High Protein Buffalo Chicken Dip: 17 g per Serving, Worked Out

A twelfth of a pan of high protein buffalo chicken dip, made with cottage cheese and Greek yogurt, has 16.7 g of protein and 123 kcal. The classic dip with cream cheese and ranch has 12.6 g and 191 kcal. I worked both out from USDA records, with the same 348 g of chicken in each. Only the dairy around it changes.

How much protein is in classic buffalo chicken dip?

Twelve servings come out of this pan. Four ingredients go in. Only the chicken carries real protein.

Ingredient (USDA record)	Amount	Protein	Energy
Cream cheese, full fat, block	227 g (8 oz)	13.1 g	764 kcal
Ranch dressing, regular	120 g (8 tbsp)	1.6 g	516 kcal
Cheddar, shredded	105 g (1 cup)	24.5 g	428 kcal
Chicken breast, braised	348 g (2 pieces)	111.7 g	578 kcal
Whole pan	800 g	150.9 g	2,286 kcal

The chicken supplies 74% of the protein. The cream cheese and ranch together bring 56% of the energy but under 10% of the protein, so they are the first things I’d swap out.

Hot sauce goes in to taste and isn’t counted in the tables. The USDA record for hot pepper sauce lists 11 kcal and 0.51 g of protein per 100 g. Even 60 g adds only about 7 kcal and 0.3 g to the whole pan.

What makes buffalo chicken dip high in protein?

Dairy that has protein in it, and more chicken. Cream cheese has 5.8 g of protein per 100 g, and plain nonfat Greek yogurt has 10.3 g at under a fifth of the energy. Cottage cheese, 2% fat, has 11 g and 84 kcal per 100 g. I built four pans of 12 servings each. In version B the 120 g of ranch gives way to about 250 g of yogurt.

Version	Serving	Protein	Energy	Protein per 100 kcal
A. Classic: cream cheese, ranch	67 g	12.6 g	191 kcal	6.6 g
B. Greek yogurt in place of ranch	78 g	14.6 g	160 kcal	9.1 g
C. Cottage cheese and yogurt, no cream cheese	87 g	16.7 g	123 kcal	13.6 g
D. Version C with 522 g of chicken	102 g	21.4 g	147 kcal	14.6 g

Swapping the ranch for yogurt is the easiest change. It adds 2.0 g a serving and removes 30 kcal. Swapping out the cream cheese too is the big one: version C has 4.1 g more protein than the classic and 68 kcal less. More chicken then pushes a serving past 21 g. Other dinners built on the same breast are in high protein chicken recipes.

The chicken is the densest thing in the pan, with 19.3 g of protein for every 100 kcal. Greek yogurt follows at 16.9 g and cottage cheese at 13.1 g, while cheddar, cream cheese and ranch sit under 6 g. The pan’s number is a blend of those, weighted by how much of each goes in.

Yogurt is tangier than ranch, and cottage cheese is wetter and lumpier than cream cheese, so the dip won’t taste the same. Blend the cottage cheese smooth. Greek yogurt takes the mayonnaise’s place the same way in high protein egg salad.

How do I make high protein buffalo chicken dip?

Blend the cottage cheese until smooth. Fold in the yogurt, the hot sauce and the chicken, then bake it with the cheddar on top until it bubbles. Here is version C.

Ingredient (USDA record)	Amount	Protein	Energy
Cottage cheese, lowfat 2%	440 g (2 cups)	48.4 g	370 kcal
Greek yogurt, plain, nonfat	156 g (1 container)	16.1 g	95 kcal
Cheddar, shredded	105 g (1 cup)	24.5 g	428 kcal
Chicken breast, braised, shredded	348 g (2 pieces)	111.7 g	578 kcal
Whole pan	1,049 g	200.6 g	1,471 kcal

Every figure in this table is a sum of USDA records, not a measurement of a pan I baked. Weigh the chicken in the state the record describes, which here is cooked. A raw weight logged against a cooked record undercounts the protein.

Cheddar needs the scale as well. The record puts a cup of shredded cheese at 105 g, and how tightly you pack the cup changes that.

How do I keep it safe at a party?

Keep the dip at 140°F or above while it sits out, and put leftovers in the refrigerator within 2 hours. The USDA’s leftovers guidance says to throw away perishable food left at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour when it is over 90°F, as at a summer picnic.

Cook the chicken to 165°F before you shred it. Leftover dip keeps in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days, and you should reheat it to 165°F, measured with a food thermometer. For a long party I’d keep the dip in a slow cooker or on a warming tray, and hold the second half in the refrigerator until the first is gone.

What do I dip in it?

Little else. A serving of version C is 87 g, so I paired it with three dippers.

Dipper (USDA record)	Amount	Plate protein	Plate energy
Celery, raw	100 g	17.2 g	138 kcal
Green bell pepper, raw	100 g	17.4 g	143 kcal
Tortilla chips, plain	28.35 g (1 oz)	18.7 g	257 kcal

The chips add 134 kcal for 2.0 g of protein, which is what crunch costs here. The vegetables add about 15–20 kcal. I’d go with the peppers, and count the chips if you want them. Another batch you divide at the end is high protein granola, where whey adds most of the protein.

How much of a day’s protein is a serving?

For a 70 kg adult, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans give 1.2–1.6 g of protein per kg a day, or 84–112 g. A serving of the classic dip covers 11–15% of that range. Version C covers 15–20%, and version D 19–25%.

If kidney disease is why you watch protein, your doctor’s figure replaces anything I’ve worked out for a party dip.

The protein calculator uses 1.2 g per kg of a reference weight, with a floor of 60 g, to turn your weight into a daily number. If you want to see where that range comes from, read how much protein you should eat a day.

Calsa lets you build the pan as a recipe from its ingredients, with the chicken in raw or cooked weight, so a twelfth of it has numbers behind it.