Creamy Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

I am finding myself cooking sandwich makings/ fillings like crazy here lately. The crock pot lends itself nicely and is still not heating up my house (which is my #1 reasoning for using it right now). Also sandwiches don’t seem to be such heavy meals in this heat.
This particular recipe for crock pot buffalo chicken is not only great on sandwiches (even though that’s how we most often eat it), but it’s great inside of burritos or tamales, on top of salads or pasta and is even delicious on top of cheese grits (my husbands personal favorite).
I had looked online and through cookbooks for some time to find a crock pot recipe for shredded buffalo chicken that my family would really like. It seemed that every time I started looking at the ingredient list it either called for a dry ranch dressing mix or salad dressing (in either ranch or blue cheese). Of course the problem I was having with this was that my people don’t all like the same thing (which let me assure you, is par for course).

Here is what I came up with:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 2 cups of your favorite hot sauce or wing sauce
• 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened or sour cream
• Sandwich makings: Buns, cheese, lettuce, tomato, ranch/ blue cheese dressing, banana peppers (the sky is the limit!)

Place the chicken breasts and hot sauce (I use (3) 5 oz. bottles that a friend of my husband’s makes) in a 3 – 4 quart crock pot. Cook on low for 3 – 4 hours. Even though my chicken breasts were frozen they were cooked and ready to shred in 3 1/2 hours.

This is actually a photo of my
bbq shredded chicken (I forgot to take pic at
this step, but same method).
Remove the lid, and using two forks, shred the chicken breasts. Once shredded toss everything back together and add the softened cream cheese (or sour cream) to the top. Place lid back on and cook an additional hour.
Once it has “melted” the cream cheese, stir it in to incorporate it well.  Serve on your favorite buns or rolls and top with your favorite sandwich toppings.

*NOTE*Using 4 chicken breasts will usually make 6 – 8 sandwiches OR 3 – 4 sandwiches and enough leftover for tossing with pasta and serving with a salad the next day.