The best Buffalo Chicken Soup Recipe you’ll ever have. Easy to make, healthy and delicious – you won’t believe it’s dairy free!
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We absolutely love buffalo sauce (doesn’t everyone?) and have created many recipes with it like our healthy buffalo turkey meatballs, buffalo chicken salad, and our popular healthy buffalo chicken dip.
Soups are another one of our favorite meals and so I wanted to find a way to get the flavors of delicious buffalo chicken into a creamy and delicious soup. This recipe is exactly what I was hoping for!
The best part… it’s totally dairy free, paleo & Whole30 friendly!
The creaminess in this soup comes from the Yukon gold potatoes and a little almond milk making it a perfect option if you are dairy-free or just trying to reduce your dairy intake.
I know if you are a buffalo sauce lover, this will become one of your go-to family recipes!
Why we love this Easy Buffalo Chicken Soup
This recipe is a favorite for us because it’s:
- Hearty & Delicious – the potatoes in this soup make it incredibly filling!
- Made with simple ingredients – only 10 ingredients are needed for this soup
- Paleo, Dairy-Free, Whole30 friendly – this soup is a great lunch or dinner for a variety of diets
Buffalo Chicken Soup Ingredients:
To make this soup you will need:
- chicken breasts
- olive oil
- onion, celery, garlic, carrot
- yukon gold potatoes
- Frank’s Red Hot
- no/low salt chicken broth
- almond milk
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded substitutions box.
What kind of chicken makes the best soup? Chicken breasts or chicken thighs make the best soup. Breasts are lean and have a lot of meat on them, making them the perfect addition to any chicken soup.
If you’re making chicken soup from scratch, you can also use a whole chicken or a split chicken breast.
How to make Creamy Buffalo Chicken Soup
Making this chicken soup is so easy and it all comes together in one pot. Here’s how to make it:
- Sauté celery, carrot, onion, and garlic in olive oil on the stove for 2 minutes or until slightly translucent.
- Add chicken, potatoes, chicken broth, and buffalo sauce to the pot and bring to a boil. Then, lower heat to a simmer and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes
- Once cooked, remove the large potato pieces + chicken.
- Place large potato pieces, almond milk, and 1/2 cup of chicken broth into a blender and blend until smooth. Place chicken on a cutting board and shred. Put the shredded chicken and blended mixture back into the pot.
- Stir together until combined and smooth.
Garnish with parsley, crumbled blue cheese, or green onions, and ENJOY!
If you love your crockpot check out Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie Soup or these Easy CrockPot Chicken Recipes.
How long does it take to make this soup?
- In the crockpot: 6 hours 20 minutes
- In the Instant Pot: 30 minutes
- On the stove: 40 minutes
SUBSTITUTIONS FOR BUFFALO CHICKEN SOUP
Meat: Boneless chicken thighs or cooked chicken will also work in this recipe. I would recommend cutting the cook time in half if using cooked chicken (like rotisserie chicken). You can use leftover turkey in this buffalo soup as well! We also have a Healthy Turkey Pot Pie Soup or this Leftover Turkey Soup is great too!
Veggies: You can use any vegetables you have on hand in this recipe. More onion, carrots, and celery are always a good idea! I’ve also stirred in chopped spinach after making this and it’s great!
Potatoes: Yukon gold potatoes are the best potatoes to use for this recipe because they are the creamiest. Other potatoes will work but they might result in a starchier soup.
Almond Milk: You can replace the almond milk with coconut milk to keep the recipe dairy-free or substitute regular milk if you’re not dairy-free. (1:1) You really can’t taste the almond milk in this recipe though! If you want to add heavy cream.. feel free to do so!
Vegetarian: Skip the chicken, double up on all the veggies and add a can of rinsed, drained chickpeas for a vegetarian buffalo ‘chicken’ soup!
Broth: Chicken broth, beef broth, or vegetable broth /stock can all be substituted in this recipe. We recommend using low or no sodium since buffalo sauce is salty.
Stovetop/Instant Pot/Slow Cooker: You can make this soup using whichever method you’d like! All instructions are included in the recipe below!
What dishes go well with this easy chicken soup recipe?
This soup is pretty hearty, so it’s fine to enjoy on its own – but I also like to serve it with:
- Chicken salad sandwich
- Citrus salad
- Chicken tenders
- Crackers or a big loaf of bread
- Even tortilla chips if you want a buffalo chicken dip feel
How do you store this chicken soup?
How long does this healthy buffalo chicken soup recipe last? This soup will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator or 4-6 months in the freezer.
How to Store: You can store this soup in the fridge or freezer in. We like these containers for freezing soup– code CLEANEATINGCOUPLE works to save $$ on them! Check out our tips on freezing chicken soup.
Freezing: Store in airtight containers and allow it to cool completely before freezing. When ready to eat, defrost the night before in your refrigerator or just pop in a microwave/pan and heat! If stored properly it should stay good for 4-6 months.
Buffalo Chicken Soup FAQ
You’ll know this soup is done when your chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. From there you can remove your chicken, shred it, and add it back to the pot.
You can thicken this chicken soup if you’d like, but we don’t recommend it. The potatoes are a natural thickener in this recipe. The easiest way to thicken up soup is to bring it to a low boil and stir in 2 tablespoons of flour. The soup should thicken almost instantly.
Other healthy buffalo chicken recipes:
We love buffalo chicken just as much as you! Here are some of our most popular buffalo chicken recipes:
- Buffalo Chicken Casserole Recipe
- Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole
- Healthy Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Boats
- Buffalo Brussels Sprouts
- Healthy Buffalo Turkey Meatballs
Love chicken? If so – here are some of our other favorite healthy chicken recipes!
Buffalo Chicken Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts about 2 larger breasts
- 1 cup onion finely chopped
- 1 cup celery finely chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic finely minced
- 1 cup carrot cut in small coins
- 2 cups yukon gold potatoes cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 cup yukon gold potatoes cut in half so that you can remove them at the end (about 1 large potato)
- ¼ cup Frank’s Red Hot
- 5 cups no/low salt chicken broth
- 1/2 cup almond milk or milk/ other dairy free milk
Instructions
Crock Pot Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a pan on the stove. Add in the celery, carrot, onion and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes or until slightly translucent. (This step is optional, but recommended!)
- Layer raw chicken, cooked vegetables and potatoes in the crockpot. Add broth and buffalo sauce. Cover + set to low for 6 hours.
- Once cooked, remove the large potato pieces + chicken breasts.
- Place large potato halves, milk + 1/2 cup of broth *from the pot* (a few ladels full!) into a blender until smooth. Add back into the pot.
- Place chicken breasts on a cutting board and shred. Put the shredded chicken back into the pot.
- Stir together until combined and smooth. Garnish with parsley, blue cheese or green onions and serve.
Stovetop Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot on the stove. Add in the celery, carrot, onion and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes or until slightly translucent.
- Add raw chicken, potatoes, broth and buffalo sauce in the pot. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes
- Once cooked, remove the large potato pieces + chicken breasts.
- Place large potato halves, almond milk + 1/2 cup of broth *from the pot* (a few ladels full!) into a blender until smooth. Add back into the pot.
- Place chicken breasts on a cutting board and shred. Put the shredded chicken back into the pot.
- Stir together until combined and smooth. Garnish with parsley, blue cheese or green onions and serve.
Instant Pot Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to regular sauté function. Add olive oil to the pot. Lightly sear the chicken breasts on each side for about 2 minutes. Remove the breasts to a plate and set aside. The chicken will not be cooked through, but this is ok.
- Add in the celery, carrot, onion and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes or until slightly translucent. Add in small cut potatoes + stir.
- Lay the chicken breasts on top of the vegetable/small potato mixture. Add large potato halves on top of chicken. Pour in broth and buffalo sauce.
- Turn the Instant Pot to High Pressure (manual on older models), sealing and cook for 9 minutes. Allow it to natural release for 5 minutes. Manually release the rest of the pressure after 5 minutes.
- Remove the large potato pieces + chicken breasts.
- Place large potato halves, milk + 1/2 cup of broth *from the pot* (a few ladels full!) into a blender until smooth. Add back into the pot
- Place chicken breasts on a cutting board and shred. Put the shredded chicken back into the pot.
- Stir together until combined and smooth. Garnish with parsley, blue cheese or green onions and serve.
Christine says
Made this last night and it was great! I used the Instant Pot. I also just used a roasted chicken and shredded that. The spicy and creamy combination was wonderful. I topped with green onion, slices of avocado, and gorgonzola cheese. I would highly recommend.
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much, Christine! So glad you liked it!
Lisette Garcia says
I’m always looking for new soups to try that are clean and easy to make . This recipe hit both those musts for me ! This was my fist recipe from The Clean Eating Couple & it did not disappoint . It was the perfect recipe for a rainy day . Looking forward to trying out more recipes this week .
The Clean Eating Couple says
So happy you liked it, Lisette! Thank you so much for giving it a try!
Megan Green says
Made this for dinner tonight in my instapot. Very yummy!! I thought it was a good level of heat. I did throw in a can of chick peas, as half of the family is vegetarian. I followed the recipe for cooking but left the shredded chicken on the side. I also used normal milk not almond. Still delicious!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thanks so much, Megan! Glad you liked it!
carmela says
Hi Liz,
Since we like chunky ingredients, can we cut everything up to bite size and throw it all in for 4 hours on high?
Thanks for considering! Can’t wait to make it either way!!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Hi! Not sure what you mean. the carrots and celery could be cut but the reason some of the potatoes stay in larger pieces is because the potatoes need to be removed & blended to help make the soup creamy. Without that it wont be creamy!
Carly says
Just made this! Absolutely amazing with great flavor. I am dairy-free so I love when I can have a creamy soup without worrying (and it actually taste good)! The only thing I did differently was add in some cauliflower rice for extra veggies.
The Clean Eating Couple says
So happy you liked it!
Ashley says
Easy to make and SO YUMMY! I used skim milk and added goat cheese as a topping and it worked out well.
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked it, Ashley! Thank you!
Vivian says
This was the very first recipe of yours that I tried. It would determine if I would attempt any more of your recipes and guess what – great success! I even recommended it to coworkers who were looking for new yummy recipes!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Love hearing this! Thank you!
Caitlin Q says
This was so delicious! Just the right amount of spice. I swapped the potatoes out for turnips (veggies most) and you wouldn’t even know. Perfect soup for cold winter nights and football game days. Thank you!!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked it!
Chrysta says
This my new favorite soup! Delicious!!!
ElizabethTaylor says
This recipe was so delicious! Next time, I definitely want to add the green onions you recommended!
Haley says
I had to make a few adjustments since my pantry was missing Frank’s but this was amazing and I will definitely make again!
Kaileigh McKenna says
Been loving thecleaneatingcouple recipes in my house as we love to focus on real foods and less processed ingredients. This soup has been the perfect meal this week as the weather cools down, and tastes great reheated. The perfect amount of spice (and I don’t tolerate spice well), and can add more hot sauce to your liking. We did the installation version and once you get everything chopped it flies by. Highly recommend this ine
Jill says
Easy and delicious! Love that it’s in 1 pot. I used yellow potatoes, since I had them on hand, and it was lovely. Added blue cheese crumbles and that really brought the dish together.
Terri says
Excellent! I substituted cauliflower for the potatoes, coconut cream for the almond milk and used chicken bone broth. Perfection! Nothing else needed. Thank you 🙂
Wendy W says
I did stovetop version and it was DELICIOUS!! Perfect for a wintery football Sunday. We are (mostly) dairy-free household and always appreciate almond milk substitute! Next time I would used more potatoes in puree to make soup thicker. (personal choice only) 5 star in our book and a regular this winter season!