The Creamy Way To Use Up Leftover Buffalo Chicken Dip

Buffalo chicken dip is a Super Bowl party favorite in certain states. Whether it's homemade with rotisserie chicken or store-bought in a tub, chicken buffalo dip is a salty, tangy, spicy delight (and the fact that it's less likely than salsa to run off your chip and onto your shirt is a huge win in our book). Once the party is over, though, and the leftovers put away, you might find yourself looking at your half-full casserole dish of buffalo chicken dip and wondering if there's any way to repurpose it somehow.

Turns out, there is. You can play up the dip's creamy texture by using it to make buffalo chicken mac and cheese. By adding this typically thick and robust dip to everyone's favorite cheesy noodle dish, you'll not only give the mac a boost of zesty flavor, but you will also transform a side into an entree, thanks to the protein and bulk from the chicken. You can just fold your dip into stovetop or microwavable boxed mac and cheese (there are so many options these days beyond Kraft), or use it to craft a delightful partially-from-scratch homemade version.

Of course, with a dip as versatile as buffalo chicken, you don't have to stick with just mac and cheese to use up your leftovers. You can mix it into pretty much any type of cooked pasta — penne, rotini, or farfalle would hold up especially well against the firmness of the dip. Simply mix your dip and cooked pasta in a casserole dish, add even more cheese on top, and bake it in the oven until it's bubbling. No more than 15 to 20 minutes should be fine since every ingredient is already cooked. You're just looking to heat the dish through and get a nice browning on the cheese.

Also, while spaghetti squash isn't technically pasta, it's close enough, and it would certainly taste good with buffalo chicken dip. You could even serve it inside the squash half for presentation points. To do this, you'll want to cook the spaghetti squash first, using your preferred method, then mix some dip in with the squash strands and pop it back into the oven for around 20 minutes. The best part of this recipe is that you get to have fun scraping the squash away from the skin (it's so satisfying), while enjoying the taste of sweet veg mixed with hot and bubbly buffalo chicken sauce.