Football! Football! Football!

It’s that time of the year, again! It’s September, time for football, tailgating and a lot of Buffalo Chicken Dip consumption. Once the weather and the leaves start changing, you know it’s fall and you cannot say fall without thinking about football and of course what’s football without the most popular tailgating dips!  Nothing says fall like football and Buffalo Chicken Dip! Buffalo Chicken Dip has become so popular, it not only has it’s very own website, www.buffalochickendip.com, it also has more than 28,000 fans on Facebook www.facebook.com/buffalochickendip. 


There are a lot of recipes for Buffalo Chicken Dip, aka BCD, but my favorite is made with Swanson Premium Chunk Chicken and Frank’s RedHot Sauce.  Using the canned chicken makes my life a lot easier and because it is so convenient, I won’t have to miss a moment of the game! Today, I would like to share my favorite recipe with you and also share my favorite way of serving BCD to all my football-loving friends.  Try serving your Buffalo Chicken Dip in a bread bowl.  All of your guests can tear off pieces of the bowl until the entire dish is gone.  Clean up has never been easier!

Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Chicken Dip 

Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Chicken Dip 

From Campbell’s Kitchen®

Prep: 5 minutes
Bake: 20 minutes
Makes: 32 servings (2 tablespoons each)

Ingredients:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup blue cheese salad dressing

1/2 cup any flavor Frank's® RedHot® Sauce

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cans (12.5 ounces) Swanson® Premium White Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained

Assorted fresh vegetables and Pepperidge Farm® crackers

Directions:

1.     Stir the cream cheese in a 9-inch deep dish pie plate with a fork or whisk until it's smooth. Stir in the dressing, hot sauce and blue cheese. Stir in the chicken.

2.     Bake at 350°F. for 20 minutes or until the chicken mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the chicken mixture before serving. Serve with the vegetables and crackers for dipping.

Best, and until next time, Kaitlin!

Party for the Big Game!

Whether our favorite team makes it to the big game or it’s our rival who guns for the prized ring, there is one thing for certain, and that is we will be celebrating! The real main event of the Sunday Big Game is the food. Every year we have the delectable spread of dips, chips and finger foods. Today, I have two recipes to share. The first being our infamous Buffalo Chicken Dip and another football favorite, Chicken Nachos.

Since one of the best recipes for any party is Buffalo Chicken Dip, I usually have to make at least three batches of this stuff to satisfy all my guests. This dip is so popular that its fan page on Facebook has over 17,700 fans, and it has a new and improved website, www.buffalochickendip.com!If you haven’t served Buffalo Chicken Dip, aka BCD, at one of your parties, you and your guests are really missing out. It’s perfect to dip veggies, chips and even pretzels. Since it is certainly one of our most popular recipes, and I often receive visitors looking for this particular recipe, I wanted to share this super easy and quick video from Campbell’s Kitchen.

In addition to serving BCD, I will serve my guests another great recipe from Swanson, Chicken Nachos.

Chicken Nachos

From Campbell’s Kitchen
Prep: 10 minutes
Bake: 5 minutes
Serves: 6

1/2 cup Pace® Picante Sauce
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
2 cans (4.5 ounces each) Swanson® Premium White Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained
1 bag (about 10 ounces) tortilla chips
Chopped tomato
Sliced green onion
Sliced pitted ripe olives


Heat the picante sauce, soup and chicken in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat until the mixture is hot and bubbling, stirring often.

Place the chips on a platter. Spoon the chicken mixture over the chips. Top with the tomato, onion and olives.


Best, and until next time, Kaitlin!

I also wanted to let all of those Buffalo Chicken Dip lovers know that we also have this really cool Evite for Football Parties. This will make your party planning that much more easy!

Recipe Test Run: Buffalo Chicken Dip

It has become apparent to me that being a college grad means two things in my family:

1. My parents are finished supporting me financially in any way, shape or form. (Well, it was nice while it lasted!)
   
   
2. I’m now expected to bring a “dish” to all of our holiday gatherings, celebrations and/or functions.

This may not seem like a big deal, but you should know that for the past four years I lived mainly on a diet of spaghetti and cold pizza, so my cooking skills are a bit rusty. Now that I’m out in the real world, my wallet hasn’t had a chance to catch up with me. So, with my lack of cooking expertise and a minimal budget, I wasn’t sure how I’d compete with my Mom’s amazing sweet potato casserole, my aunt’s pies, and my sister’s famed appetizers.

Last Sunday night, I decided to do a test run with Buffalo Chicken Dip, a recipe that has been getting a lot of buzz lately. I brought it to a Sunday Night Football party, and I was blown away by the reviews. Since “planning ahead” is not my strong suit, I didn’t have time to cook chicken, wait for it to cool, and then shred it in time to make the dip for the party. Instead, I used Swanson® Chicken which is made with only white chicken breast. Everyone loved it! Not only was the dip super easy and affordable to make, but I (ok, Buffalo Chicken Dip) was the hit of the party. Now I know what I’ll be bring to many holiday parties this season. I think it may even stand a chance against Mom’s casserole!

Frank’s® RedHot® Buffalo Chicken Dip:

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 cans (9.75 oz each) Swanson® Premium Chunk Chicken Breast, drained
½ cup Frank’s ® RedHot ® Sauce
½ cup blue cheese salad dressing
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
Assorted fresh vegetables and/or crackers

Directions:
1. Stir cream cheese in 9” deep pie dish until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients.
2. Bake at 350°F. for 20 min. until hot and bubbling. Stir. Serve with vegetables and crackers.

Tips:

• Substitute ranch dressing for blue cheese dressing and shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese for blue cheese crumbles.
• Make this in the microwave by heating it on high for 5 minutes instead of baking
• Keep it warm in a crockpot or slow cooker