Buffalo chicken mac and cheese
Creamy stovetop mac and cheese with a buffalo kick and plenty of chicken, ready in about 25 minutes.
- 30 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.17 a serving
- 760 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 12 oz elbow macaroni
- 2 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 cups milk
- 1½ cups shredded cheddar
- ⅓ cup Buffalo wing sauce
- 2 stalks green onions, sliced
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Each serving has about 760 calories, 43 g protein, 75 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $2.17 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No elbow macaroni? Penne works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No shredded cheddar? Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Fill a large pot with water, add the salt, and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cook the macaroni 1 minute less than the package says, then it. While it cooks, the chicken.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Shred. Shredding means making thin strips, either on the big holes of a grater or by pulling cooked meat apart with two forks. Shreds soak up sauce and mix evenly through a dish.
How you’ll know: Cooked chicken pulls apart into strands with little effort, and cheese comes off in long, loose strips.
High heatTimer: 6 min
the butter in the empty pot over medium heat, whisk in the flour, and cook 1 minute, .
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Medium heat
Pour in the milk a little at a time, , then cook 4 to 5 minutes, whisking often, until it bubbles and .
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Take the pot off the heat and in the cheddar and garlic powder until the sauce is smooth.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Dolly’s tip: Off the heat is the key. Cheese that boils turns grainy.in ¼ cup of the buffalo sauce, taste, and add more if you want it hotter.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Dolly’s tip: Start small. You can always add heat but you can’t take it out.Add the macaroni and chicken and over low heat 2 to 3 minutes, until everything is hot.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Low heat
Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
Serve topped with green onions and blue cheese.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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