Buffalo Chicken Dip Stuffed Bread

The Super Bowl is this weekend, which in our family is an excuse to cook enormous quantities of food and argue about football, which nobody in the family actually understands but everybody has opinions about. Nikos used to watch football without understanding it and cheer at random intervals and eat whatever was in front of him, which is the correct way to watch football. I am carrying on his tradition, except I also yell at the referees, which Nikos never did because he was not sure what a referee was for.

I made a massive spread for the game: souvlaki, keftedes, spanakopita, hummus, tzatziki, and a buffalo chicken dip that is the only non-Greek dish I make for parties because it is American and it is Super Bowl Sunday and I am patriotic enough to compromise my culinary identity once a year. Sophia invited two friends over. Alexander invited one. Dimitri came. The living room was full of people eating Greek food and watching American football and this felt like the most accurate representation of our family that I could possibly design.

Real estate slows the first week of February but picks up immediately after. I used the quiet to catch up on paperwork and plan my spring strategy. I have seventeen active leads. I am going to close at least ten of them by April. This is not a prediction. It is a plan. I learned planning from Alexander's spreadsheets and stubbornness from Nikos and the combination has made me a formidable agent.

Mama called during halftime to tell me she does not understand why Americans run into each other on purpose. I said it is complicated. She said it does not look complicated, it looks painful. I said that is also accurate. She said the Greeks invented the Olympics and the Olympics make more sense. I did not argue. You do not argue with Voula when she is defending Greece, because you will lose, and you will lose while eating her food, which makes the defeat both total and delicious.

After the game, after the friends went home and the dip was scraped clean and the spanakopita platter was empty, I sat in the kitchen cleaning up and Alexander sat with me and dried dishes. He does this more now — sits with me, helps without being asked, occupies the same space with a comfort that feels new. He is growing into someone who understands that proximity is a form of love. He learned this from me, and I learned it from Mama, and Mama learned it from Despina, and the chain continues, dish by dish, towel by towel, side by side at the kitchen sink.

Every year I make an enormous Greek spread — the souvlaki, the keftedes, the spanakopita — and every year, without fail, the dish that gets scraped completely clean is the one non-Greek thing on the table: the buffalo chicken dip. This year I stuffed it into bread, because if I am going to compromise my culinary identity once annually in the name of American football, I am going to do it with full commitment. Nikos would have approved. He approved of everything that was warm and in front of him.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 round sourdough or Italian bread loaf (about 1 lb)
2 cups cooked shredded chicken (rotisserie works perfectly)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buffalo hot sauce (such as Frank’s RedHot)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (or additional cheddar if preferred)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish
Extra bread chunks or crackers for dipping

Instructions

Preheat & prep the bread. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Slice a lid off the top of the bread loaf and hollow out the interior, leaving a 1-inch wall all around. Tear the scooped-out bread into chunks and set aside for dipping.
Make the dip. In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Stir in the sour cream, buffalo sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder until fully combined. Fold in the shredded chicken, 3/4 cup of the cheddar, and all of the blue cheese.
Fill the loaf. Spoon the buffalo chicken mixture into the hollowed bread bowl, packing it in evenly. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese. Place the filled loaf on a rimmed baking sheet. Arrange the reserved bread chunks around it on the same pan.
Bake. Bake for 22–25 minutes, until the filling is hot and bubbling and the cheese on top is lightly golden. The bread chunks on the pan will toast slightly — that is a feature, not an accident.
Garnish & serve. Remove from the oven and scatter green onions over the top. Serve immediately in the bread bowl with the toasted bread chunks, crackers, or celery sticks alongside.

Nutrition (per serving)

Buffalo Chicken Dip Stuffed Bread — The One American Dish I Make Every Super Bowl