Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese
Mighty Tip
In a dish like mac & cheese, swapping full-fat milk and cheese for low-fat/reduced-fat options can help cut down on the calorie content and saturated fat of the dish!
With the Super Bowl right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about one of the most important aspects of watching the game — the Super Bowl food!! In this dish I combined two of the best foods when watching a big game: buffalo chicken and macaroni & cheese. This dish makes enough to serve a crowd, so it’s great when watching football or as a weeknight family favorite. Hope you enjoy!
Ingredients
1 lb cavatappi pasta
3 tbs unsalted butter
3 cups cooked shredded/chunked chicken
1/2 Ranch seasoning packet
1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce
2 cups milk (any kind, I used 2%)
2 cups (8 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese (reduced-fat)
2 cups (8 oz) shredded gruyere cheese
4 oz fat-free plain cream cheese
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Spray oil (such as olive oil or canola oil)
Directions
Cook pasta (according to box directions). Set aside once done cooking.
While pasta is cooking, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add butter to a large pot (large meaning everything will eventually go into this pot!) and heat over medium.
Once the butter melts, add the chicken and ranch seasoning to the pot and stir. Once chicken is coated in the seasoning, add buffalo wing sauce to pot and stir.
Add milk, then cheddar cheese, gruyere cheese, and cream cheese to the pot. Stir until all cheese is completely melted.
Add cooked pasta to the chicken and cheese mixture and stir until pasta is fully coated.
In a separate bowl, mix breadcrumbs & parmesan. *NOTE: If you don’t like the breading on top of mac & cheese, feel free to decrease the amount or completely omit breadcrumbs.
Pour coated pasta & chicken mixture into a greased 9”x13” pan. Top with breadcrumb mixture and lightly coat the top with the olive oil spray.
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Enjoy!
