In this video, learn how to make Chef John's irresistible Baked Buffalo Bison Dip, the perfect crowd-pleaser for game day, parties, or any gathering! This creamy, cheesy dip combines tender ground bison, zesty buffalo sauce, and a blend of savory cheeses baked to golden perfection. Packed with bold flavors and a spicy kick, this easy-to-follow recipe will quickly become a favorite.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Baked Buffalo Bison Dip.
00:09That's right, we're making a baked buffalo style chicken dip using actual buffalo, or
00:14as it's called at the butcher shop, bison.
00:17So what I'm trying to say is, the name is not redundant.
00:21This is buffalo style buffalo.
00:23And to get started, we will add some butter to a skillet over high heat, and we will let
00:28it melt into the shape of a mushroom.
00:30And once it melts and we have that tipped around the pan, we can add two pounds of ground
00:34bison.
00:35And once we have that transferred in and settled down a little bit with our spatula, we will
00:40season that up with some kosher salt, as well as a little bit of freshly ground black pepper.
00:46And no, we don't need any cayenne at this point.
00:48All right, as you'll see, we're going to be adding a whole bunch of hot sauce to this,
00:52so we should be fine.
00:54And what we want to do here is break this meat up and brown it very, very well, as in
01:00the meat is actually going to get brown and crusty, and not just get to that unimpressive
01:04gray stage.
01:05So I really need you to take your time with this step.
01:08Oh, and since we are going to turn the meat into something that's dippable and or spreadable,
01:12I think the smaller we break this meat up, the better.
01:15Oh, and as you might know, bison meat is very, very lean, which is one reason we started
01:20with a good amount of butter.
01:22And also, the main components in a buffalo-style sauce are butter and hot sauce.
01:27So the butter makes sense for several reasons.
01:29And then what we'll do once our meat does get actually browned, right, you see that?
01:34It's browned and it's crusty.
01:35Okay, when our meat looks like this, we can add our diced onions, and we can probably
01:40at this point lower our heat to medium.
01:43And what we'll do is stir those onions in and let those cook for about three or four
01:46minutes, or until they start to soften up and turn from bright white to sort of translucent.
01:53And of course, during that time, our meat is continuing to brown even more.
01:57And then once we feel like our onions have cooked long enough, we will finish up the
02:01meat component by pouring in a very generous amount of hot sauce.
02:05And yes, if you want a true buffalo style, you got to use Frank's, but really any Louisiana-style
02:11hot sauce will work.
02:13And that's it.
02:14We will simply stir that in and turn off the heat.
02:17And then we'll let this cool down before we mix it into the rest of the ingredients, which
02:21we can go ahead and put together at any time.
02:24And that will include a half a pound of cream cheese, as well as a half a pound of grated
02:28Monterey Jack.
02:30And I'm actually using pepper jack here for a little extra heat, but just plain jack or
02:35a very, very mild cheddar would also work.
02:38And then we'll finish up the cheese portion of the program with some crumbled blue cheese
02:42that I crumbled up myself, just like you should.
02:46And that's it.
02:47We can now go ahead and grab our meat mixture and we will transfer that in, at which point
02:52we will add the last ingredient, which is going to be a relatively small dice of celery,
02:57which provides a little bit of texture, but more importantly, a little bit of bitterness
03:01to help balance the richness and elevate all the other flavors.
03:05And once everything's in there, all we need to do is take a spoon and mix everything until
03:10it's evenly combined and we don't have any visible chunks of cream cheese, which, yes,
03:15would have been so, so much easier had I left my cream cheese out and let it get soft.
03:20But anyway, all's well that ends well.
03:22And as long as you mix it long enough, it will eventually end up looking like this,
03:26at which point we'll take that and transfer it into a baking dish.
03:29And we'll go ahead and pack that down in, and then sort of even and smooth out the top
03:34a bit.
03:36And then before we pop this in the oven, I'm going to sprinkle over a little more cheese
03:39on top, both the Monterey Jack and the crumbled blue cheese, which is definitely optional.
03:45Okay, you can, if you want, just mix all the cheese in and bake it as is.
03:49All right, that is your call.
03:51I mean, you are after all the Josh Allen of this buffalo bison dip, not Fallon, but I
03:56do think it makes the surface look a little more interesting, so I do it.
04:01And then, no, we don't need any cayenne on top, but I'm going to shake some on anyway,
04:05just to maybe give the top a little nicer color.
04:08And that's it.
04:09Our dip is now ready to pop into the center of a 425 degree oven for about 10 to 15 minutes,
04:16or until it's heated through and hopefully looks like this.
04:19Oh yeah, that looks good.
04:22And I really want to eat some, but it's always a good idea with these dips to let them cool
04:25for a few minutes, so they tighten up a little bit.
04:29And while waiting, I decided to garnish the top with some more diced celery that I mixed
04:34together with a little bit of green onion.
04:36And then if you're lucky, on the inside of your celery head, there's going to be some
04:40of those beautiful chartreuse leaves, which if we chop up, I think makes for a gorgeous
04:44garnish.
04:46And that's it.
04:47Our baked buffalo bison dip is ready to serve up, which I'm going to do next with some sliced
04:51bread.
04:52And then for one last touch, I'm going to do a little drizzle of hot sauce on the top
04:56for a little extra color.
04:58And no, that is not Frank's.
05:00Frank's drips.
05:01It doesn't drizzle.
05:02So I went sriracha.
05:04And that, my friends, really was incredible.
05:07Although if I'm being totally honest, it might have had too much meat.
05:10All right, I really wanted to do a very meaty version, and not just a hot cheese dip with
05:14some pieces of meat in it.
05:16But I think I might have gone too far.
05:18No, it's not the first time.
05:21But anyway, I really did love it.
05:23But maybe next time I'll use less meat, or even maybe toss in a little more cream cheese,
05:28just so it's a little softer and maybe a little bit creamier.
05:32Oh, and if you're wondering why I serve this with two spreaders and not just one, that's
05:37because once somebody tastes this, they are not going to want to wait for the spreader
05:41to do another one.
05:42OK, have you ever been waiting for that person at a party who's applying some kind of dip
05:46or spread on a piece of bread or a cracker, and they're taking like five minutes trying
05:50to get it perfect to the edges, and you're thinking to yourself, should I karate chop
05:54their arm and just take the spreader?
05:57And we certainly don't need any conflicts at the snack table, especially when people
06:01have what we call in the business beer muscles.
06:04And if you're not sure what beer muscles are, you need to go to more Bill's tailgate parties.
06:09And yes, Eagle's tailgate parties will also work.
06:13But anyway, getting back to the dip, it really was fabulous.
06:16And like I said, if I make it again, I'll probably adjust the amount of meat and or
06:20the amount of cheese.
06:21But whether you tweak this or make it as shown in all its meaty glory, I really did think
06:27this was an amazing baked hot dip, and I really do hope you give it a try soon.
06:33So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much
06:38more info as usual.
06:40And as always, enjoy.