Two of the greatest football gameday foods – buffalo chicken dip and potato skins – come together for one of the most epic gluten-free football tailgate appetizers ever: Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins!
It’s that time of year again. That time I have grown to both love and loathe: FOOTBALL SEASON!
I love it for obvious reasons: HOKIE FOOTBALL, fantasy football leagues (oh yeah!), and, obviously, tailgate food.
Why Loathe? Because this means I won’t have my husband’s undivided attention for even two seconds for at least the next 4 months. [Football widows are REAL and I should definitely be the president of that club 😉 ]
Ok, maybe I will get his undivided attention for two seconds, but believe you me, those two seconds will only be because I laid a platter of these delicious buffalo chicken potato skins in front of his face, and, c’mon — just look at ‘em. You CAN’T serve them without receiving a big wide-eyed stare, an OMG THANK YOU, and a big ol’ kiss*, right? Pleaaaase say yes. I’m banking on those two seconds.
*If this is true, which I suspect it is, beware of who you serve them to…. 😉
In our house, buffalo chicken dip is an absolute staple during football season. I dutifully take it with me to every football gathering, and, without fail, the bowl is always empty by the end of the 1st quarter. SO GOOD.
And while there is absolutely nothing wrong with the original dip (actually, there is too much that is right about it) I was craving something a little more fancy this year. Something with just a little more pizazz…
….and something that would maybe, maybe help me with portion control. I figured I miiiiight feel a tad more guilty about polishing off 5 buffalo chicken potato skins by myself than I would eating ⅔ of a pan of buffalo chicken dip with no help. Not that it’s happened before.
Ahem.
While a bit more time intensive, this gloriously gluten-free football appetizer is no harder to whip up than your standard batch of buffalo chicken dip, especially when you consider the time it takes to clean and chop the celery that usually accompanies the dip ( ← THE WORST). No celery required here, folks! Just potato-y goodness.
It’s as easy as baking a potato, cutting it in half, scooping out most of the guts, and then filling it in with your standard buffalo chicken dip mixture, and putting it in the oven once more. EZPZ.
PLUS, with these potato skins you don’t have to be worried about a random gluten-full pretzel taking a dunk in the buffalo chicken dip rendering it cross-contaminated and off-limits to us gluten-free folks.
Other than the flava flav that these potato skins have going on, my favorite thing about them is that they can also so easily double as a main dish!
I mean: chicken, cheese, potato, HOT SAUCE ← all of your basic food groups right there. 😉
And, ladies, let me just tell you that if you’re looking to win over a man,you should make this for him for dinner/the big game. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but I think what “they” meant to say was: the way to a man’s heart is through football and buffalo-chicken-anything. I think 99.99% of all men would definitely agree with that statement.
Believe it or not, I am pretty psyched for football season this year.
….even if it is a little less about the football and a little more about delicious buffalo chicken potato skins.
GO TEAM!
Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins
Total time
- 4 russet potatoes
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 6 oz, cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup gluten-free ranch dressing
- ½ cup hot sauce*
- ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, plus ¼ cup for topping
- 1 12oz can premium white chicken breast, drained
- Chives, for garnish
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Thoroughly wash/scrub potatoes and allow them to dry. Pierce them with a fork all over.
- Bake potatoes on a wire rack for 60-70 minutes, or until a fork easily slides into the flesh.
- Remove from oven and allow the potatoes to cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Cut the potatoes in half, and with a spoon, gently scoop out the flesh of the potatoes, down to about ¼ of an inch away from the skin.
- Brush the insides and skins of the potatoes with the olive oil. Place the skins cut-side down on the baking sheet, and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove the skins from the oven, flip them over (skin-side down) and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and decrease the temperature to 375 degrees.
- While the potatoes are baking, mix the cream cheese, ranch dressing, hot sauce, and sharp cheddar together in a bowl. Gently fold in the chicken breast. Set aside.
- Fill each potato skin with the buffalo chicken mixture, and then top with a sprinkling of the reserved sharp cheddar cheese.
- Bake the potato skins once more, for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and enjoy!