Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta.
Can you keep a secret?
Last night I went to a karate slash pilates slash bootcamp-ish slash heart attack class. I know. Your face? Your expression you are wearing right now? I was thinking the exact same thing. But my face was red and dripping with beads of sweat.
Anyway. That’s not the secret.
All I could think of during this class was cheese. Cheese on toast, cheese with jam, cheese on nachos, cheese in my face. If you find this peculiar then you really don’t know me. If you are not the least bit surprised, well then… you sure are neat. And I like you.
After flinging myself through the front door following my uncoordinated attempt at unarmed combat and eating four handfuls of peanut butter stuffed pretzels (I hear they are excellent for muscle recovery. write that down.), it dawned on me that peanut butter pretzels do not a dinner make. I had already spent a luscious 30 minutes with a quesadilla earlier in the evening, but when you jump, kick and squeeze your body into oblivion, you deserve a second dinner. It’s like a law or something.
Then I remembered the buffalo chicken mac sitting in the fridge and decided it qualified as a post-workout recovery meal.
Uh… wait a minute.
This is sort of like mac and cheese. Or it is mac and cheese. Can someone tell me what the difference between baked pasta and mac and cheese is? Educate me. It’s probably the cheese to pasta ratio. Copious amounts of cheese make up this buffalo chicken pasta. Maybe baked pasta doesn’t have lots of cheese. I don’t know.
But guess what? Now it does. That’s the beauty of this whole little deal we’ve got going on. I make things and name them whatever the heck I want. Sometimes you call me on it. Other times you look at me with googly eyes. Most times it is still delicious. Except for anything with broccoli. If I ever tell you something with broccoli is delicious, I’m lying.
I don’t care what you call it. Just get on it.
Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta
serves 4-6
1 pound pasta (I used whole wheat orecchiette)
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into chunks
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 1/2 cups milk
4 ounces freshly grated monterey jack cheese (I used half a brick) + more for topping
1/3 cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese + more for topping
1/3 cup buffalo wing sauce
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
for garnish: 3/4 cup chopped green onions, 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, 1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, additional buffalo wing sauce
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Prepare water for pasta and cook according to directions.
While pasta is cooking, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter, and once it’s melted and bubbly add the flour. Whisk together to create a roux and cook for 1-2 minutes until mixture gets a bit golden in color. Add milk, stir and turn down heat to low. Continue stirring until milk thickens. Add in grated cheeses and continue to stir until mixture is smooth. Stir in buffalo wing sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.
Spray a baking dish (9 x 13 is fine, I used a round 4-inch deep dish) with non-stick spray. Add pasta and chicken, then pour cheese sauce over and mix throughly until everything is coated. Sprinkle with additional grated cheese and bread crumbs. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately top with gorgonzola, green onions and cilantro. Drizzle with buffalo wing sauce.
And save me some? I’m still hungry.
281 Comments on “Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta.”
Here I am being all good this morning and having my oatmeal and thinking I’ll have yogurt for lunch and salad for dinner… and then this comes along and has me thinking evil cheese thoughts!!
Weird….i just had the same thought….except I have a salad for lunch and a sweet potato for dinner. But Mac & Cheese is just so much better!
I made your mexican mac and cheese for my husband’s birthday 2 weeks ago (mac n cheese is his fav) and we loved it. might have to try this one now too!
YUM! This is going on our menu next week. I love buffalo chicken – this pasta looks amazing!! Can’t wait to try it.
This looks absolutely amazing. I haven’t had mac and cheese–or baked pasta, whatever you call it!–in a long while. Looks like the time has come!
amazing. I don’t even like buffalo chicken things all that much, but I have a feeling this will make it onto our dinner menu sometime soon :)
This is exactly the recipe I need today! Seriously.. I wanted some chicken but also some pasta. This is just perf. Thanks!
I made pretty much the exact same thing a couple months ago when I was looking through your recipes. I found barbeque chicken pasta bake and decided I wanted buffalo chicken pasta bake. It turned out delicious and was gone in a matter of minutes. I love trying new buffalo chicken recipes :D
mmm cheese. I knew there was a reason I liked you :)
my friend and I had a conversation yesterday about the logistics of making a plant that produces cheese. It would be the best invention ever
I’d be the first to buy one!
I am glad to hear that I am not the only who is thinking of food when I work out! In fact sometimes I even watch the Food Network while I use the treadmill. Haha!
Me too!
haha perfect way to end a work out? I suppose so! This looks mighty tasty! My husband would love it! This is on my to make list for sure!
Whatever the difference between a pasta bake and Mac n cheese I don’t mind. I love both! So tasty looking Jessica.
I think you’re pretty neat yourself, lady! ;) Love the plated photo!!
Oh man you are killin’ me smalls!!! Srsly, every single time I look @ your blog I feel like I need to run to the store to get whatever ingredient I am missing!! How the heck is a girl supposed to diet with you around??! Shesh!
;)
whatever you want to call it is fine as long as i can have some!
perfet post workout meal ;) carbs, protein, fat AMAZING
this looks ah-mazing! can’t wait to try it!
Yess, I always watch Food Network while working out. Sadistic? Perhaps. But it gets me through :) I absolutely adore this idea!
I lovee orechiette for mac and cheese because each noodle is like a little bowl for large amounts of cheese in every bite. looks incredible.
I don’t know that baked pasta & mac and cheese are mutually exclusive. I think mac and cheese is a form of baked pasta, but doesn’t have to be since not all mac and cheese is baked. That’s the way I look at it. :-)
Yup, I was just going to post this. All Baked Mac & Cheese are Baked Pastas, not all Baked Pastas are Baked Mac & Cheese. A key difference is the absence of cheese sauce, most baked pastas would use a tomato based sauced, i.e. Lasagna or Zitti.
Oh yes. Yum. This is dinner tomorrow.
I often find myself in yoga class, thinking about what I’m going to stuff in my face as soon as class ends. The problem now is that I want to stay home from yoga tonight and make this!
You are speaking my language with anything buffalo chicken, girl! I’m all over this!!
Wow! I am thinking next Super Bowl on this one for sure. :) Awesome! The shells and sauce look soooo good. Great for a post run or cycle for me anyways. :)
Wow! You have combined a bunch of my favorite flavors in one dish. We need to be neighbors. No seriously, we do.
hahaha, when I go to the gym, I always run to the cardio machines with the tv so that I can watch the food network. OMG, this looks so amazing! Everytime I make one of your dishes, my boyfriend absolutely loves it :) I think I need to make this on the weekend! And maybe some of your waffles for Sunday breakfast ;)
Wow, I’m seriously drooling. This is dinner tonight!! :)
Surge Training…that’s what I did last night for 15 minutes….and today I can’t move my legs. It’s a pain to get up and down. However…I think I can make the effort for this…and maybe a milkshake…a big one!
WOW. this looks AWESOME!!!!!!!
That’s too funny…my husband picked up a box of buffalo mac and cheese from Target last night and we gave it a shot. It was okay but I said it needed some chicken and more of a homemade taste to it. Were you evesdropping in on our conversation last night?!? :)
My husband would LOVE this!
Hell, who am I kidding…so would I!
I made something similar a while back – smells amazing huh?
Hilarious, as always.
That class sounds deadly….I feel the same way after a fitness class…and it usually justified a second dinner for me as well:)
WOW. looks UH-MAZ-ING.
wow. that looks like it would probably be the most satisfying meal after getting your butt kicked in that super intense class. and i now know that i must make this asap (forgive me if i skip the class and go straight for the cheesy goodness!)
Oh my, this looks so lovely! Yum!
I love baked mac and cheese, and I love buffalo chicken…..so this is definitely going to be made ASAP! The mass amount of cheese is canceled out by the whole wheat pasta, right?!
This recipe is get down on one knee worthy!!! There’s no shame in baking an entire dish just for me, right?
Making this tonight! :) Great recipe AGAIN.
Jessica,
this looks absolutely AMAZING and I want to eat it NOW!
Can I borrow it and link it back to you?
Oh. My. Goodness.
So. Good.
Even the hubby liked it. The 2yo…well…she’ll learn to eventually, right?
Next time since there are only 2 1/2 of us eating I’ll probably halve it and dbl the chicken. We joked about adding bacon. Have you tried that?
My husband is going to love this!
Just got done making (and of course eating) this for dinner…Mouth. On. Fire. In a good way. Like yourself i cant get enough bacon in my diet so i fried some up and added half a sliced onion and some garlic before i cooked the chicken in it. O yeah, I tossed in a few mushrooms too…..mmmmm Yummy! Thanks!!
So glad you liked it!
Yummmmmm! Cheesy pasta and buffalo wings in one dish=deliciousness. I want this now! And I love how simple it is make, can’t wait to devour this :)
I’m neat. Oh, and I’m drooling. Excuse me while I go find a napkin. And my wing sauce.
omg soo cheesy, my stomach is crying out loud for some right now
I want it!
I loved your bbq chicken baked pasta. Buffalo chicken?? Sign me up. I am making this next week. My husband will thank you too.
Holy yum! Oriechette is the best pasta shape for something like this because they’re like little cups for all that delicious cheesy sauce. Considering my husband and I died and came back to life again when we ate your BBQ chicken pasta bake, I think I have to do this this week. Something else on the menu plan will just have to go!
Oh my word, Jessica! My husband will flip out over this. Gorgeous photography!
This is in my oven. Right now. And it smells DELICIOUS… I need it to be done. Right now.