DIY Dorm Room Cooking: Buffalo Chicken Ranch Dip

Nothing says, “I’m nailing this whole ‘adulting’ thing,” quite like showing up to a party with a home-cooked food. However, it can be difficult to find time to whip up a gourmet dish in between classes, work, and extra-curricular activities. Fortunately, we found a quick, easy-to-make recipe, courtesy of Buzzfeed, and even tested it out to see if it would impress friends. Here’s how it all went down. 

Before I could start cooking, I needed to purchase my ingredients. I was able to find everything at my local Trader Joe’s, but any grocery store will suffice for this recipe.

(Pictured above: Trader Joe’s “Just Chicken” white meat chicken, Trader Joe’s cream cheese, Trader Joe’s hot sriracha sauce, Trader Joe’s ranch dressing, Trader Joe’s shredded cheese blend, and Trader Joe’s pita chips)

Step One: Place chicken in container.

In hindsight, I have two recommendations for this step. First, use a bigger container. You’ll thank yourself when you reach the mixing part of the recipe. Second, if you can’t find shredded chicken, cut the chicken up into smaller pieces. Again, you’ll thank yourself when you aren’t struggling to fit a giant piece of chicken onto a tiny pita chip.

Step Two: Add 8 oz. of cream cheese.

When I reached this step, I realized that I had accidentally purchased salmon-flavored cream cheese from Trader Joe’s. Against my better judgment, I decided to use the salmon cream cheese and hoped my friends wouldn’t notice the fishy taste in the dip. They noticed. Pro tip: read labels very carefully when shopping for your ingredients.

Step Three: Add one cup of hot sauce.

I decided to take a risk here and use sriracha sauce instead of buffalo sauce. For all the sriracha lovers out there, I highly recommend substituting buffalo sauce with sriracha sauce. If you’re not feeling adventurous, I’m sure any hot sauce will be delicious (just not as good, mmmm).

Step Four: Add one cup of ranch dressing.

Step Five: Add approximately one cup of cheese.

Honestly, I added about two fistfuls of cheese because I don’t own dry measuring cups. In my opinion, the more cheese the better. It’s up to you whether you’d like to make the dip extra cheesy, but add AT LEAST one cup.

Step Six: Mix your ingredients.

Being the inexperienced chef I am, I did not account for this step when I added all of my ingredients into my microwave-safe container. Luckily, I was able to find a larger mixing bowl. Pro tip #2: Mix your ingredients in a larger container before transferring them into the smaller one for cooking.

Step Seven: Microwave for 2 minutes. Stir. Then, repeat.

Most college students don’t have ovens in their dorm rooms. I tweaked the original recipe and was able to cook the dip in my microwave without making any mess. Don’t forget to stir and repeat to ensure that the dip cooks evenly!

Voila! Serve with your favorite chips (I recommend pita chips) and enjoy! 

All photos courtesy of author

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