The secret to making the perfect buffalo chicken dip, according to a Michelin-star chef

Buffalo dip

You, too, can make a Michelin-star-level Buffalo dip for the big game.

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Welcome to Clubhouse Eats, where we celebrate the game’s most delectable food and drink. Hope you brought your appetites.

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It’s Super Bowl weekend, and the Los Angeles Rams are 4-point favorites over the Cincinnati Bengals.

But enough about spreads.

Let’s discuss dips.

You’re going to want a good one for the Big Game, something highly nosh-able to help soothe your nerves, satisfy your munchies or simply get you through a drawn-out video review.

James Syhabout, the chef and owner of two-Michelin star Commis, in Oakland, Calif., cares more about golf than he does about anything that happens on the gridiron.

But he loves throwing parties and he’s great at whipping up crowd-pleasing grub.

In the recipe below, created especially for Golf.com, Syhabout riffs on Buffalo chicken dip, a football-watching staple, by swapping out ground chicken for ground turkey, which the chef says is leaner, more flavorful and easier to find. A generous dose of hot sauce adds a lively jolt of spice; a dash (or two, or three) of smoked paprika hints at the smoky essence of a tailgate; and crumbled blue cheese rounds it all off with a cooling counterpoint.

The steps are simple, the time-investment brief. From start to finish, you’ll spend a little more than 30 minutes. Call it Sunday’s surest bet.

BUFFALO TURKEY DIP

1 pound ground turkey breast
1 ounce vegetable oil
8 ounces       full fat cream cheese, cubed small
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup hot sauce (Frank’s Red Hot)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Salt to taste

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For topping:

1 cup  crumbled blue cheese
½  cup sliced scallions

-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9-by-9-inch baking pan (or approximate size) with non-stick cooking spray.

-Cook the turkey in a medium size saucepan with vegetable oil until the meat is fully cooked and crumbled.  Drain the fat and liquid, and then return the turkey meat to the pan.

-Add the rest of the ingredients (minus the blue cheese and scallions) to the saucepan and cook on low heat, stirring constantly until the cream cheese has melted into the mayonnaise and hot sauce. Remove from the heat.  Adjust seasoning with salt if needed.Pour the mixture into the baking pan and cover the top with the blue cheese.  Bake for approximately 20-30 minutes, until the sides start to bubble. Set the oven to broil and allow the dip to cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Remove it immediately and top with the sliced scallions.

Serve with pita chips, water crackers, tortilla chips, carrot or celery sticks.

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Josh Sens

Golf.com Editor

A golf, food and travel writer, Josh Sens has been a GOLF Magazine contributor since 2004 and now contributes across all of GOLF’s platforms. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting. He is also the co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Fun Yet: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.