An easy chili recipe with a buffalo chicken twist! So easy to make and SOOOO good – perfect for game watching or any night of the week!

Buffalo Chicken & Bean Chili Recipe
More chili recipes you might enjoy are Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili, Turkey Chili Taco Soup, and No Bean Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili.
And the best part is it doesn’t need to simmer all day. This is ready in about 40-45 minutes, and most of that time is unattended. To thicken the chili and give you that texture like it’s been simmering for hours, I added refried pinto beans to the mix which always works like a charm!
I like to serve mine with a handful of chips like Beanitos which are made from white beans, but any baked chip is great and of course, some carrot sticks and celery on the side. Hope you enjoy!
Buffalo Chicken and Bean Chili
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground chicken, or turkey
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped carrots
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1/2 tablespoon ground paprika
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 1 15 oz can small white beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 13.6 oz container fat free refried pinto beans
- 3/4 cups Swanson's reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup water
- 6 tablespoons Frank's hot sauce
Optional toppings:
- reduced fat shredded cheddar
- chopped scallions
- reduced fat sour cream
Instructions
- Heat a large deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
- Brown the ground chicken in the skillet and cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces as it cooks, about 8 to 10 minutes, or until cooked through, set aside.
- Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook stirring until the vegetables soften, about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add white beans, refried beans, water and chicken broth, bring to a boil and simmer covered on medium-low about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the hot sauce and add the chicken, cover and simmer until thickened, 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the flavors blend.
Perfect recipe!
Love this recipe! I make it all the time and always get a ton of compliments. I’m not great with complex recipes but this is super simple and quick. I usually double it and use refried black beans and sub white kidney beans to get that chili “look”. I also add siracha (sp?) for an extra kick.
I love this recipe! One of my favorites. But I’m having a hard time consistently being able to find Small White Beans. Any suggestions on substitutions?
has anyone tried this with cubed chicken breast instead of ground chicken??
So easy and delicious. I have been making this for a few years now and have passed it on to many others who love it as well.
I love the chili recipes on this site! I made this tonight and it is so easy and so good! Perfect served with baked tortilla chips and celery/carrot sticks. You could easily put this in the crockpot but honestly I simmered it covered for 20 minutes and the flavors really came together. I used all chicken broth and Frank’s Buffalo wing sauce— family added hot sauce if they liked it spicier. Next time I will double the recipe!
Yummy! I did it in the pressure cooker; so easy & fast!
I followed the recipe except I used dry cannellini beans and dry pinto beans – and about 6 total cups of broth/water bc of the dry beans. The 8 of us all loved it!
Delicious and so easy. I did opt for cooking in the instant pot- sauteed ground chicken and veggies then pressure cooked 10 min plus NPR. I ran out of Franks hot sauce so the last 2+ tbsp was Franks buffalo wing sauce. I added extra Franks! We served with bleu cheese crumbles, cheddar shredded, scallions and a drizzle of Boathouse bleu cheese dressing. Crusty bread on the side. My husband declared it one of the best chili recipes ever!
Thanks Deb!
Sounds amazing! What would be a substitute for Frank’s hot sauce? I can’t get this where I live.
Get it off Amazon or just use chicken wing sauce.
Making this today. Could I also make this a slow cooker recipe?
has anyone tried this in the instant pot? if so, how many minutes?
This is one of my all-time favorites!! So delicious, and feels like a dip but it’s actually a healthy meal! I agree with one commenter – my WW app says this is 0 blue points, not 3. Another reason to love it!
WOW just WOW. Made the recipe exactly as offered and did use the scallions, cheese and sour cream, thought only about a teaspoon per bowl. So satisfying and flavorful. This is a keeper for an easy quick dinner. And it met my blue point requirement.
Another new favorite! Absolutely delicious! To cut even more on points, I drain and rinse a can of pinto beans and use my immersion blender to make them mush, and then add this to the chili instead of the refried beans. It’s an extra step but only takes a minute and I actually prefer the final outcome better this way (less salty too), but both ways are delicious. Also, I now use 3Tbsp Frank’s Buffalo Sauce and 3Tbsp Frank’s Hot Sauce because when I used 6Tbsp Frank’s Hot Sauce it was too hot for me and my kids. My husband can always add more hot sauce to his plate if he wants it super hot. When I serve this to guests, I put out blue cheese dressing – WOW! SO GOOD! But obviously that kinda kills the healthfulness and points so I only do that for guests. It’s delicious on its own.
So glad you all enjoyed them! You can try https://www.skinnytaste.com/low-fat-creamy-blue-cheese-dressing/
Make Gina’s blue cheese dressing (it’s also low points too). It’s super easy and I promise you you’ll NEVER buy any again. Blue cheese is the only dressing I eat. I’ve made it many times for carrots and stuff (cause come on, plain carrots suck). Gina’s recipe is the best I’ve had. Try it.
Made exactly as instructed-with no substitutions. My picky 12 yr old and I loved it-it was the perfect amount of buffalo-y goodness for us. My family hates when I make ‘regular’ chili, so this was a great change-up from the norm!
Awesome!
not a fan 🙁 way too salty from the Frank’s red hot and the carrots were still hard despite cutting them very small and cooking per instructions. I do like the idea behind this chili, and the refried beans were a great thought to make it thicker. I will stick to regular chili.
Made this today, used ground turkey and cubed chicken breast and left out the water, it was a hit…thank you
This is SOOOO good. I added a Tbsp of crumbled blue cheese and it was a game changer.
This is an oldie but a goody. It’s cold and snowy outside and I made this today. I have made it at least a dozen times and it’s delicious. I make sure I keep a can of refried beans on hand.
Love this! Used it as part of a low saturated fat diet. Question: The recipe lists 0 saturated fat, is that correct? I would think the meat has some. Thanks for your great recipes, they always have great flavor!
I put the ingredients in the new SP calculator and it looks like everything that gave this chili SmartPoints in the past is now 0 points. This chili is the best!
Could this be frozen?
Just made this for lunch and yes, it was so good and so filling! I follow weight watchers so I really appreciate the low points for this meal! Thank you Gina!
This is quite possibly one of the best chillies I’ve made or eaten. So much flavor. I changed this ever so slightly based on what I had on hand (Used a 24 oz. can refried pinto beans and all chicken broth, no water, increasing to 2 cups to compensate for the extra beans. Lastly, doubled the spices – I like it HOT.) And, wow. This will be on the frequent rotation in our house for sure.
I have a really bad habit of not fully reading the directions on a recipe before I get started, so I ended up sauteing my veggies in with the chicken. They ended up a bit crunchy, (totally my fault) but the chili is amazing! I will definitely make this again and it will be a go to wheb I’m craving wings!
This is one of my favorites to make. You can make it as spicy as you like it. It’s great for cold weather.
Another perfect chili, and one that satisfies buffalo sauce craving is a plus!! As a red meat lover, I’ve found I prefer chilis with turkey or chicken over beef. Nothing feels lacking and the flavor is so good. Save the red meat for steaks and burgers ????