One of my favorite guilty pleasure party foods is buffalo chicken dip. You know, the creamy, cheesy, spicy dip that you dip Fritos into? It’s so good and yet so horrible for you! I looked up the ingredients a while ago and discovered that it’s basically cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and lots of ranch dressing. AKA – high fat, higher fat, and even higher fat! The thing is, with the Super Bowl in just a couple of days I still really wanted some of this dip, so I decided to remake it for you (and me) with a little less fat. Actually, about half the fat – and don’t worry, I didn’t replace the fat with sugar!

For the “chips” I cut jicama and kohlrabi into thin slices. These vegetable are unfamiliar to a lot of people, but they’re great veggies to get to know! They’re basically bulb-type vegetables that are nice and crunchy. Jicama has a slight spiciness and kohlrabi has a milder flavor. Both are great for using as chip substitutes when paired with dips because they add that satisfying crunch without the fat and calories!

Despite its good points, I still wouldn’t call my Reduced Fat Buffalo Chicken Dip a “healthy food” so don’t be packing it with your work lunch! I figure it’s okay to indulge a little for a party, but why not make it a little bit less of a nutritional blunder, right? Enjoy the big game!

Reduced Fat Buffalo Chicken Dip

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 1 8 oz packet of neufchatel or low-fat Philadelphia cream cheese
• 2 10 oz cans of chicken in water, drained and shredded
• 2 C shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
• 2/3 C Bolthouse Farms Yogurt Classic Ranch dressing
• 3 stalks of celery, finely diced
• 3-5 Tbsp hot sauce (to taste)*
• 3 lb jicama or kholrabi, sliced thin

*I used Melinda’s Original Habanero Pepper Sauce because it contains no artificial ingredients (plus it’s really good).

Directions

1. Combine your neufchatel, ranch dressing, and hot sauce in a bowl and mix well until smooth.

2. Stir in drained and shredded chicken, shredded cheese, and diced celery until combined.

3. Peel your jicama or kholrabi (or both), then cut into thin slices. I have a football-shaped cookie cutter, so I cut my jicama into football shapes, but that’s totally optional.

4. You can serve immediately, or keep your dip chilled in the refrigerator for up to week.

Reduced Fat Buffalo Chicken Dip

Yield: 10 servings

Reduced Fat Buffalo Chicken Dip has the kick and the creamy, cheesy goodness of the traditional dip, but with half the fat!

Print

Ingredients

• 1 8 oz packet of neufchatel or low-fat Philadelphia cream cheese
• 2 10 oz cans of chicken in water, drained and shredded
• 2 C shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
• 2/3 C Bolthouse Farms Yogurt Classic Ranch dressing
• 3 stalks of celery, finely diced
• 3-5 Tbsp hot sauce (to taste)*
• 3 lb jicama or kholrabi, sliced thin

Instructions

1. Combine your neufchatel, ranch dressing, and hot sauce in a bowl and mix well until smooth.
2. Stir in drained and shredded chicken, shredded cheese, and diced celery until combined.
3. Peel your jicama or kholrabi (or both), then cut into thin slices. I have a football-shaped cookie cutter, so I cut my jicama into football shapes, but that's totally optional.
4. You can serve immediately, or keep your dip chilled in the refrigerator for up to week.

Notes

*I used Melinda's Original Habanero Pepper Sauce because it contains no artificial ingredients (plus it's really good).