We still have a couple of quarts(!) of Frank’s Buffalo Sauce left from a Costco trip late last year, so I’m always looking for unique recipes to use that stuff up.

Don’t get me wrong – I love Frank’s and buffalo wings with the best of them. I can’t count how many times I’ve made buffalo chicken soft tacos, which I love, but the ole’ tummy starts wanting something a little more soothing.

Anyway, we haven’t had anything buffalo for a couple of weeks, so I pulled up my trusty Pinterest chicken board and found this recipe from WhoNeedsACape.com, which I had pinned a couple of years ago.

Every time I use a pin from one of my boards, I feel like I’m not wasting my time surfing Pinterest, even though somewhere in the back of my little brain I know it’s a time-wasting black hole.

Buffalo Cream Cheese Chicken has very few ingredients – just chicken, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and hot sauce – is easy to throw together, and only takes about 30 minutes to bake. Since it’s getting warmer outside, I appreciate having the oven on for such a short time.

We bought a 10 pound bag of huge boneless skinless chicken breasts, so I usually pound just one to about 1/2 inch and we share it.

Since we only use one breast, I halved the recipe to the amounts below and we had plenty of sauce left over to dab onto the mashed potatoes. I also added a few baby carrots for a little crunch.

If you don’t like spicy stuff with quite a kick, don’t make this! Just sayin’.

I love the combination of Frank’s and the cream cheese, and the cheddar melted nicely to give the dish a little crust after baking. I thought it was really good and Bret enjoyed it, too.

The mashed potatoes on the side mellowed out the heat a little bit.

I’ll definitely make this easy Buffalo Cream Cheese Chicken again.

Buffalo Cream Cheese Chicken

Yield: 2 servings

Quite a kick, but delicious! You can easily double it.

Ingredients

4 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 C Frank's Buffalo sauce
1 huge or 2 regular-sized boneless, , skinless chicken breasts

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°.
In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, 1/4 C. cheddar cheese and buffalo sauce. Stir together until fully combined.
Pound the chicken breast(s) until about 1/2" thick and place in a baking dish. Spread the cheese mixture evenly over the chicken. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 C. cheddar cheese on top of the chicken.
Bake, uncovered around 30-35 minutes until chicken is done (about 165° with meat thermometer).

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

I used 1/3 less fat Neufchatel and it worked fine - tasted great.

If you double this, use 4 regular-sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts. There will be plenty of sauce.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 514Total Fat: 33gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 187mgSodium: 1205mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 0gSugar: 3gProtein: 47g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

These little Buffalo Wing Bites pack quite a punch and are good on a party buffet. I’m always on the lookout for appetizers, but most of the good ones need to be served warm and when they sit on a table at a party, appetizers aren’t warm any more!

These are good warm or room temperature and are small enough (about 1 1/2 to 2″ round) to be the perfect-sized finger food without being a mess.

I always use Frank’s wing sauce when making anything “buffalo” and mistakenly picked up the HOT version when making these. They really do mean hot. But it works great with the cool ranch dressing dip! Use whatever hotness is your preference.

The combination of Monterrey Jack, blue cheese, and Parmesan is savory and delicious. The blue cheese is optional, but I highly recommend it.

You can use your own pizza dough recipe, but it’s a lot easier to grab some of the little dough boy’s crust. These Buffalo Wing Bites are really fairly easy to make. Messy, but easy and very tasty!