Buffalo Chicken Dip Panzerotto

The Super Bowl came and went, but this recipe for a Buffalo Chicken Dip Panzerotto is here for forever, and we're not upset about it. Imagine a delicious Buffalo chicken dip, made with rotisserie chicken, celery, green onion, cream cheese, dried dill weed, grated marble cheddar, a bit of mayo for creaminess and then of course Frank's Buffalo sauce, mixed all together and then stuffed with a cheese sauce into pizza dough and fried until golden and crispy. If you're entertaining, you can make mini Buffalo Chicken dip panzerotto by cutting your pizza dough into quarters, so you have smaller, hand-held panzos for your guests. For some added Super Bowl fun, I mixed mayo and Buffalo sauce together and put it in a squeeze bottle and drizzled on some football laces onto my panzos - feel free to just drizzle the sauce on in a zigzag or serve it in a bowl on the side for dipping if it's not Super Bowl season any more. Or, serve your panzo with sour cream on the side. If you want to know how to make this Buffalo Chicken Dip Panzerotto, keep reading or jump to the full recipe.

To make the buffalo chicken filling, you can use rotisserie chicken or make the chicken from scratch, it's up to you. I used the breast of a rotisserie chicken, removed the meat from the bone then chopped it into small pieces. You want smaller pieces, but not so small it's mush... then place the chopped up chicken in a bowl.

Finely dice the celery and three green onions, and add to the chicken. Add the grated cheese, Frank’s Buffalo sauce, dried dill weed, mayo and cream cheese. Mix together and set aside.

Finely chop the rest of the green part of the green onions and set aside for garnish.

In a pan on medium heat, add the butter and let it melt. Slowly whisk in the flour until incorporated. Add the pickle juice and mix. Slowly pour in half the milk and mix. Add the cheese and 1 tsp Frank’s and mix until the cheese is melted. Add in a splash of milk to thin out if needed. Remove from heat and set aside to come to room temp.

Sprinkle a bit of flour on your work surface. Add the pizza dough and stretch it out by hand and use your fingertips to knead it into a circle, about half an inch thick. Add about a tablespoon of cheese sauce onto the dough, then the Buffalo chicken mix and another dollop of cheese sauce and then fold the dough over.

Seal the edges by twisting the dough over to crimp closed.

Heat about an inch of oil in a heavy bottom pot. Add the panzo to the hot oil, making sure not to crowd them. Spoon the hot oil onto the top of the panzo. Allow to cook 1-2 minutes then flip. Spoon the oil onto the top of the panzo again and let cook another 2-3 minutes. Flip once more and spoon more oil on top. The panzo should be golden brown and crispy. Remove from the oil. Season the hot panzo with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, mix 2-3 tbsp of mayo and 1 tbsp Frank's Buffalo sauce, or you can add more Frank's for more heat/Buffalo flavour. Add to a squeeze bottle, or use a Ziplock bag and cut the corner to make a piping bag.

Once the panzo has cooled, draw on football laces with the mayo/Frank's Buffalo sauce.

Top with green onions and a couple pickle slices on the side. Serve with the extra sauce for dipping.

And now for the full recipe...

Buffalo Chicken Panzo

Makes one panzo

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

~230g pizza dough

1 chicken breast, boneless, cold, from a rotisserie chicken or homemade

2 celery stalks

50g cream cheese

125g marble cheddar cheese

2 tbsp mayo

2 tsp dried dill weed

½ cup Frank’s Buffalo Sauce + 1 tsp

2-3 tbsp mayo

2 tsp Frank’s Buffalo Sauce

1 slice American cheese

1 tsp pickle juice

¼ cup milk

2 tbsp butter

1-2 tbsp all-purpose flour

6 green onions

2-3 pickle rounds for garnish

Buffalo Mayo:

2-3 tbsp mayo

1 tbsp Frank's Buffalo Sauce (or more)

How to make a Buffalo Chicken Dip Panzerotto

To make the buffalo chicken filling, chop up the rotisserie chicken into small pieces and place in a bowl. Finely dice the celery and three green onions, and add to the chicken. Add the grated cheese, Frank’s Buffalo sauce, dried dill weed, mayo and cream cheese. Mix together and set aside.

Finely chop the rest of the green part of the green onions and set aside for garnish. You can either finely chop them, or cut them into thin ribbons and place in ice water to curl.

In a pan on medium heat, add the butter and let it melt. Slowly whisk in the flour until incorporated. Add the pickle juice and mix. Slowly pour in half the milk and mix. Add the cheese and 1 tsp Frank’s and mix until the cheese is melted. Add in a splash of milk to thin out if needed. Remove from heat and set aside to come to room temp.

Sprinkle a bit of flour on your work surface. Add the pizza dough and stretch it out by hand and use your fingertips to knead it into a circle, about half an inch thick. Add about a tablespoon of cheese sauce onto the dough, then the Buffalo chicken mix and another dollop of cheese sauce and then fold the dough over. Seal the edges by twisting the dough over to crimp closed.

Heat about an inch of oil in a heavy bottom pot. Add the panzo to the hot oil, making sure not to crowd them. Spoon the hot oil onto the top of the panzo. Allow to cook 1-2 minutes then flip. Spoon the oil onto the top of the panzo again and let cook another 2-3 minutes. Flip once more and spoon more oil on top. The panzo should be golden brown and crispy. Remove from the oil.

Season the hot panzo with salt and pepper. In a bowl, mix mayo and Frank's Buffalo. Allow the panzo to cool and using a squeeze bottle filled with the mayo and Frank's Buffalo mixture squeeze on football laces. Top with green onions and a couple pickle slices on the side. Serve with the extra sauce for dipping.

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