Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Blue Cheese
February 9th, 2011 § 43 Comments
Given the amount of love and affection you, my dear friends, paid to the buffalo chicken rolls I baked last week, and given that creamy homemade macaroni and cheese is one of those dishes we’d all love to eat competitively at a state fair, I figured it wise to combine the two.
Now, I’ve done a lot of this sort of ‘if ‘X’ is great, and ‘Y’ is also fabulous…why not pair ‘em?!’ The minor problem that arises from this kind of query is that I’ve ended up alone in my kitchen dipping salty kettle cooked potato chips into peanut butter and slathering jam on top of grilled cheese sandwiches a time too many.
This one, though, well this is a good one. And it makes sense.
Now, there are a few considerations I took before tossing the cheesy macaroni, buffalo chicken, and blue cheese together. First, though many people claim to love buffalo chicken and blue cheese, they may not actually love real crumbled blue cheese. I find that lots of folks much prefer blue cheese dressing, which has hints of traditional blue pungency and bite, but is a world milder. I’d even bet that most folks wouldn’t notice if you swapped ranch dressing with the blue cheese in the cup where they’re dipping buffalo chicken tenders. The point is this: blue cheese is fabulous and lovable, but it’s not universally beloved. I find that it’s a bit too potent to mix into the sauce for your mac and cheese, but is just lovely when crumbled into the hot dish. This way, while you’re chewing away on creamy mild macaroni, you get a burst of blue cheese every now and then. It’s a very nice change in taste and texture.
The second consideration: I don’t love the idea of blending the hot sauce too evenly into the creamy cheddar sauce that I’ve coated my macaroni with. Hot sauce is naturally bold, and its flavor will overpower all others while you’re eating. So just as I prefer crumbling blue cheese on top of the dish rather than mixing, I like to take a similar approach to the spicy chicken. I fold it ever so gently into the saucy macaroni.
Altogether, these simple recipe considerations make the flavors of the dish pop. The eating experience feels more satisfying because of the differences and uniqueness of each bite. Some forkfuls combine creamy macaroni with a hot kick of buffalo chicken, some are sprinkled with sharp blue cheese. Each great on their own, and even better together.
Here’s how to whip it up yourself:
Bring a pot of water to a boil, add about 5 cups dry elbow shaped macaroni, cook for about 8 minutes (or until softened to your liking), drain, and set aside. A tip: Generally 3/4 cup dry pasta will yield 1 cup cooked.
While the pasta is cooking, make your cheese sauce. Combine 1 cup cold milk with 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a small saucepan. Whisk and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, stir in 1 tablespoon butter until smooth, and then add 3/4 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese. Stir until the mixture is well blended and silky smooth.
Pour the cheese sauce over the cooked macaroni and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, stir together hot cooked chicken (diced into bite sized pieces) and 1/2 – 2/3 cup hot buffalo wing sauce. I recommend Frank’s Red Hot brand. This is a perfect dish to use leftover cooked chicken, but if you need to cook some: Place 1 lb of chicken breasts in a pot, fill it with enough water just to cover the chicken, set it on the stovetop over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is opaque and cooked through. To test for doneness, you can pull one of the chicken breasts out of the water, slice into it and check to be sure the inside is no longer pink. Then, drain the chicken and let it cool enough so you can handle it and cut it into chunks.
Stir the chicken into the pasta gently. You don’t want to completely mix the hot sauce with the cheesy sauce on the macaroni. Then sprinkle 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese over the whole mixture. It will make for a nice contrast in flavors while you’re eating if the three components of the dish- the creamy, cheesy pasta, the buffalo chicken, and the pungent blue cheese- don’t blend fully. It’s so satisfying to bite into each of them separately, and then notice how well they complement each other mid-bite.
Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Blue Cheese
(serves 4)
1 cup 1 % milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon butter
¾ cup extra sharp cheddar cheese (3 oz)
½ cup crumbled blue cheese (2 oz)
4 cups cooked elbow shaped pasta
1 lb chicken breast, cooked and chopped into bite sized pieces
1/2-2/3 cup hot buffalo wing sauce (recommended: Frank’s Red Hot)
Stir the milk and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir in the butter. When the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, add the cheddar cheese and stir until the cheese has melted and the mixture is silky and well blended.
Place your cooked, drained pasta in a large bowl. Pour the hot sauce over it and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, toss the cooked chicken with the hot sauce, evenly coating and moistening the meat evenly. Use more or less hot sauce depending on your spice preference.
Gently stir the chicken into the pasta, followed by the crumbled blue cheese. Serve immediately.
Nutrition information for ¼ of the recipe:
Calories: 513, Fat: 16.6g, Cholesterol: 128.1mg, Sodium 450.9mg, Carb: 45.7g, Fiber: 1g, Sugars: 3.2g, Protein: 43.6g
I have to make this what a great combo!
THAT LOOKS SO GOOD.
This looks amazing. I am going to have to vegetarianize this for sure!
ohhhh, I want to make that dish be my valentine. LOVE! hahaa
OH my gosh, my husband is going to be forever thankful when I make this meal for him! It look so delicious!
You write of your ingredients and I picture them as characters. Beautiful.
I can’t wait to make this when my husband FINALLY gets to come home for a weekend!
We’ll both love this!
I gasped when I read the title to this post. Then I weeped. Perfection in a bowl.
Looks really fantastic, it just goes to show you that anything can go into macaroni and cheese! I like the way you think
This is an amazing combo!! It really is incredible that I haven’t used these two together before. I mean these are two of my favorite dishes, why was my brain not working. It would have been a great dish to have at one of the bars I worked at in Chicago. I bet it would be a top seller!
2 of my favorite things… together… in one meal… amazing!
[...] think the Super Bowl triggered some craving for buffalo chicken things. Like this Buffalo Chicken and Macaroni and Blue Cheese. And these Buffalo Chicken Rolls. By the way, this is a great new blog I have been [...]
I’m definitely more of a blue cheese dressing person…I just can’t get into blue cheese.
HOWEVER, this looks amazing!
Thanks Di!
Add another of your fabulous ideas to the list – this will be getting made very soon. I already put hot sauce on top of my mac n’ cheese (normal, no?) but this just takes it to a whole ‘notha level! My boyfriend would be all over this too, yummmmm.
My husband and I made your buffalo chicken egg rolls last week and we both loved them! I will def try this one. I can never get enough of “buffalo”.
What a tasty take on mac n cheese!
I’m super excited to make this tonight!! Unfortunately I won’t be adding the blue cheese but I’m sure it’ll still be amazing!
Thanks Jessie! Let me know how it turns out!!
It turned out great! My boyfriend loved it – he ate SO much!
My boyfriend eats like a 5 year old. If it isn’t McNuggets or a BK Rodeo Cheeseburger, he isn’t interested. Heaven forbid I want to cook dinner and/or try to force him to eat vegetables. However, he ate about 3/4 of this. WE LOVED THIS DISH!!! Found your blog yesterday and am already in love. I’ll definitely be trying some more recipes.
Thanks Leigh! This makes me so so happy!
I made your buffalo chicken rolls the other day and had some leftover shredded chicken so I decided to try this – it was awesome!!!! And the recipe actually makes a lot, so I had leftovers the next day, and it was still amazing! I have used more hot sauce in the past month than I have over the course of my life… but I think that’s a good thing…
So glad to hear it! Yes, hot sauce is a very good thing
1/4 of the recipe is a huge amount! This is a definite win on your part. My cheese didn’t come out as creamy and cheesy as I’d like and I used whole wheat pasta shells but the buffalo wing sauce and blue cheese is divine. Loved it!
[...] RECIPE This entry was posted in Eat. Bookmark the permalink. ← 10 Gadgets for Design Loving Dads LikeBe the first to like this post. [...]
This ROCKED. Like Katherine, I used WW pasta, and I also used reduced fat cheddar so it wasn’t as creamy and cheesy – but I didn’t care, as the flavors in this were fantastic. I especially liked technique of ‘folding’ in the chicken – this made the dish edible for my husband (who likes hot sauce, but not nearly to the quantity/heat that I do). The leftovers kept well, too. I will definitely make this again!
I made this last night and it was so delicious there were no leftovers! The only thing I changed was that I used penne pasta which was only about 2 cups of dry pasta to make 5 cups cooked. Everyone loved it! I’m sure I’ll be making it again soon. Thanks!
[...] I decided to try out one of the more simple recipes and make buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese. Here is the original recipe from her blog, and if you are going to make this I would follow her [...]
I made this the other night! It didn’t turn out as well as yours did, but I’m not discouraged in the slightest and look forward to trying it again!!!
http://chef.foxingworth.com/2011/08/buffalo-chicken-macaroni-and-cheese/
Hi there,
My boyfriend works in the kitchen of a well-known and established restaurant here in Portland, OR. He loved this recipe so much when I made it for him, that he served it as a special today in his restaurant. It was an incredible hit. Thank you for all of your delicious ideas and thank you most of all for your chocolate chip cookie recipe.
[...] I am enjoying comfort food at it’s finest – Buffalo Chicken Macaroni & Blue Cheese. It is amazing, comforting, and [...]
WOW!! I will be making this tomorrow night for dinner! i can not believe its somewhat healthy! Thank you for all your recipes keep them coming!
I just found today, not only this recipe, but also this entire website, and can I just say that I’m kinda bummed you live clear across the country! We could just be two peas in the same little pod!! Anyway, if you’re ever in NC we can totally go get cheeseburgers and something loaded with chocolate.
Okay…as I said, just found this recipe today and HAD to make it! And I did! And it was DELICIOUS!!! (Hubby agrees, and that’s saying something) This will definitely become one of my “go to” dinners!!
Just made this and it was DELICIOUS!! Definitely looking fwd to leftovers
So…I think I am on a kick of trying out all the recipes on here now because they just look sooo good!
I made this one and (with a few mishaps from misreading the directions). It was amazing! I am addicted to Frank’s and blue cheese so the combination of the two was an explosion of flavours! So good! This is definitely a do-over in my house!
Made this recipe tonight for dinner. Myself and my husband loved it so much. Super tasty and surprisingly easy to make. I really enjoy reading about your journey and for every recipe your personal insights. I love cooking and especially enjoy finding healthy recipes, I find your website enjoyable to read and most important, for me as a person who loves to try new recipes, the step-by-step pics. I will be making the meatloaf burgers with extra sharp cheddar this weekend! Thanks again and will continue coming back.
[...] made my mac’n'cheese with this recipe from Andie @ Can You Stay for Dinner? This is the recipe I ALWAYS use for macaroni & [...]
If I can convince YiRan that we are allowed to make this, it’ll be the next thing I make!!
just made this recipe tonight, and loved it! so good, I had it with some salad greens. great for leftovers!
[...] Photo and recipe from CanYouStayForDinner [...]
[...] recipe from Can You Stay For Dinner [...]