This Vegan Buffalo Chicken Dip is always a crowd-pleaser. It’s creamy, cheesy, and packed with chicken wing flavors! A flexible recipe that’s easy to prep in 10 minutes.
For more vegan dips you can bring to the party, check out my Mexican Street Corn Dip, Vegan Jalapeno Popper Dip, and Vegan 7 Layer Dip recipes!
“Made this for the Super Bowl tonight — absolutely Delicious! This may be my go to dish for parties now. ☺️” – Shellie
If there’s a snack that’s just as perfect for the big game as my Buffalo Cauliflower Wings, it’s this Vegan Buffalo Chicken Dip. Every scoop has all the flavors of buffalo wings, but in dip form! Your guests won’t even notice the chicken is missing.
What I love most about this party-ready dip is that it’s a rich and cheesy comfort food made with simple plant-based ingredients. No, there’s no vegan cream cheese to be found. The secret here is a rich cashew cream base and canned artichoke hearts (or vegan chicken), which have the same look and feel as shredded chicken.
All out of artichokes? Use store-bought chicken tenders, jackfruit, or seitan chicken instead! I’m giving you a ton of options to make this game day recipe work for you (and not the other way around). Let’s get the party started!
Why you’ll love this vegan buffalo wing dip
- Game day approved – If you don’t go to the Super Bowl party for the football, go for the chickenless buffalo dip. Trust me, you won’t want to miss the deliciously creamy, spicy flavors.
- Easy peasy! This dip is incredibly easy to prep in only 10 minutes. Seriously, all you have to do is blend the simple ingredients together before letting the oven do the rest!
- Make it with or without “chicken” – I used canned artichoke hearts for the “chicken” in this buffalo chicken dip, but you can swap them for store-bought vegan chicken or my Vegan Seitan “Chicken” for an even meatier twist.
How to make vegan buffalo chik’n dip
Find the complete printable recipe with measurements below in the recipe card.
Blend the soaked and drained cashews, fresh water, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder together in a high-powered blender until smooth.
Next, add in the buffalo sauce and artichokes or vegan chicken. Pulse to combine, but do not blend. The texture should be chunky and meaty.
Pour the dip into a baking dish and bake in the oven until it’s hot and bubbly.
Garnish with green onions and serve with chopped veggies, chips, crackers, and/or crostini for dipping. Enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
Traditionally, no, buffalo sauce is not vegan because it contains butter. However, there are several brands of accidentally vegan buffalo sauce out there (I recommend using Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Wings Sauce for this recipe). The homemade vegan buffalo sauce from my Buffalo Cauliflower Wings recipe would also work here.
This ultra-creamy dip requires thick and sturdy dippables for scooping. I like it with carrot and celery sticks, toasted baguette slices, thick crackers, tortilla chips, and ridged potato chips best. And if you want to take the flavors up a notch, top it with sliced green onions, vegan blue cheese, and a drizzle of extra buffalo sauce.
You have a few options. The recipe calls for canned artichoke hearts packed in water because they have a “pulled chicken” quality, but frozen and thawed artichokes and canned jackfruit also work well.
If you’re not looking for a whole-food option and want a more realistic “meaty” texture and flavor, use an 8-oz bag of vegan chicken strips (I like the Daring brand best), rehydrated soy curls, or homemade seitan chicken pieces instead.
I haven’t tested it, but sunflower seeds might work in place of the cashews. You could also try replacing the nuts and water with vegan cream cheese, but I’m not sure if it will work or not.
The cooled leftover dip can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. It will reheat well in the microwave or oven. If it thickens too much in the fridge, stir in a little water to thin the texture a bit.
I haven’t tried freezing this dip, but it should work okay. Keep it in a covered freezer-safe container, then thaw the leftovers overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Vegan Buffalo Chicken Dip
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw cashews
- 1 cup water
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 cup buffalo sauce
- (1) 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained or 8 ounces vegan chicken pieces, cooked
- optional 2 cups shredded vegan cheddar cheese optional
For serving
- celery sticks
- carrot sticks
- tortilla chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Heat a few cups of water in a tea kettle or pot until boiling, then pour over the cashews in a bowl. Let them soak for at least 5 minutes or up to 1 hour.
- Drain the cashews and discard the soaking water. In a high-powered blender such as a Vitamix, add the cashews, 1 cup water, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Blend until very smooth.
- Now add the buffalo sauce and artichokes or vegan chicken pices. Pulse a couple of times, but do not blend. You want to leave quite a bit of chunky texture!
- Transfer to an oven safe dish (1 1/2-2 quarts, a pie pan works as well). Add the vegan cheddar cheese, if using and stir into the dip a little bit, leaving some on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until hot.
- Serve warm with celery sticks, carrot sticks and tortilla chips.
Notes
- I recommend using Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Wings Sauce for best results.
- You can also use frozen, thawed artichokes if desired. Just don’t use the marinated artichokes, as they will change the flavor of the dip considerably. Stick with canned artichokes in water or frozen.
- If you have leftover dip, store it in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. When reheating, add a little water to thin it out, as it will thicken as it cools. Simply warm in the microwave, or oven, and stir a little water in to thin it out a bit.
THIS IS SO GOOD! I’m slowly trying to turn my husband vegan 🙂 He LOVED this recipe. Like another reviewer wrote, I overpulsated the artichokes, but I have a crazy intense blender. Next time I might just take the extra 5 min and chop them myself. The recipe does make a lot but the leftovers reheated just as good as the original batch for the next two days.
I’m so happy to hear the recipe was loved!
I made this for an engagement party with mostly non-plant based eaters. Everyone loved it. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! Glad it was a hit.
This was so good! I cut the recipe in half and it turned out perfectly, eating it now!!
I’m so glad it’s good!
I made this tonight for the championship game for my husband and his friends! It was delicious! I even used it as a “dressing” for a Buddha bowl! Seriously amazing!
So glad it was good!
Hmm a scale on 1 to 10 with ten being hot how hot is the dip. Could you cut back on the hot sauce?
It’s about a 5-6 I would say, quite spicy. Feel free to cut back on the buffalo sauce, and add more to taste.
Unfortunately I’m allergic to cashews. Do you recommend anything that could substitute this (other nuts, seeds, etc.)?
Thank you!
Raw slivered almonds are your best bet, maybe sunflower seeds, though I haven’t tested either. Soak them very well first. Hope you enjoy!
Have you considered using VioLife cream cheese?
Made this for a party last night and all my girlfriends loved it and asked for the recipe!! I over processed the artichokes but we all still loved it. They blended so fast so maybe next time I may add hand cut chunks to the mix after it’s blended! Thank you so much for this
You’re welcome, and I’m glad it turned out great!
Could I make this in the slow cooker once I have put all the ingredients together?
Yes, I think that will work.
Did this work???? I want to do it in my crockpot!
Did anyone try it in the crockpot?
Hi Nora
Could I use the artichokes in oil and rinse off the oil? Would that work
Yep that’s fine. Enjoy!
Hi! Can you tell me if this is also soy free? I have someone that is vegan, but also gluten and soy free. TIA
I am quite positive it is soy free, yes. Just make sure to check the ingredients on your buffalo sauce, but the one I use does not contain soy. Thank you!
Thank you!
This sounds awesome! Have you verified that the Frank’s sauce you recommend is vegan? It lists “natural butter flavor” as one of the ingredients, not sure what that means…
Yes, I have verified this and they are vegan. Hope you enjoy it!
Fantastic news, thank you!!
This is amazing. Great texture and flavor. I did use 2 – 12oz jars of artichokes and tastes spot on!
I’m glad you liked it!
Hi Nora. Thanks for this post. This is such a great and simple recipe. I brought it to a party and it was well received! I did make the mistake of over processing the artichokes and ended up adding a second can which I chopped by hand. I will definitely make this again and as another person suggested, I will try using jackfruit in place of the artichoke hearts.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Jackfruit would be great in here as well.
Hi Nora,
I just made this buffalo dip and realized afterwards that because my husband doesn’t eat anything the least bit hot, I should have only made half the recipe! Is it free able? It is scrumptious, but I can’t eat it all before it spoils!
Thank you in advance!
I think it will freeze well, yes, but I haven’t personally tried it. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work though!
I would like to know if it froze well please
Would roasted cashews work in a pinch?
They will work, but you may have a stronger cashew flavor in the finished dish. Raw cashews are buttery and smooth with nearly no nutty flavor at all.
Used 2 cans of artichokes and it was perfect! I love how easy and quick this was. Thank you!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
Love all your recipes!!! They are my go to for everything! I currently have this one in the oven and it’s smells amazing! We usually use make another cauliflower buffalo dip and it use garbanzo beans….. I’m wondering if using those and only one cup of cashews would be good for this recipe?
Thank you so much! I imagine you could sub garbanzo beans for some of the cashews, yes, but I haven’t tried it myself. Should work out okay though!
Hello Nora,
I’ve made this recipe last night with half cauliflower and half broccoli and it was very good!
Thank you for your recipes 🙂
Cecilia
So good to hear, sounds delicious! Thank you!
Nora – I made this for Memorial Day and it was a smash. All gone! People couldn’t believe how good it was! ?
I’m so glad it was a hit for Memorial Day! Yay!
Are you able to prepare this the day before? Would you assemble until ready to bake and refrigerate then?
Yes, that is exactly what I would do. Should be fine, it just might need a little longer in the oven to get warm. Enjoy!
This is amazing. So good. I skipped baking it-it was warm enough for us from soaking the cashews. And we just couldn’t wait after trying the first bite! Next time I might add more artichokes. Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the dip! I don’t think you could go wrong using more artichokes. Thank you!
I’m going to try making this with jackfruit later! I’ll let you know how it goes…
Hi Nora – for your avid readers ‘across the Pond’ – what is the British equivalent of ‘Buffalo sauce’, please?
Buffalo sauce is usually hot sauce with vinegar and maybe butter. In the U.S. it’s usually Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Sauce, but here is a recipe I found so you could make your own (just use vegan butter or leave it out). Thanks!
You can get Franks hot sauce in UK supermarkets.
what is buffalo sauce?
Buffalo sauce is something you can buy at most grocery stores (in the U.S. that is). It’s often used for buffalo wings and is made with hot sauce, vinegar and sometimes oil or butter.
OMG!! This is amazing! Can’t believe how good and creamy it is. A big hit with all my friends and family (non-vegans). Thank you for another winner!!