The Best Buffalo Mac and Cheese
Today’s buffalo chicken mac and cheese recipe started out as a just-for-fun experiment (so many of my recipes do!) but after taste testing I didn’t have a choice — I had to share it with you! With its irresistibly creamy texture and buffalo chicken dip-esque flavor, this one was just too good to keep to myself. This recipe has everything you love about baked mac & cheese, plus an extra kick of flavor from the buffalo sauce. It’s cheesy, creamy, a little spicy, and so hearty with plenty of shredded chicken. I top mine off with a buttery, crispy crown of toasted panko for some extra texture and flavor, and it’s truly the best mac and cheese I’ve had (my bacon mac and cheese is a close second though!). I just know you’re going to love it too!
What You Need
There are quite a lot of ingredients up there, so let’s go over some of the most important ones:
Buffalo sauce. Make sure you’re using prepared buffalo sauce and not straight hot sauce (which would add more heat than intended). Pasta. You can use macaroni (a classic choice! I use this in my easy mac and cheese), but cavatappi/cellentani is a bit more fun. Cheese. Grab some mozzarella and cheddar blocks and shred them yourself–this is critical for the smoothest sauce and best melting. Pre-shredded cheeses may be more convenient, but they contain anti-caking agents that prevent them from melting smoothly. Sour cream + cream cheese. To make this buffalo mac and cheese extra creamy, we’ll go beyond your standard shredded cheeses and use cream cheese and sour cream too. These two ingredients are possibly the most critical in developing such a creamy and richly flavored dish! Chicken. Any cooked, shredded chicken will work. I like to use a rotisserie chicken or my slow cooker shredded chicken. Panko. We toast this panko in butter on the stovetop for wonderful, buttery flavor. Sometimes, instead of using panko I make breadcrumbs out of my sourdough bread and use those, instead!
SAM’S TIP: Since this dish is so creamy and rich, it makes a great party/potluck dish. It’s the kind of comfort food that you pile on your plate at a party, then find yourself going back for seconds…and thirds! Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
Mac and Cheese
Panko Topping
SAM’S TIP: Fresh chopped parsley makes a pretty, fresh garnish on this mac and cheese. This is optional, but I do like to add it if I have some on hand. Let me know in the comments if you’d like to see more spruced up mac and cheese recipes! Enjoy! Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook Recipe originally published August 2017. Recipe remains the same but text has been updated to be more helpful.
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