Not sure how I haven’t made this before, seeing as I am the buffalo chicken queen. Probably because we’ve had so much ground meat in the freezer for so long that buying ground meat (chicken) to make chili just seemed silly!

But there’s only so much deer you can eat… so it was time to change things up!

I made this for a football gathering (which sadly, I will not be watching any more of this year… OK, maybe just for the commercials), and everyone loved it. It had the perfect amount of spice and was really delicious!

Buffalo Chicken Chili

(adapted from Closet Cooking)

serves 4

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup beer or chicken broth
• 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 cup hot sauce (I used Frank’s RedHot)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Crumbled blue cheese, for serving

Cook the chicken in a dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Remove from pot and set aside. Heat the oil in the dutch oven and, add the onions, celery and carrots. Cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.

Add the beer or broth to deglaze the pan, then add the cooked chicken, tomatoes, beans, cumin, paprika, oregano, cayenne and hot sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve topped with crumbled blue cheese.