Part of my endless quest for exciting flavors extends to mac and cheese, as I’ve said before it’s a great canvas for experimenting. Early on in my cooking career I came upon this mash up and quickly made it my own, hot wings meet mac and cheese. A base of cheddar mac and cheese is enriched with pieces of chicken tossed in Frank’s hot sauce and topped with chunks blue cheese. If you really want to take this dish all the way serve it along side a carrot and celery coleslaw.
Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
Chicken
- ¾ lb chicken breast or tenders
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp. Frank’s RedHot Sauce
Cheese sauce
- ¼ c butter
- ¼ c + 1 Tbsp. flour
- 3 c milk
- 8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
- 4 oz white cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 c grated parmesan
- 2 tbsp. Frank’s RedHot Sauce
- ½ tsp. salt
Assembly
- 1 lb elbow macaroni pasta, cooked and drained
- Chicken
- Frank’s RedHot Sauce
- Blue cheese crumbles
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, in the meantime cook the chicken and make the cheese sauce.
Chicken
- Cut the chicken into small bite size pieces and add to a preheated pan along with salt and pepper, cook for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the hot sauce and cook until most of the liquid has cooked off, set aside until the rest of the recipe is prepped.
Cheese sauce
- In a saucepan melt the butter and then add the flour whisking to combine into a smooth paste. Cook for a few minutes until the flour starts to brown and smells toasty.
- Add the milk whisking constantly, cook for a several minutes until the the milk starts to thicken, turn down the heat and gradually add the cheese.
- Add the remaining ingredients for the cheese sauce, taste and adjust seasoning.
Assembly
- By now the water should be boiling, cook the pasta until it is al dente, if you happen to over cook the pasta drain it quickly and rinse under cold water.
- Fold the pasta into the sauce, add the chicken and pour the whole lot into a casserole dish smoothing out the top.
- Garnish the top of the casserole with drizzles of additional hot sauce and a sprinkle of blue cheese crumbles.
- Bake at 375F for 30-45 minutes or until the edges have gained a little color and the sauce is bubbling.
