Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
This Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese is rich, spicy, ultra cheesy and packed to the brim with flavour!
Servings: 6
Cost: £3 / $4
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Cheese Grater
- Jug (for milk)
- Large Pot & Whisk (for sauce)
- Large Pot & Colander (for pasta)
- Wooden Spoon
- Large Baking Dish & Serving Spoon
- Serving Spoon
Ingredients
- 75g / 2.6oz Unsalted Butter
- 75g / 2.6oz Plain Flour
- 720ml / 3 cups Whole Milk, at room temp
- 1x 150g/5.3oz tub of Sour Cream, at room temp
- 1 tsp EACH: Garlic Powder, Smoked Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/4 tsp EACH: Salt, Black Pepper, or to taste
- 250g / 2 1/2 cups freshly grated Cheddar
- 100g / 1 cup freshly grated/shredded Mozzarella
- 400g / 14oz Spirali Pasta (or regular macaroni)
- 250g / 9oz Cooked Chicken, cubed
- 1x 148ml/5.3oz bottle of Frank's Buffalo Sauce (see notes)
- 100g / 1 cup freshly grated Red Leicester Cheese, or more cheddar
Topping (see notes)
- Blue Cheese Sauce
- Buffalo or Hot Sauce
- Fresh Chives
- Crispy Bacon
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. You want it still a tiny bit hard or it'll bloat and soften in the oven.
- Melt the butter in a large, deep pot over medium heat. Stir in the flour to create a roux, then gradually begin adding in the milk, whisking as you go to prevent lumps forming.
- Stir in the sour cream and seasoning, then bring to a gentle simmer. Allow to bubble away for a minute, then turn off the heat.
- Firmly stir in the mozzarella and cheddar until they both melt. It will be very thick at this point and some of the strands of mozzarella may not have completely melted, but that's fine.
- Drain the pasta and stir it through the sauce (it will loosen up a bit now). Add the chicken and buffalo sauce and give it all a really good stir until well-combined.
- Pour into a large baking dish then top with Red Leicester and bake in the oven for 15 mins until golden and bubbly. I then like to immediately switch on the grill and place it on the highest rack for a few mins, just to crisp up the cheese a little.
- Serve with the suggested toppings or serve individual portions with your preferred toppings. Tuck in and enjoy!
Video
Notes
a) Buffalo Sauce - Another reminder to check it's the buffalo red hot wings sauce. Regular hot sauce is much spicier! I like to add this right at the end to prevent it curdling the milk. Because it's so vinegary, if you added it straight to milk it would likely turn grainy. Because we're using whole milk and you've incorporated the butter and flour, you should be fine if you add it at the started, but just to be safe I stir it through at the end.
b) Cheese - Make sure it's freshly grated from a block. The pre-grated stuff will likely turn the sauce grainy.
c) Consistency - As mentioned in the method, it'll be pretty thick and stringy once you add the mozzarella. But the pasta (alongside the excess water it brings with it) will smooth it out a little. Then the buffalo sauce smooths it out a little more. Once out the oven it ends up perfectly gooey/saucy! Just make sure you don't over-bake it otherwise the sauce dries up.
d) Toppings - These are optional, but I usually do add them. In order of important I'd say chives -> bacon -> blue cheese sauce -> hot/buffalo sauce. Just follow your tastebuds!
e) Al Dente Pasta - Very important to ensure the pasta is only just cooked, otherwise it'll come out soft and broken once baked.
f) Calories - Whole recipe divided by 6 with no toppings.
Nutrition
Calories: 917kcal | Carbohydrates: 69.04g | Protein: 45.09g | Fat: 50.69g | Saturated Fat: 29.138g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.44g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12.465g | Trans Fat: 1.123g | Cholesterol: 152mg | Sodium: 880mg | Potassium: 570mg | Fiber: 2.9g | Sugar: 10.1g | Vitamin A: 1904IU | Vitamin C: 1.2mg | Calcium: 672mg | Iron: 2.71mg