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.
Wow, this was amazing. I just made it tonight and love it… though my tongue is on fire ? If I were to reduce the FRH Buffalo Sauce down to 3/4 or maybe 1/2 cup, would that hopefully lessen the heat? I really enjoyed this dip, though I will mix the Buffalo sauce in after the cashews but before the artichoke because it didn’t blend well when I just pulsed it with the artichokes at the end and I lost the textured over-mixing it – it was still delicious though.
Oh yeah, you can reduce it as you want for less spice, it won’t affect anything other than the spiciness and flavor.
I just made this and have one word: Divine!
Thank you!
Y’all, this buffalo chicken dip is incredible. I brought it to Thanksgiving and had no leftovers. I used two cans of artichokes for a thicker dip, and be careful not to over process them unless you want a looser consistency dip. I also added about a cup of onions and about 3 tablespoons of garlic powder. Thank you Nora!! I have tried quite a few of your recipes now, and would love to support you by purchasing an ebook. Thanks for being a staple go to for all my vegan recipes and never disappointing!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!
So good! I added a head of cut up roasted cauliflower and subbed half of the cashews with a half tub of kite hill vegan cream cheese. I froze most of this large recipe for the holidays because my husband who is not vegan loved it. Thanks a bunch, love your recipes.
You’re so welcome!
This is so good! I made it last night. I was curious about the calories. I rarely ever look at calorie content but was reading your nutritional facts and I see 191kcal. I was curious so did a conversion in google and it says 191,000 calories. That can’t be right? Is it?
I’m glad it was good! kcal is actually the same as calorie. We call it a calorie, but it’s a kcal. The terms are used interchangeably.
I have been craving this for months and it did not let me down. DELICIOUS!!
Made this for my niece’s bridal shower and everyone loved it! This makes a really good portion and for the few of us gathered together we put quite a dent in it. This will definitely be my go-to when I need an appetizer. Dairy allergies run in my family so when I can find a recipe that both non-dairy and dairy eaters will enjoy, it’s a score! Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Easy and good.Fooled non vegans!!!!
This is the most delicious buffalo dip recipe. My husband and I loved it. We have tried probably 8+ recipes from you now and none of them have been short of delicious. Still amazes me how good every recipe is. Thank you for all of the free content, but we will also be purchasing your ebook. Love your food so much and you’ve made me a fan of artichokes!
Thank you so much, that means a lot to me! I’m so happy you are enjoying the recipes!
We’ve made this about 5 times and love it! We usually double the artichokes and add a can or two of rinsed black beans and it’s a hit with all eaters. Thank you for another great recipe!
You’re welcome!
We make this every week at our house! Great recipe, thank you!
I used chickpeas instead of cashews and the chickpea juice from the can as water and it turned out good! (If your worried about but allergies)
Could you substitute the cashews for the potato and carrot base you used in your other recipe? Want to be mindful of my family members with nut allergies
You could certainly try it, but I haven’t tested it this way so it’s hard for me to say.
I really can’t say enough about this recipe! It’s absolutely delicious! My omnivorous husband says he prefers this over the dairy and poultry version. I hand chopped the artichokes and next time I may just make it in my food processor because I can’t scrape every bit out of the vitamix. Thank you for this recipe!
Really really good plus easy ! My 22 year old son and husband both liked it a lot. I’ll be making this one again.
That’s so great to hear!!
I have a habanero hot sauce instead of the buffalo sauce. Considering it is a lot hotter, how would you recommend making adjustments to the recipe?
If it’s super spicy, I would probably just dip them in it after the bake, instead of coating them with it. It might get overwhelming!
This recipe is a keeper. I used 2 cans of artichokes instead. I brought it to a framily ( friends like family ?) gathering and they loved it. I made it again last night and it was delicious. Great texture and very filling ! Highly recommended
This recipe was a real crowd pleaser last night. Vegans and non vegans loved it! I will make this for all of my family parties in future!
I love to hear that!!
Do you drwin the artichokes first before placing in blender ?
Yes, drained.
If putting this in the crockpot, would you bake it first or just let the crock pot heat it?
I don’t think you would need to bake it first if you let it cook long enough in the crock pot, but I haven’t tested it.
This recipe is a keeper. I used 2 cans of artichokes instead. I brought it to a framily ( friends like family ?) gathering and they loved it. I made it again last night and it was delicious. Great texture and very filling ! Highly recommended
I’m so glad it came out great!
So amazing! I also added 2T nutritional yeast to give some cheesiness. This will be added to my rotation for sure. Nora, I have tried several of your recipes and they are all spot on! Thanks for all the great vegan ideas!
We have a cashew allergy in my house—do you think I could make this with silken tofu instead?
You could try it, I’m not totally sure how it will turn out though as I’ve never tested it. If you try it, I’d love to know how it turns out!
Very impressive for vegan! I have not had a vegan buffalo chicken dip since going vegan so this was a nice treat!
Glad it was good!
Wow! So easy and tasty. I might prefer this recipe to the meat version – healthy and yum!
That’s so great!
Excellent, i took this to a get together with mostly meat eaters and it was a hit! The only change I made was adding 2 good tablespoons of nutritional yeast. Can’t wait to try your other recipes! So Yummy, the artichokes are perfect and the texture is amazing!
That’s so great to hear! Thanks for the comment!