Lightened Up Buffalo Chicken Dip
I have been craving chicken wings since the football season started! I love Franks Red hot sauce and I do indeed put that stuff on everything. I also love me some cheesy dips. Both of these things tend to be pretty high calorie and that is something I am trying to avoid for the most part. One thing I have started using to avoid extra calories but get that creamy, cheesy flavor is fat free cottage cheese! At just 80 calories for a half cup it's packs a punch. (as apposed to low fat cream cheese, which is about 240 a half cup) If you put it in a food processor and pulse it for a minute you get a creamy ricotta like cheese. Baked in dishes like this chicken dip make it a bit melty. Fat free cheeses don't melt exactly like regular cheese, but I find it to be a pretty great substitute with a lot less calories! Win/win! So give this a try and tell me what you think!
- 1 to 1 & 1/2 lbs baked or canned Chicken Breast (if baked chicken, shredded or cubed. I prefer shredded for this.)
- 1 Cup Greek Yogurt - Fat Free - Plain
- 0.50 cup, Fat Free cottage cheese
- 2 tbsp. low fat Cream Cheese,
- 3 to 6 tbsp Hot Sauce (Like Franks or Texas Pete or whatever your favorite is. More or less depends on how much heat you like)
- 2 tbsp. Fat free Mozzarella
- 1 tsp(s), Spices, garlic powder
- 1 tsp Cajun Spice (we love Slap Ya Momma, but anything with a little heat and salt will work)
- 1 oz Cheese, low fat cheddar or Colby
- 1 tablespoon Feta Fat Free (for garnish)
- Preheat oven to 350 (325 convection bake) In a food processor add your half cup cottage cheese, and pulse it like 5 or so times until it looks more like ricotta. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth because it's all getting mixed together. Add your Greek yogurt, cream cheese, hot sauce, garlic powder and Cajun seasoning. Process til it's all combined. Scrape it all into a bowl, add cooked chicken and fold it all together. Now scrape it all into a 8x8 baking dish that has been sprayed with coconut oil (or vegetable oil spray. Whatever you got.) Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with fat free mozzarella and low fat cheddar (or Colby jack) and bake for 20 more minutes. It should look golden brown around the edges a bit. Remove from oven and sprinkle with fat free feta or blue cheese (Do they make fat free blue cheese? Because that would be better, but I have never seen it in a grocery store. Lol) and drizzle with a bit more hot sauce.
- You can eat this over some spaghetti squash as a dinner (no carb if that's your thang!) or with cut up celery and carrot sticks. My personal favorite is the Good Thin Corn and Sea Salt crackers. They are a lot like tortilla chips, but a 120 calorie serving is 41 crackers, as apposed to tortilla chips being 9 to 12 chips for 140-160 cals. I mean aren't the chips and crackers just a vessel to scoop that dip into your face anyway! 😉 (I stole that chip is a vessel line from my GF Bobbi. She is a wise and healthy snacker. Lol) Happy snacking!
- This dish makes about 6 servings and is about 135 calories per serving. About a third of the calories as a traditional Buffalo chicken dip.
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