With a slightly spicy and tangy kick, this slow cooker buffalo chicken chili is made in the slow cooker for a healthy and comforting family meal. It’s simple to prep, full of flavor, and you can let your Crock Pot do all the hard work for you! {Gluten-free}
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Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Chili
As the weather starts to get cooler, there’s nothing quite like a big bowl of hot chili to warm your body and soul!
And it doesn’t get much easier than this slow cooker buffalo chicken chili. Just add the ingredients to the crock pot earlier in the day and a warm, hearty chili will be waiting for you with minimal effort required. It’ll quickly become your new favorite chili recipe!
If you’re looking for more healthy chili recipes, be sure to try my White Chicken Chili with Salsa Verde and One Pot Ground Turkey Chili too!
Why You’ll Love this Shredded Chicken Chili Recipe
- Easy peasy, no fuss slow cooker recipe that cooks all day
- Fun alternative to traditional chili and perfect for family dinners
- Packed with 40 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber per serving
- The beans are the main source of carbohydrates, offering plenty of fiber and extra protein to fill you up
- Not too spicy and you can adjust the heat level, too!
- The flavors build over time, making it an excellent choice for meal prep
- The leftovers freeze great for easy meals when you need them
Buffalo Chili Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts: Since the meat will be cooking a long time, it’s best to use fresh, raw chicken breasts. Thighs work too, or add some shredded cooked chicken towards the end of the cooking time.
- Vegetables: We’re sticking with classic chili veggies here, like onion, garlic and red pepper. Feel free to doctor it with your faves (carrots, celery, and corn are all great choices).
- Beans: I like to make this chili with low sodium black beans, but canned navy beans or kidney beans would be great.
- Diced tomatoes: Use low sodium canned diced tomatoes, or sub in fire-roasted tomatoes for even more flavor.
- Buffalo wing sauce: We love Franks Red Hot Sauce, but any hot sauce will work well here.
- Honey: I like to add a little honey to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes and buffalo sauce. You can also use maple syrup or brown sugar.
- Spices and seasonings: For that classic chili flavor and warmth, you’ll need chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt and black pepper. You can easily dial the spice level up by adding red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper, too!
- Broth: Use a low sodium chicken or vegetable broth. Feel free to add more if you prefer a thinner chili.
Garnishes
This is the fun part! Make a toppings bar and let everyone add their favorites.
- Blue cheese crumbles
- Cheddar cheese shreds
- Fresh cilantro
- Green onions
- Lime juice
- Avocado
- Sour cream or Greek yogurt
- Crushed tortilla chips
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Chili – Step-by-Step Instructions
- Step 1 – In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and peppers. Sauté until the vegetables are fragrant and softened, about 5 minutes.
- Step 2 – Add all of the ingredients to a large slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Step 3 – Cover and slow-cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Add additional chicken broth if you prefer a thinner chili. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Expert Tips
- This chili tends to thicken the longer that it sits. You may wish to add additional broth if you prefer a thinner chili.
- I typically use Frank’s buffalo wing sauce for this chili, but you can also sub in regular hot sauce as well.
- If you want to speed up the cooking time, you can toss in about 3 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken instead.
- To make this recipe more kid-friendly, reduce the amount of buffalo sauce used and add additional hot sauce to your own portion if you want more heat.
- If you are using higher sodium beans and tomatoes, you may wish to reduce the amount of salt added.
Storage & Reheating Guidelines
Refrigerator: Store leftover buffalo chili in the fridge, covered or in an airtight container, for up to four days. Let the chili cool fully before storing it.
Freezer: This chili will freeze well for up to three months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight before reheating. You can also freeze the ingredients raw and dump them into the crockpot when ready to cook.
To reheat: This chili is easy to reheat on the stovetop. Heat it on a medium low heat, stirring occasionally until heated through. You may wish to add more broth when reheating if the chili has thickened.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! Soften the vegetables in a large pot over medium heat, then add in the chicken, beans, tomatoes, broth and seasonings. Let it simmer for around 20 to 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and is tender enough to shred. Shred the chicken and stir back into the chili. If the chili becomes too thick during cooking, you can add in some more broth.
For sure, it works out well in the instant pot as well! First, saute the vegetables in the Instant Pot until soft, then add in the rest of the ingredients. Cook on high for 18 minutes, naturally release for 10 minutes and then do a quick release.
It does have a bit of a kick to it, but I didn’t find it to be overly spicy. It was mild enough that my toddler gobbled it up! If you prefer less heat, add less hot sauce.
Serving Suggestions
This slow cooker buffalo chicken chili recipe is delicious served by itself, but it’s also great with some white rice, brown rice or cauliflower rice too.
Don’t forget the garnishes! They really take it over the top.
Recipe Variations
- Use different protein: Sub in ground chicken or turkey instead of chicken breasts.
- More veggies: You can add in any other veggies you like. Mushrooms, celery, corn or carrots are great additions.
- Add more of a spicy kick: Make it spicier by adding some cayenne or red pepper flakes to your chili.
- Play with spices: Season with garlic powder, onion powder, smoked chipotle or any of your favorite chili spices.
Healthy Buffalo Sauce Recipes
- Buffalo Chicken Dip without Cream Cheese
- Spaghetti Squash Buffalo Chicken Casserole
- Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers
- Crispy Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings
- Buffalo Chicken Meal Prep
- Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash
- Buffalo Sliders
Did you make this recipe? Scroll down to leave a star rating and review!
Slow Cooker Pulled Buffalo Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1.5 pounds skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 2 (15 ounce) cans low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (28 ounce) can low sodium diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup Frank's buffalo wing sauce (or sub in favourite hot sauce)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth (or more to taste if you prefer a thinner chili)
Optional Toppings
- Crumbled blue cheese
- Cilantro
- Green onion
- Lime juice
- Avocado
- Crush tortilla chips
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and peppers. Sauté until the vegetables are fragrant and softened, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the vegetables, chicken, beans, diced tomatoes, Frank's buffalo wing sauce, honey, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika and salt to a large slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Add additional chicken broth if you prefer a thinner chili. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Notes
- This chili tends to thicken the longer that it sits. You may wish to add additional broth if you prefer a thinner chili.
- I typically use Frank’s buffalo wing sauce for this chili, but you can also sub in regular hot sauce as well.
- If you want to speed up the cooking time for this chili, you can toss in about 3 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken instead.
- To make this recipe more kid-friendly, reduce the amount of buffalo sauce used and add additional hot sauce to your own portion if you want more heat.
- If you are using higher sodium beans and tomatoes, you may wish to reduce the amount of salt added.
- If you’re not a big fan of blue cheese, you can also top with shredded mozzarella or Monterey jack to add some extra flavour.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted in October 2021 and the text, formatting and photos were updated in October 2025.
We love this recipe! Made it on the stovetop because we were using cooked rotisserie chicken which we added only for the last 15 minutes so the chicken doesn’t get tough. We uses Primal Kitchen mild and sweet buffalo sauce which is perfect for us. Served with crumbled blue cheese. Love love love it. Now inspired to look for more recipes on this site.
So happy you enjoyed the recipe Jackie! Love how you made it on the stove with rotisserie chicken – great thinking! I appreciate you taking the time to leave a rating and review. Hope you find some other recipes on the site to try out :)
Are the raw chicken breasts put into the crockpot whole or cut up?
You put the chicken breasts in the crockpot whole and then shred them once cooked. Hope that helps!