Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
This Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese is killer! It’s spicy and full of buffalo flavor. Creamy macaroni and cheese pasta recipe with a blue cheese Panko crust. This casserole is game day food at its finest.
BUFFALO CHICKEN MACARONI AND CHEESE
This is “Man Food” at its best. Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese. I mean you have the chicken, the cheese, the buffalo sauce. It’s a combo made in heaven.
This may be a Denney favorite. My husband is a little obsessed with buffalo chicken anything and then throw it with creamy mac n’ cheese… heaven.
It is a little spicy so you can adjust according to your family’s taste and add less buffalo sauce if you need to.
It is a little spicy so you can adjust according to your family’s taste and add less buffalo sauce if you need to.
I just made half of this Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese recipe and it was more than plenty for my family. Although it takes a little prep work, it is yummy and will be well appreciated by all the men in your life watching football this weekend.
Tips For Making This Buffalo Macaroni and Cheese:
1) This recipe is best when served immediately. It feeds a crowd!
2) Adjust the Buffalo wing sauce for spiciness. For my kids to eat it I have to cut down the Buffalo sauce by half at least.
OTHER CHEESE RECIPES:
- Copycat Panera Mac and Cheese
- Baked Macaroni and Cheese
- Skinny Mac’ and Cheese
- Marinated Cheese Appetizer
- Baked Brie
- One-Pan, Cheesy Broccoli Chicken and Rice
- Cheesy Baked Eggs
- Cheesy Bean Salsa Chicken
Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
This Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese is killer! It's spicy and full of buffalo flavor. Creamy macaroni and cheese recipe with a blue cheese Panko crust.
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 pound (16 oz ) elbow macaroni
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery finely chopped
- 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3/4 cup Buffalo wing sauce preferably Frank's. If you are worried about the heat factor add half the amount
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 2 1/2 cups half-and-half
- 1 pound (16 oz ) yellow sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 1/2 cups)
- 8 ounces pepper jack cheese shredded (about 2 cups)
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs found in the grocery store next to regular breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain.
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Meanwhile, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken and garlic and cook 2 minutes. Then add 1/2 cup hot sauce and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 more minute.
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Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a separate saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour and mustard until smooth. Whisk in the half-and-half and add the remaining 1/4 cup hot sauce (less if you want it less spicy) and stir until thick, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, then whisk in the sour cream until smooth.
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Combine the chicken mixture, cooked pasta, and cheese sauce and toss to combine.
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Put the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted. Stir in the panko, blue cheese and parsley. Sprinkle over the macaroni and bake until bubbly, 30 to 40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
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Best served immediately.
Recipe Notes
Source: adapted from Food Network
I have been making this for years from your recipe! A family favorite, but my grandson loves it and requests it all the time. Mmmmmm! I have made it in advance the day before, I have made it and put it in two separate pans, one I baked and one I froze. Always came out great!
When you freeze it how do you cook it again? Let it thaw or put it in the oven frozen? Thanks!
It’s best to let it thaw in the fridge which allows for more even cooking.
I made this dish for an office potluck. It was a big hit. Thank you for putting this recipe online.
You’re welcome! It’s one of my faves.
Mac and cheese is quite a staple in our lives (not sure if that’s healthy or not…) and Buffalo any thing is always a plus for the dudes!! 😋 Is it possible to make it with a regular chicken breast instead? And if so how would be the best way to cook it since it will also be cooking with the sauce and then baked with the macaroni? And if boiled, how much is too much?
Awesome. I would cook diced chicken breast in some oil in a skillet and then remove from the pan. Then continue on with the recipe as normal.
WHY CAN’T I PRINT OUT YOUR RECEIPTS ANY MORE, SINCE YOU CHANGED THE PROCESS
Yes, it’s annoying. It’s a bug with my recipe card and I’m trying to fix it.
This recipe is right up my alley! I’m all about buffalo everything!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Thanks Paige!
Greetings Christy. I have enjoyed reading your blog since I discovered it. Have made many of your recipes and not once been disappointed. Very clever writing as well.
Planning on making your Buffalo Chicken Macaroni & Cheese but wondering if I can substitute cauliflower for the macaroni. If I do, should I blanch the cauliflower first or steam til tender? It’ll cook with the chicken so wouldn’t want it overcooked.
Any advise?
I have never tried that. My only worry is that the cauliflower would be too wet. I would definitely steam or blanch it to get the moisture out.
How can I make this the night before somewhat so I can transfer it to my parents the next day for thanksgiving n still be creamy ?
You could assemble to the part right before baking!
Can you make the chicken in the crockpot with the sauce before hand (like shredded Buffalo chicken)? And just use when time to make the recipe?
Absolutely!
This is a favorite recipe at our house because my college-age son Is a huge buffalo chicken fan. Due to his gluten intolerance, I make it with GF brown rice noodles and it’s still absolutely phenomenal! Thank you so much for coming up with this recipe. You rock, GWAE!
Oh Joelle that makes me smile. I’m glad we share the love for all things buffalo. So glad it worked gluten-free.
SO a few months ago I started dating my boyfriend and quickly found out he is the pickiest eater alive. I love to experiment and use bold flavors and he usually says something along the lines of, “This would be really good without…” or just pushes whatever he doesn’t like over to the side.
Knowing his love for Buffalo Sauce and Cheese I decided to give this a go. His exact words, pardon my french, was, “Holy f*** this is delicious.” He then proceeded to ask how it was made and said he didn’t realize Mac and Cheese could be so complicated. This coming from the guy who would be fine eating Velveeta Shells and Cheese every night.
I said anything with flavor like this doesn’t just happen by magic. With all that being said, this is getting added to my list of favorite recipes I have ever made. I followed the recipe almost exactly, just halved the amount of celery and onions for the picky eater.
There was soooooo much flavor, and adding the last mixture of Panko, Blue Cheese, and Parsley really makes the dish. YUM!
Thank you for this!
I forgot, I did half Macaroni and half Penne Pasta as well to mix up the textures.
You’re welcome. It’s a lot of work but so worth it!
This was amazing, everyone loved it.imade it for Halloween supper.
It’s one of my favorites.
Made this for Super Bowl sunday! So good! The whole family loved it! This stuff is the way to any mans heart! Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome and I agree!
I made this tonight and it was fantastic! thank you for the recipe. It was a great way to use or leftover chicken.
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Oh my! This has become a staple at a lot of our parties. Children and grandchildren ask for it all the time!
First, let me start by saying this is the BEST Mac n Cheese EVER! When I invite my mom and sisters over for dinner, they request this all the time. We used to all be modest and take a small helping, but now we all fast the whole day and eat more than heaping helping of this stuff. I found, after the first time I made it, you could cut some of the prep down by just skipping the onion and celery step. I just stir the buffalo sauce in with the chicken, then combine it with the pasta and cheese sauce. Saves a little time and it’s still just as delicious. I thank you for this recipe even though my waistline doesn’t 🙂
You’re welcome! It really is killer.
I made this for a Super Bowl gathering and it was delicious and plentiful!
Ooh. So glad you liked it. Now I’m hungry.
Hi Christy – I love your site and make something from it at least once a week (but usually more)! I was looking to make this as a side dish and wanted to omit the chicken – do you think I should add more of the other ingredients (pasta, celery, onion), or should it be okay without making up for the missing chicken?
Thank you so much!
I think you could just leave the chicken out without changing anything else. The chicken just adds some bulk…
Thank you!
What if you don’t like blue cheese? I’ve never eaten it cooked but I definitely won’t eat it otherwise. Any suggestions?
You could definitely leave it out. I wouldn’t say that it is overpowering in this dish but rather subtle.
Just made this for my family, (with gluten-free pasta and bread crumbs for the celiacs). The all loved it – delicious! I subbed plain greek yogurt for the sour cream and might try adding veggies next time as well. It’s a keeper. 🙂
Is there a way to make this the night before and re-heat in the morning?
I haven’t ever tried making it ahead of time. I’m not sure how it would work. With homemade mac and cheese sometimes the sauce can separate when made and reheated ahead of time.
I’m sure that you could prep and assemble it ahead of time and then bake it the following morning to save yourself some time. As long as the cheese has not been melted, it should be just fine.
This looks delicious! Have you ever tried freezing it before baking?? I’m wondering if it wouldn’t work because of the sauce but I’m really tempted to try…but if someone else alread has and they could lend a tip that’d be awesome!
I’ve never tried freezing it before. Sorry!
I have made this and frozen it more than once (I split the recipe into 2 dishes, bake one immediately and freeze the other for later). I transfer it from freezer to fridge to thaw a couple days before baking and still add the bread crumb topping just before putting it in the oven. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the tips!
Ive made this several times for dinner parties. There are no words to describe how yum yum yummy it is! I followed the recipe to a T and it came out amazing!! It requires alot of prep time but well worth it. I’m making it again tonight. 😉
Found your site on Pinterest and made this over the weekend. Absolutely delicious!!! Thanks for sharing!! Will definitely be making this one again and will continue to check out your other recipes.
Thanks for this recipes. It’s got a nice heat to it. my family (adults) love this.
How long do you cook this if you halve the recipe? Do you cut the cook time in half (sorry, dumb question)? Thank you! It looks so good!
@Steph,
I would keep the cooking time the same if your pan is half the size. If you’re still using a large pan and halving it you should decrease the cooking time until hot and bubbly.
I came across your blog while looking for a lemon blueberry recipe and I had to try this one! I made this for my husband and I yesterday and it was amazing!!! The only thing I changed was using Guy Fieri’s Buffalo Wings sauce which had the right amount of heat! I’ll put this in my weekly rotation of dinner meals! Thanks so much for sharing!!!!