This is another recipe that I have had in the files for a while. I instagrammed a few pics back when I made it to a great response. Now that Frank’s Red Hot has finally gone on sale I’m ready to share it. I would also suggest purchasing a few extra bottles of the wing sauce. Coming up in two weeks I am going to be dedicating an entire week (maybe two) to buffalo chicken recipes.
This buffalo chicken mac and cheese recipe is from one of my favorite adaptors, The Girl Who Ate Everything. I cut her original recipe in half and it was still huge! You can easily make the who recipe to feed an army, but you are going to need a pretty big baking dish or three.
For your vegetable and to get extra mileage out of the celery you bought, chop it up and serve along since the mac and cheese. Don’t forget celery and peanut butter also makes a great afternoon snack. Any celery you don’t eat before it goes bad stick it in a ziploc in the freezer. In a few weeks I’m going to show you how to make chicken stock from scratch. Start collecting all those leftover veggies: carrots, onions, and celery.
- 3 tbsp butter
- 8oz elbow macaroni, cooked
- ½ small onion, chopped finely
- 1 stalk celery, chopped finely
- 1 large chicken breast, cooked and cut into ½ inch cubes (about 1 ½ cups of chicken)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ cup Buffalo wing sauce
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 1 ¼ cup half and half
- 8 oz cheddar cheese cut into ½ inch cubes
- 4 oz pepper jack shredded cheese
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9×13 pan with cooking spray.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tbsp of butter. Add onions and celery about 5 minutes, until soft. Add chicken and garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add ¼ cup of the wing sauce and cook until thickened about 2-3 minutes.
- In a small sauce pan over medium heat, melt 1 tbsp butter, stir in the flour and mustard and whisk until smooth. Whisk in half and half and add the remaining ¼ cup hot sauce. Whisk until thickened about 2-3 minutes. Slowly add the cheeses and sour cream and whisk until smooth.
- In the baking dish combine the chicken, pasta, and cheese sauce and carefully toss to combine.
- Melt the remaining tbsp of butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Mix in panko, blue cheese, and parsely. Sprinkle on macaroni
- Bake 30-40 minutes, until bubbly.
I am so game for that buffalo chicken week! Looks like this casserole would be great to make and freeze (can you imagine single ol’ me making this full recipe LOL). Actually, I’d probably just take it into work and share with my lunch crew.
Seriously it was never ending buffalo chicken mac! My hubby has requested it when I go out of town for 8 days. I think it will keep him fed the entire time.