Buffalo Chicken Bites (by Amanda)

5 Sep

Last weekend, I tailgated at a college football game. We met my cousin, who works at the university, and a few of his colleagues (who are actually a LOT of fun ;))! The following recipe was made by his friend Amanda, who graciously shared it with me. YUM! I’ll admit, I’ve never been into buffalo flavored things, but this was the perfect combination of creamy, tangy, and spicy.

Buffalo Chicken Bites

by Amanda

1 Rotisserie Chicken (avoid BBQ or other strong flavors, simple oven roasted is best)

1 block Neufchâtel (Low fat cream cheese)

½ Cup Frank’s Red Hot Original Hot Sauce

½ Cup Blue Cheese Dressing

2 Cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 Pack (48 count) wonton wrappers (usually found in the produce section of most grocery stores)

Extra Blue Cheese dressing for dipping

Makes 48 bites or 24 and leftovers for dipping other chips! For that matter, I imagine you could make a mean casserole with these leftovers!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. While the oven is heating, start pulling the chicken off of the bone (I usually stick to white meat and save the legs and thighs for later/for my roommate to eat). Sometimes I mix in a very small amount of the skin for flavor, but not enough that it is noticeable once the meat has been chopped. Make sure that you don’t have any bones in the pulled chicken and put it in your food processor to chop fine. Usually a few pulses will do the trick.

Spray a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray and press one wonton wrapper into each cup. Bake the wonton wrappers for 4-6 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove the pan from the oven and keep the wonton wrappers in the mini cups.
Meanwhile put the chicken in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the cream cheese (I use low fat cream cheese or Neufchâtel) and stir to keep the chicken from sticking. Once the cream cheese and chicken are warm, add the hot sauce and stir until completely mixed. Mixing becomes easier as you add the hot sauce. Keep stirring, you do not want any large pieces of cream cheese, your final result should be a smooth mixture. Next, add ½ cup of the blue cheese dressing and stir until it’s fully incorporated.
Next spoon a teaspoon or so of your dip into each wonton cup. You may have to push back the sides a little to open up the cup for filling. Once all cups have been filled, sprinkle the top with shredded mozzarella (or the cheese of your choice). After sprinkling the cheese on top, I usually push the filling further down into the cup with a spoon. The cheese on top keeps the dip from sticking to the spoon!
Place the cups back into the oven and bake until the topping is bubbly or the edges of the cup start to brown more. This should take about 5 minutes, but use your own judgment, once the cheese looks melted, you are all done!

Serve hot or cold, they are a hit both ways!