Buffalo Chicken Soup
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After just one bite of this creamy Buffalo Chicken Soup, you’ll fall in love! This easy recipe is filled with juicy, tender buffalo chicken meatballs, in a creamy, seasoned broth, with pasta, cream cheese and spinach. It’s the ultimate comfort food recipe for those who love buffalo sauce!
Table of contents
My favorite sauce, paired with juicy tender meatballs, in a creamy soup that’s easy to make in 30 minutes, this is my dream soup recipe!
After updating my recipe for buffalo chicken meatballs with a new video and photos, I remembered just how much I absolutely love these meatballs. And I knew that I had to use them in more recipes!
Just like my famous Italian meatballs, these buffalo chicken meatballs are easy to make, they’re juicy, tender and so flavorful. And instead of just serving them at parties, or in meatball subs, I decided to take a cue from my Italian Meatball Soup recipe, and make these meatballs into a soup.
And I am oh-so-happy that I did! This buffalo chicken soup recipe is incredibly delicious, filled with the wonderful tangy, spicy taste of buffalo sauce, tender pasta, juicy meatballs and crisp vegetables. Seriously, this soup is a must-make recipe! If you love buffalo wings, you’re going to love this soup!
Ingredients
- Olive oil – or another neutral-flavored vegetable oil.
- Carrots + onions + celery – fresh carrots, onions and celery should be chopped into small pieces, of similar size, so they cook in the soup at the same time. This combination of veggies adds delicious flavor and texture to the soup.
- Garlic – I always recommend fresh minced cloves for the best flavor.
- Chicken broth – you can use boxed broth, or make your own broth at home using bouillon.
- Buffalo sauce – Frank’s red hot sauce is my favorite brand, but feel free to use any brand of buffalo sauce that you like.
- Chicken wing seasoning – the SECRET INGREDIENT that makes this the best buffalo chicken soup! Click the link above to whip up this simple 6 ingredient seasoning mix that adds so much flavor to this soup. The combination of chili powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and cayenne pepper is perfect for this recipe!
- Buffalo chicken meatballs – I LOVE the meatballs in this soup! They’re easy to make in 30 minutes, and you can make them in advance, and either store them in the fridge for up to 6 days, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. They can be added directly from the freezer to the soup. You can also use pre-made frozen chicken or turkey meatballs from the grocery store. Or refer to the section below for how to make the soup with shredded chicken, instead of meatballs.
- Ditalini pasta – this is a small tubular pasta that looks like beads. It’s often called “soup pasta”, because it is mainly used to make Italian soup recipes. If you can’t find ditalini pasta, feel free to use small shells, elbow or macaroni noodles, or another small pasta in it’s place.
- Spinach – I like to mix in fresh spinach leaves at the end. They cook down in the soup and add an extra layer of flavor and texture. If you don’t have fresh spinach, you can use frozen spinach or omit the spinach.
- Cream cheese – place the cream cheese on the counter while you prepare the soup, so that it softens and easily melts into the soup at the end.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
If you don’t already have cooked meatballs, you’ll want to start by making the meatballs. Use this recipe for buffalo chicken meatballs. It only takes 30 minutes to make, and you can cook the meatballs in the oven while you start preparing the soup on the stove.
You can use cooked meatballs straight from the oven, from the refrigerator, or from the freezer to make this soup recipe. Because the meatballs are fully cooked, they will not fall apart in the soup.
- Cook the veggies. Heat olive oil in a large pot, or dutch oven, on the stove over medium-high heat. Add diced onions, carrots and celery, and cook for 5-6 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add the broth. Pour chicken broth and buffalo sauce into the pot. Season with chicken wing seasoning.
- Add pasta and meatballs, and simmer. Add pasta noodles and fully cooked meatballs (from the oven, fridge or freezer) directly into the soup and bring the broth to a boil. Keep at a rapid simmer for 10 minutes to cook the pasta and heat up the meatballs.
- Add spinach and cream cheese. Add fresh spinach leaves and cubes of cream cheese to the pot. Stir to combine all of the ingredients and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted into the soup.
Ladle the buffalo chicken soup into bowls and serve with optional toppings like diced green onions, crumbled blue cheese or shredded cheddar cheese.
Make it with shredded chicken
If you prefer to make the soup with shredded chicken, instead of the chicken meatballs, use this Instant Pot Shredded Chicken recipe to pressure cook 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or chicken thighs. Shred the chicken, then add it to the soup with the spinach.
You can also pull 3 cups of cooked chicken off of a rotisserie chicken and add it to the soup with the spinach.
Make it in a Crock Pot
Follow these simple instructions to make slow cooker buffalo chicken soup.
- Cook the onions, carrots, celery and garlic on the stovetop as instructed, then transfer the veggies to a Crock Pot.
- Add the chicken broth, buffalo sauce, chicken wing seasoning and meatballs.
- Cook on high heat for 4-5 hours, or low heat for 8-10 hours.
- Thirty minutes before serving the soup, add the pasta, spinach and cream cheese to the slow cooker, stirring to combine all of the ingredients and making sure the pasta is covered in liquid. Turn the Crock Pot up to high and let the pasta cook in the soup for 30 minutes before serving.
Recipe tips
- You can leave out the cheese if you’d like. This will make a brothy soup, instead of a creamy soup.
- Leftover buffalo chicken soup will last in the fridge for up to 5 days stored in an airtight container. This soup is super easy to reheat on the stove in a pot over medium heat. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes to reheat the soup and meatballs completely.
- If the soup is too thick when you reheat it, add an extra 1/2 cup chicken broth.
- Frozen meatballs can be used instead of making your own. You do not need to adjust the time. The meatballs will defrost and heat through in the soup as it cooks on the stove. I recommend using smaller meatballs for this recipe that are the size of a golf ball, or smaller.
- The spice level of the soup will depend on the spice level of the buffalo wing sauce used in this recipe. For a spicy soup, use an extra hot buffalo sauce. For a mild soup, use a mild sauce. You can also replace the chicken wing seasoning with ranch seasoning to make it even more mild.
What to serve with it
This buffalo chicken soup is delicious on it’s own, but also great with a salad, garlic bread or garlic knots for dipping! Try it paired with any of these recipes.
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Buffalo Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup onions, small dice
- ½ cup carrots, small dice
- ½ cup celery, small dice
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup buffalo sauce
- 2 tablespoons chicken wing seasoning, click link for the recipe
- 1 cup small pasta, ditalini, macaroni or small shells
- 1 pound cooked buffalo chicken meatballs, click link for the recipe (you'll want approximately 20 meatballs)
- 2 cups fresh spinach leaves
- 4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
Instructions
Make the meatballs.
- If you don’t already have cooked meatballs, you’ll want to start by making the meatballs. Use this recipe for buffalo chicken meatballs. It only takes 30 minutes to make, and you can cook the meatballs in the oven while you start preparing the soup on the stove. If you prefer, you can use shredded chicken instead of meatballs, refer to the notes below for how to do this.
Make the soup.
- Add the olive oil to a large pot, or dutch oven on the stove over medium-high heat.
- Add the onions, carrots and celery, cook for 5-6 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add the chicken broth, buffalo sauce and chicken wing seasoning to the pot, and bring it to a boil.
- Add the pasta and fully cooked buffalo chicken meatballs (from the oven, fridge or freezer) to the pot.
- Keep at a rapid simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the fresh spinach leaves and cream cheese. Stir for 3-4 minutes, or until the cheese melts into the soup, then serve.
- Optional: garnish with diced green onions, blue cheese crumbles or shredded cheddar cheese.
Notes
- To make the soup with shredded chicken, instead of meatballs: use this Instant Pot Shredded Chicken recipe to pressure cook 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or chicken thighs. Shred the chicken, then add it to the soup with the spinach. You can also pull 3 cups of cooked chicken off of a rotisserie chicken and add it to the soup with the spinach.
- Frozen meatballs can also be used instead of making your own. You do not need to adjust the time. The meatballs will defrost and heat through in the soup as it cooks on the stove. I recommend using smaller meatballs for this recipe that are the size of a golf ball, or smaller.
- You can leave out the cheese if you’d like. This will make a brothy soup, instead of a creamy soup.
- Leftover buffalo chicken soup will last in the fridge for up to 5 days stored in an airtight container. This soup is super easy to reheat on the stove in a pot over medium heat. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes to reheat the soup and meatballs completely.
- The spice level of the soup will depend on the spice level of the buffalo wing sauce used in this recipe. For a spicy soup, use an extra hot buffalo sauce. For a mild soup, use a mild sauce. You can also replace the chicken wing seasoning with ranch seasoning to make it even more mild.
Nutrition Facts
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