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.
Love this easy recipe! I don’t have a super good blender so I soaked the cashews over night! Worked perfect! Thanks for all your wonderful recipes!
You are welcome, Sharra! I’m so glad that you loved the recipe, and that it worked well for you! Thank you for loving my recipes, and for taking time to share your stellar review! Wishing you happy cooking!
This disappeared so fast! I did make one change – almond milk instead of water. I used soy curls and even though I pre soaked and pre cooked them, they still soaked up a lot of the dip when it finally came out of the oven. That was no big deal! I had used a cast iron skillet for the dip so it was still super hot. I just added more milk to thin it and it didn’t even cool it off! Delicious. We devoured it. Thanks for another terrific recipe.
You are welcome, Melissa! Your dip sounds delicious! I’m thrilled it was a hit! Thank you for sharing your recipe experience and stellar review! Wishing you happy cooking!
Questions before i make this (will rate and review after) — 1. Can the 1 cup buffalo sauce be just 1 cup of Frank’s Red Hot, or should it be 1 cup of Frank’s Red Hot *plus* 1 tbsp each agave and melted vegan butter? 2. I see that you haven’t tested either of the recommended substitutes for cashews, is that still the case? Thanks and can’t wait to make this!
Hi Max! So I have made this countless times now, and I have just used Frank’s Red Hot (instead of the buffalo specific one) and it works great. You don’t need to add the agave and melted vegan butter. I haven’t tested this recipe specifically without the cashews, but in other recipes that are similar I’ve had pretty good luck with sunflower seeds and drained and rinsed white beans in some cases. It will be a little different for sure, but I bet it would work if needed.
Thank you Nora! I’ll report back when I make this next weekend. The drained and rinsed white beans sound like a really good idea!
Replying late but the beans worked in place of the cashews! More accurately, I used 1.5 cups of white beans and a half cup of cashews. With Daring Chicken in place of the artichokes this dip is easy to keep going back to. Gonna make it again with only cashews for extra fattiness, I just find that even boiled and soaked cashews don’t get perfectly smooth in any blender I’ve had. Thanks Nora!
Hi Max. I sure appreciate you letting me know how the recipe worked out with the white beans! Thank you for sharing your recipe ideas and experience! I appreciate your stellar review! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
So excited to try this! Has anyone tried prepping this the day before and popping it in the oven the next day?
I’ve prepped it a day ahead of time before and it works great. Enjoy!
This is the best Sunday football app. My non vegan friends think it tastes like regular chicken wing dip! So i’d say its an app you can bring to any party. Thank you!
You are welcome, Kay! Score on the dip! I’m thrilled that it is a hit! Thanks for taking time to share your terrific review and feedback!
This dip is crazy good! I made it for my work pitch in today. No one could tell it was Vegan. I used soy curls for the Vegan chicken so that it was gluten free. Highly recommend!
Loved this recipe! Super yummy! I was wondering if you can freeze the leftovers?
I haven’t tried freezing it myself, but it should work okay. The texture might be a little thick, but I bet if you warm it up, then mix in a little water to thin, it will fix it.
Meh… I made this for the first time last night and really wanted it to be good! It was not as cheesy or creamy as the comments would suggest. I did add a little nutritional yeast in the mix.
i absolutely love this recipe. i’ve made it more times than i can count and i always bring it to events (thanksgiving, friendsgiving, parties, etc) and everyone loves it. i’m not even exaggerating. it’s insanely popular and i’ve even had friends request it in place of christmas gifts! every time i bring up that i plan to make this for something, several people’s ears perk up and they say something about how excited they are for it. i’ve told them it’s my own recipe so they have to come to me for it 😉
Hi Bri. I’m so glad that the dip is always a hit at gatherings! Thanks for taking time to share your terrific review and feedback! Wishing lots of happy gatherings, and cooking!
This was great! Made tonight for the Super Bowl!
Sounds like a fun Super Bowl snack! I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for your wonderful review!
We made this for the Rose Bowl and it was a hit. I don’t normally care for Buffalo anything, but this was really good. My wife doesn’t like the texture of artichoke, so I used Buffalo flavored Daring chicken and chopped them up into small pieces. It gave quite a bit of extra heat, so next time I’ll use the regular flavor. I think it also caused a moisture issue, because mine was more of a spread than a dip. We didn’t mind at all though.
This is so good!!!
Thank you! I’m glad you loved the dip!
What can I substitute if we have nut allergies? Excited to make this for New Year’s Eve!
I haven’t tested it myself for this recipe, but sunflower seeds might possibly work in place of the cashews. I’m sure there are versions out there that use vegan cream cheese that you buy at the store, but I haven’t tried it.
I love this recipe!
I would suggest adding the Buffalo sauce to the mix before the artichokes and blend it first, otherwise I find it doesn’t mix enough and you end up with artichoke puree 😀
Nora! Thank you for the recipe, this is a great vegan alternative to chicken! I love the idea too for swapping with jackfruit, I’ll try that next time!
You bet, Darlene! Thanks for your wonderful review and feedback! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I have made this many times and it remains a favorite!! Eating it with celery is the best. I’ve used the Sweet Earth Mindful Chick’n instead of artichokes and it somehow makes this dip even better. Who knew that was possible?
Going to try that!
This makes a delicious sauce for soy curls on pasta. It’s the best buffalo sauce recipe
I’ve tried.
I’m so glad you are loving it! Thanks for the awesome review and idea! Happy cooking!
I absolutely love this recipe! I’ve tried many vegan buffalo dips, but this one is by far the easiest, quickest, and tastiest! I also love when I can use a vegetable I don’t often use, like artichoke. Question: what type of salt do you use? I haven’t made the dip since fall and I don’t recall if I used kosher, coarse sea salt, table salt, etc. Thanks so much!!
So glad you love it as much as I do! I just use regular table salt myself. Thank you!
This is one of my favorite dip recipes! Thanks for always putting together the best recipes.
This was bomb!!!!!! I added chopped water chestnuts in addition to the artichokes. Amazing!!!!!!
What makes this cheesy? I am going to make this for Super Bowl Sunday. I think I’ll use Trader Joe’s frozen artichokes since I’ve never seen them in cans. I’m sure it’s great like all your other recipes!
The cashew sauce once baked tastes kinda cheesy. Hope you love it!
I added 1/2-1c nutritional yeast (aka “nooch”) to my recipe and a bit extra water for balance and it definitely gives it a more “cheesy” flavor!
Hi Becky. Thanks for sharing your idea! I appreciate your wonderful review!
Hi there! I’m really looking forward to cooking this but am hoping to get suggestions about how I would adjust the recipe in order to keep it warm in a little crock pot throughout a party.
You could skip the baking and just heat it up in a crock pot for the party. It should work just fine! Hope everyone enjoys it.
it worked great in the mini slow cooker, thanks!
You bet! Thanks for your wonderful review!