Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese. This is mac & cheese is perfectly spicy! Great meal for a crowd or for watching you’re favorite football team!
Spicy food lovers, this one is for you :: Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese!!! First, I must credit my darling friend Natalie for inspiration! So, I don’t know what it is but from the point of being preggo with baby number 2 and still 19 months later, I have had a new love of buffalo sauce. Lucky for me, my brothers and sis in law (not so much my hubs) love a little spice, so they were invited over for this dinner!
This recipe is certainly budget friendly and packs a spicy kick in the butt! There are several steps to it but the end result is so worth it! The chicken breasts are poached {double duty- homemade chicken broth}, soaked in buffalo sauce, tossed with pasta and a cheesy buffalo sauce and topped with chipotle seasoned bread crumbs…. YUM!!!!!
Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese
Author: Angela LeMoine
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- some bits of onion, celery, carrots and garlic for the poaching liquid
- 5 Tbsp butter, divided
- ¾ cup Franks Red Hot, divided
- 1 lb elbow pasta, cooked very al dente
- 1 lb sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 4 Tbsp flour
- 1 cup broth
- 2 cups milk, slightly warmed
- approx ½ cup chipotle seasoned bread crumbs (found by the regular breadcrumbs)
Instructions
- Oven at 375 degrees.
- Lets start with the poaching liquid. In a medium sized pot fill it about ¾ up with water. Add in some carrots, celery, onion and garlic cloves, season with salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
- Lower the heat so the water is barely at a simmer and add in the chicken breasts and poach for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and place on cutting board. Allow the broth to simmer for another 20 minutes. Set aside, you will have extra to save too!
- In a small pan, over medium low heat, melt 2 Tbsp of butter and ½ cup of the hot sauce. Using two forks shred the chicken. Toss the shredded chicken in the buffalo sauce.
- In a pot, over medium low heat, add in 3 Tbsp butter. Once melted whisk in the flour. Once that two are combined allow to cook for a minute or two. You now have a roux (your thickening agent), fancy word for butter and flour isn't it!
- Whisk in 1 cup of your beautiful broth, milk and ¼ cup of the hot sauce. Continue to whisk until everything is combined and smooth. Simmer until slightly thickened. Slowly add in the shredded cheese, again stirring until smooth.
- In a large baking pan toss together the al dente cooked pasta, the shredded buffalo chicken and the cheesy buffalo sauce. Top with some chipotle bread crumb.
{you may be wondering where is the bleu cheese, right? I know buffalo chicken and bleu cheese are always paired but I just don’t like the stinky cheese}
I served mine with a simple salad of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, crumbled bacon, croutons and ranch dressing.
Jess @ Pretty Physicist
This looks so good! I’m glad you didn’t put in blue cheese, because I don’t like it either and I’m never sure what to substitute for it!
Angela LeMoine
Thanks!!!! Glad to hear i’m not the only one! Happy Eats!
Valerie
Angela, I was attracted to this recipe right away! While I like my food with a just a little heat I needed to give this a try. I made it last night and it was de-lish! I loved it and my husband loved it. It reminded me of an appetizer I sometimes make “Buffalo Chicken Cheese Balls” which includes shredded chicken cheddar and hot sauce rolled in panko (minus the pasta) and deep friend. This was a MUCH healthier alternative, love this <3
Angela LeMoine
WOW WOW! Thank you!!! I am so very glad you and your husband enjoyed it!!! It is comments like this that make this blog important to me, so for that, thank you!