Pressure cooker crack chicken dip is the best appetizer ever served with chips or toasted bruschetta! Make it in your Instant Pot, Crockpot Express or Ninja Foodi today. I also have stovetop directions to share so everyone can make it.
Cream cheese pressure cooker crack chicken dip is the bomb! You can make it on the stovetop too. It is a hearty appetizer everyone at your party will ask for again, trust me. Try this easy Instant Pot recipe for your next get together and let us know what you think. (affiliate links present)
Easy Crack Chicken Dip Recipe
We first made this Instant Pot crack chicken casserole and it was a HUGE hit with everyone. SO we just kept going with other yummy ideas like this one.
YOu can make it as a Ninja Foodi recipe too, whatever brand pot you have will work just fine. They all basically work the same, then transfer to a prettier dish to serve of course.
If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.
You can make it on the stovetop too but the cooking time this way is super short. It also makes the chicken so tender and easy to shred! If you’re never had pressure cooker crack chicken dip beware. It is addicting!!
Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs work well
- Cream cheese, don’t use low fat y’all
- Ranch seasoning dip mix – dry powder
- Chicken broth, if making buffalo chicken dip version you’ll decrease broth in half and use half buffalo hot sauce
- Onions diced are optional but add texture
- Cheddar cheese is best for us, can use dairy free option
- Crumbled bacon is optional but highly recommended
- Diced green onions for garnish
Use your Ninja Foodi or a medium size saucepan on the stovetop to make this. I prefer my pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Chicken Crack Dip
The difference between Ninja Foodi crack chicken or Instant Pot chicken crack soup and this dip is the consistency really. To scoop this up you’ll want it to be a bit thinner than you would making sliders. Remember the longer this cools the thicker it will get!
I recommend making it as suggested in recipe card below and then turn your Instant Pot or other pressure cooker off and let it cool for at least 10 minutes.
Then check the consistency and if you do want it thicker then go on to the last step with a bit of cornstarch. Everyone has different preferences when it comes to having a thick dip or thinner.
If served with chips I’d leave as is, though if you’re having people scoop it on to toasted bread pieces then I would thicken it up a bit. Totally up to you.
From start to finish this will take about 20 minutes to pressure cook the chicken and cream cheese ranch mix.
- Cook time itself is only about 12 minutes if using chicken tenders. 15 minutes for halved breasts.
- Frozen chicken tenders could be used as well just note that it will release moisture and make your dip a bit thinner.
How to serve chicken cream cheese dip
- In a bowl as you see here, with pull apart bread on the side is great as well as toasted bruschetta pieces
- Inside a small dip size crockpot kept on the warm setting like we do with our Publix buffalo chicken dip
- Spooned into a bread bowl with the middle removed (like they do with clam chowder)
- With scoops tortilla chips filled with a dollop of dip and a piece of crispy bacon on top. OR Inside easy rolls for sliders.
If you make it low and slow like our Crockpot crack chicken you can just thin that out a bit with milk to scoop up easier and leave on warm for hours.
How do you reheat dip in the oven?
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Put in an oven safe bowl or small baking dish for 4-7 minutes or until hot.
- Transfer to a cooler dish when serving so fingers don’t get burned.
How do you reheat dip in the microwave?
- Use a microwave safe container.
- Cook for 30 seconds, then stir.
- Set for another 30 seconds, stir.
- Continue with this process until it is as hot as you’d like.
If it cools and becomes too thick you can heat it up with a bit of added broth, ranch dressing or sour cream.
Pressure cooker crack chicken dip is definitely one of the best hot dip recipes and most asked for football party food appetizers we have made in a while. Crack chicken deviled eggs are a close second though.
Pressure Cooker Crack Chicken Dip
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken, boneless skinless breasts or thighs, medium size, cut in half lengthwise
- 1 block cream cheese, softened / room temperature, cut into large chunks
- 1/2 large onion , diced
- 1 package ranch dressing mix, dry, 1 ounce
- 5 slices bacon, diced, precooked
- 2 c cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 c chicken broth
Instructions
- This can be made in a pressure cooker or on the stovetop on low/medium heat. Add medium chicken breasts or thighs that have been halved, cream cheese cut into smaller chunks, ranch dressing dry mix, diced onions and broth into pot.
- Simmer on low heat with lid on until chicken is cooked through and so tender it shreds with 2 forks. Then remove from heat, shred chicken and stir so clumps of cream cheese become smooth with the rest of the ingredients.
- For pressure cookers put on the lid and close steam valve. Set to high for 15 minutes followed by a quick release. Then shred chicken and stir so cream cheese becomes smooth and chicken is coated. Turn pot off.
- In both cases stir in shredded cheese, it will melt quickly. Stir in precooked bacon at this time.
- Keep in mind this thickens A LOT when it cools so you may not want to add anything. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes to allow thickening. Transfer to serving bowl with chips or baguette sliced pieces.
- If you want it thicker set to saute low and you can whisk together 1 tsp of cornstarch with 2 tsp cold water until smooth and dump that in. Allow to bubble for 1 minute, then turn off or remove from heat. This will continue to thicken as it cools.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The instructions are confusing. Is Step 1 for cooking on stove top, or for pressure cooker, or both? And Step 2 is for stove top only? And Steps 3 through 6 are for pressure cooker? Please clarify.
In both you add ingredients but step 3 tells timing for pressure cooker while on the stovetop you would just simmer until meat can shred easily with 2 forks.
How many cups would you say this makes?
Depending on the size of the chicken pieces used….maybe 5??
Can this be frozen and reheated later?
This is an incomplete recipe… nowhere does it say add onions or ranch.
Yes it does. Step 1 in recipe at bottom
When do you put in the onions?
Step number one.
If doubling this recipe, should you just double the cook time?
No I wouldn’t double the time, just the ingredients. Depending on how thick the breasts are you might add 2 minutes or so. Hard to say since I haven’t done it. If it isn’t fork tender though when you open it you can always put lid back on and add a few more minutes without any issues.
When do you put in the ranch mix?
With the chicken