Adding Another Game-Day Classic

Chili is a world-class comfort food with multiple applications outside of a bowl. When looking to zhuzh up this fan favorite, you might look toward a chili cheese dog or this frito pie casserole. However, we're here to take you in the opposite direction. Instead of adding chili to another all-American dish, chili should be the recipient of the ultimate game-day classic: buffalo chicken wings.

Fusing the two game-day favorites doesn't mean throwing buffalo wings into a pot of chili, but drawing from the flavors and ingredients of buffalo wings to inspire a novel chili recipe. Buffalo sauce is a tangy, creamy, spicy sauce consisting of butter, hot sauce, paprika, vinegar, and aromatics, sharing many of the same flavors with a typical chili seasoning recipe. In addition to using a bottle of buffalo sauce, or a homemade blend, a buffalo wing chili would also swap ground beef for ground chicken or even ground turkey.

You can adapt our recipes for slow cooker white chicken chili or white turkey chili by adding a pour of buffalo sauce, paired with corresponding seasonings and aromatics. For example, both of our white chili recipes use more Mexican and Southwestern seasonings like cumin, chili powder, coriander, jalapeños, and diced green chili peppers. You could swap some of the spices for a Cajun seasoning mix and chop a more classic mirepoix base for the meat, broth, and white beans.

Buffalo wing chili combines two of your favorite game-day dishes into one flavorful bowl that you can elevate even more with garnishes, accompaniments, and additional ingredients. Kerneled corn, a can of fire roasted tomatoes, and a can of beer would bring a pop of sweetness, a smoky and savory element, and an overall richness to your chili recipe.

As for garnishes, you can draw inspiration from common buffalo wing dipping sauces like ranch and blue cheese. You could drizzle this buttermilk ranch dressing over each bowl, or stir a packet of ranch seasoning into sour cream or Greek yogurt for a ranch-flavored dollop. You could also top chili with ranch-flavored Corn Nuts or crushed up Cool Ranch Doritos.

Swap cheddar cheese garnishes for blue cheese crumbles for an equally strong complement for the spicy tangy profile of buffalo sauce. For an aromatic garnish, sprinkle a blend of chives and cilantro over your chili. Of course, you can serve buffalo chili with buttermilk cornbread for a classic pairing. Pour it over Fritos or french fries for the ultimate act of decadence.