Buffalo Chicken Pasta Recipe

Day 140.

I’m at BlogHer Food this weekend and I’m so excited to meet with other bloggers and find new recipes that will inspire me to share more yummy food with you. But, my family still has to eat dinner at home, so they get to have this fabulous Buffalo Chicken dish, which the Bug is calling spicy ‘ronis. I thankfully got to sample a bowl after baking it ahead of time for them to enjoy.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta
Adapted from Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta.
Ingredients
serves 4-6
1/2 pound pasta (I used macaroni)
3 cups cubed “chicken” (I used chopped, breaded Quorn chik’n nuggets)

1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 C milk
1/2 C mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/3 C Mexican cheese + more for topping
1/3 C buffalo wing sauce
1/3 C panko bread crumbs or masa
salt and pepper to taste
for garnish: green onions or chives, additional buffalo wing sauce

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare water for pasta and cook according to directions.

While pasta is cooking, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter, and once it’s melted and bubbly add the flour. Whisk together to create a roux and cook for 1-2 minutes until mixture gets a bit golden in color. Add milk, stir and turn down heat to low. Continue stirring until milk thickens. Add in grated cheeses and continue to stir until mixture is smooth. Stir in buffalo wing sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.

Spray a baking dish (8×8) with non-stick spray. Add pasta and “chicken,” then pour cheese sauce over and mix throughly until everything is coated. Sprinkle with additional grated cheese and bread crumbs/masa. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately top with gorgonzola, green onions and cilantro. Drizzle with buffalo wing sauce.

The Results
Spicy ‘roni indeed! This is so delicious I can’t stand that they get to eat the rest of it without me. Selfish, I know. But, I can always make it again…sometime next year. This is a definite repeat. Delicious. I ended up doubling the sauce from the original recipe. This may be something with real versus faux chicken or maybe I just like it saucy. I made the sauce as directed for the full recipe (intending to freeze half for another day) and poured half over the 1/2 pound of pasta I had prepared. But, I ended up emptying all of the sauce into the dish. It was delicious this way, so I’ll be preparing the “saucy” version in the future.

What’s your favorite add-in to macaroni and cheese?

This post shared at Fat Camp Friday, Crafty Friday, Friday Favorites, Potluck Friday,·Frugal Fridays, Foodie Fridayand I’m Lovin’ It.