Creamy Buffalo Sauce Recipe
Whip up this rich Creamy Buffalo Sauce for your next batch of wings and things. It’s rich, velvety, and packs a punch—perfect for tossing on wings, drizzling on burgers, or dipping anything that needs some heat. One special step keeps it smooth and luscious, a game-changer!
This creamy buffalo sauce is a game-changer, avoiding the greasy finish for a uniquely smooth, glossy texture thanks to a French technique—beurre monté. We keep the warm sauce velvety and rich without the oily separation by mounting the warm sauce with cold butter.
Why shouldn’t we use this strategy? Well, we should. Here you have it. Try it out with many other sauces such as Mexican buffalo sauce or the Hot Honey Lemon Pepper Wings.
Why This Works
- Creamy Texture: The technique of mounting the sauce with cold butter makes this incredibly smooth and creamy, avoiding the oily separation you get with most recipes.
- Simple but Elevated: Calling for only a few ingredients and and easy process, this recipe keeps it straightforward and will certainly impress with the pro-level finish that elevates this sauce.
- Bold and Balanced: Expect that classic buffalo sauce spice with the creamy, buttery texture. This recipe balances the basics to ensure it’s the right punch of flavors.
Key Ingredients
- Hot sauce – Highly recommend Frank’s RedHot or Crystal Louisiana’s Pure Hot Sauce
- Apple cider vinegar – Rice wine vinegar is a great substitute.
- Garlic powder – Skip the granulated garlic, this is much smoother.
- Onion powder – Same as the garlic powder, make sure it’s not granules.
- Worcestershire sauce – This is optional, but adds savory depth to the buffalo sauce.
- Unsalted butter – Make sure it’s COLD, read along and you’ll see why.
How to Make Creamy Buffalo Sauce
- Warm all ingredients except the butter in a saucepan. Gently warm the pot at medium-low heat and whisk to incorporate all the ingredients. Once it hits a low simmer, it’s time for the finish.
Don’t worry if the garlic and onion powder clump during this step. There will be plenty of whisking ahead to break everything up.
On that note, you will need a good kitchen whisk, which I recommend picking up.
- Whisk in the cold butter, a few pieces at a time. Turn off the heat and drop in a few cubes of butter. Whisk to melt the butter, and continue to add in pieces until all of it has been mixed in.
It’s important to add a few pieces at a time so that the sauce isn’t dramatically cooled down at once, allowing the butter to slowly melt. - Taste and adjust. Make sure it’s salty or spicy enough. Typically I’ll add a little extra cayenne powder if I’m looking for a boost of heat. I do not recommend adding more hot sauce unless you want the creamy buffalo sauce to be quite thin.
Uses & Pairings for Buffalo Sauce
Try any of these tasty recipes and pairings, which of course include chicken wings. I’m a realistic guy.
- Smoked Buffalo Wings
- Pair with tangy blue cheese coleslaw
- Mexican Buffalo Wings (Switch up the flavors!)
- Buffalo chicken mac and cheese
- Smoked Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Grilled Buffalo Scallop Salad
- Pair with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing, an obvious choice!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can whisk more cold butter into a warm sauce. Make sure to use small amounts of cold butter, whisking slowly into the sauce until it thickens. It will thicken even more as it cools.
Traditionally it is made with cayenne pepper hot sauce and butter, which is the simplest recipe. Adding small layers of flavor using garlic and onion powder and Worcestershire sauce has become more common.
This recipe will last in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, through testing. Over time the acid from the hot sauce will start to separate the butter, which can be thickened back up slowly over the stove on low heat.
More Sauce Recipes to Try
- BBQ Ranch Dressing
- Tangy Horseradish Aioli
- Homemade Hot Honey
- Smoky Sweet Heat Sauce
- Korean BBQ Sauce
- Hatch Chile Chimichurri Sauce
Thank You For Trying Our Recipe!
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Creamy Buffalo Sauce Recipe
Whip up this rich Creamy Buffalo Sauce for your next batch of wings and things. It’s rich, velvety, and packs a punch—perfect for tossing on wings, drizzling on burgers, or dipping anything that needs some heat.
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: About 1 3/4 Cups 1x
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup Franks RedHot Sauce (or cayenne pepper sauce)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Warm all ingredients except the butter in a saucepan. Gently warm the pot at medium-low heat and whisk to incorporate all the ingredients. Once it hits a low simmer, turn off the heat.
- Whisk in the cold butter, a few pieces at a time. Turn off the heat and drop in a few cubes of butter. Whisk to melt the butter, and continue to add in pieces until all of it has been mixed in.Â
- Taste and adjust. Make sure it’s salty or spicy enough. Cayenne powder is best for additional heat, rather than using more hot sauce.
- Store in the fridge covered, preferably in a squeeze bottle. This will stay fresh for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- It’s important to add a few pieces at a time so that the sauce isn’t dramatically cooled down at once, allowing the butter to slowly melt.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Sauces & Salsas
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Sauce
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 55
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 616.2 mg
- Fat: 6.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 0.2 g
- Protein: 0.1 g
- Cholesterol: 16.3 mg
This is our favorite way to make buffalo sauce from scratch! The kids go crazy for it too, we’ve always got a bottle in the fridge.