Buffalo and Blue Mac and Cheese

In need of some compliments and kind words in your life? Then I’ve got a fantastic idea – Bring this Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese to your next get together (maybe a Super Bowl party). Then sit back and enjoy people coming up to you saying this like:

“Oh my Gosh. This is amazing.”

or – “Did you make this?! It’s fantastic!”

or – “I. Can’t. Stop. Eating. This. Help. Me.”

Marinated Grilled Chicken is the way to go. I don’t care if it’s winter. You should grill it. And marinade it in hot sauce and oil.

For the cheese, if you don’t like hot stuff, use regular cheddar. But if you appreciate the spice, I recommend a mix of Cabot’s Habanero Cheddar and regular cheddar. I used 8 oz of the hot stuff, and 4 oz. of the normal kind. Or you could just use 12 oz. of normal cheddar.

And before you ask, please don’t use pepper jack. 2 reasons- it’s not spicy and it’s bland. You deserve cheese with real flavor.

Go ahead and make your roux with unsalted butter and flour, add milk and 1/2 cup of hot sauce. Trust me, it’s not too much.

Add the cheese, dump in your noodles, mix well and transfer to another pan. Top with the chicken and shredded or crumbled blue cheese. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes and enjoy!

Buffalo and Blue Chicken Mac and Cheese

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Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 8

Author: Lauren Cobello

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts butterflied in half.
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup cayenne pepper sauce like Red Hot or Crystal, divided
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 pound macaroni pasta
• 1 stick 8 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 12 oz. cheddar cheese shredded (or 8 oz. Habenero cheese and 4 oz. cheddar)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 oz. crumbled or shredded blue cheese

Instructions

• Lightly season chicken with salt and pepper.
• In a freezer bag, marinade the chicken in oil and 1/2 cup of the hot sauce for at least 4 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400 and preheat grill on high.
• On high heat, grill chicken until it's done and set aside.
• Boil some water and cook the macaroni noodles, it's best if they're undercooked just a little bit.
• While the macaroni is cooking, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
• Add the flour and whisk so it's well blended and starts to bubble.
• Add the milk and slowly heat so it starts to bubble, whisking often.
• Whisk in the hot sauce and salt.
• Add the cheddar cheese and mix until it's melted and smooth.
• Pour over the macaroni noodles and mix until evenly coated.
• Pour into a 9x13 baking disk.
• Chop up the chicken and place on top of the mac and cheese.
• Top the chicken with the blue cheese.
• Bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes.

Have you grabbed my freezer meal plans, yet? I might be biased but I think they are pretty amazing! They have saved our dinner hour for years now. Check them out!