186 Shares Yup. I am combining two of everyone’s favorite foods to make Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese. It has the best elements of both. It’s cheesy and spicy and loaded with chunks of chicken.
White Cheddar Mac & Cheese My mac and cheese is simple and has lots of flavor from the cheeses and ground chipotle chile. I use conchiglie pasta because its shape allows more melted cheese to pool inside.
This is a fun way to repurpose leftover chicken, and it is a dinner that can easily be prepared in under 30 minutes. Plus, it is a crowd pleasing meal that your friends and family will love. You can make this recipe with leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. The chopped chicken gets soaked in a spicy buffalo sauce and then it gets added to a creamy cheese stovetop macaroni and cheese. I added 1/3 cup of Frank’s Hot Sauce to 1 1/2 cups of chicken. I thought that this was a nice balance between the spicy and cheesy flavors.
The spice from the buffalo sauce does build as you eat it, I would say that the spice level is about a 4 out of 10. If you want extra spice, just add some extra hot sauce! The cheese sauce is made with a cheddar cheese and a touch of blue cheese. Even though I added just a couple tablespoons of blue cheese you can taste a hint of blue cheese in every bite. The blue cheese really compliments the buffalo sauce while also cutting the heat of the spice.
I used penne rigate because I think it is a little fancier than the traditional elbows. You can use any pasta shape you want. Medium shells are another personal favorite. The recipe below makes enough to serve 4, but it can easily be doubled to serve more.
I think that the leftovers are just as good as the original so I like making extra. Want a classic mac and cheese recipe?
Here is my recipe for! Ingredients.
3 cups of Tubular Pasta. 1/4-1/2 cup of Franks Buffalo Sauce (I used 1/3 cup). 1 1/2 cups of chopped or shredded Chicken. 2 tablespoons Butter. 3 tablespoons Flour. 2 cups of Milk (I used 2%). 2 cups of Shredded Cheddar Cheese.
3 tablespoons of Blue Cheese. Salt and Pepper Instructions. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, and add the pasta. Cook according to the directions on the box. Place the chicken in a bowl and soak it in the buffalo sauce.
Start slow, you can always add more hot sauce later. I used 1/3 cup of the buffalo sauce. Once the pasta is cooking, get to work on the cheese sauce. Start by melting the butter in a saucepan or skillet over medium heat.
Once the butter melts, whisk in the flour, and continue to stir the mixture over the heat for 1 minute. Then add the milk and whisk to incorporate the flour mixture. Bring the milk mixture to a slow and steady boil. Let it boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Then add the cheddar cheese and 2 tablespoons of the blue cheese. Once the cheese melts season with salt and pepper to taste. Then add the buffalo sauce-soaked chicken.
![Best pasta shapes for mac and cheese casserole Best pasta shapes for mac and cheese casserole](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125426841/804694169.jpg)
Taste the sauce again, and add more buffalo sauce if you like. Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, pour the chicken and cheese sauce over and stir to combine. Serve the macaroni and cheese with a sprinkle of blue cheese on top.
While spaghetti Bolognese is one of the world's most well-known pasta dishes, it is fundamentally inauthentic. Italian cooks would seldom serve a thick, saucy with thin pasta ribbons - they're far more likely to team such a sauce with large shells or tubes to capture the sauce, or thicker long pasta, like tagliatelle and pappardelle. Generally, the larger shapes work better with thick, robust sauces, while skinny shapes, like strands of delicate vermicelli, suit light, cream sauces. Follow our suggestions of what shape to combine with what accompaniment - and share your own ideas with us below. Pasta shape Such as. Long and skinny Spaghetti, linguine, fusilli lunghi, vermicelli Light, cream- or oil-based sauces. Long ribbons Tagliatelle, pappardelle, fettuccine, mafaldine Rich, meaty sauces. Shells Conchiglie, lumache Heavy cream or meat sauces; large ones can be.
Twists Fusilli, trofie, strozzapreti, caserecce, gemelli Lighter, smoother sauces which will cling to the twists, such as. Tubes Penne, rigatoni, macaroni, paccheri Hearty vegetable sauces, or baked cheese dishes. Also good with or ragu. Mini shapes Orzo, fregola, canestrini, stelline In soups and stews or as pasta salads. Filled pasta Ravioli, tortellini, cappelletti As the filling contains lots of flavour, these are traditionally served with a light butter or oil sauce. Top cooking tips. Always cook pasta in a very large pan of salted, boiling water.
If you don’t give the pasta enough space to move in the pan, it will stick together. Italians say the water should be as salty as the sea to flavour the pasta. There is no need to add olive oil to your pasta when cooking. It won’t prevent it from sticking together, and will just end up down the drain.
The classic British version of usually consists of cooked spaghetti topped with saucy mince, but in Italy, the pasta and sauce are always combined in the pan to ensure every piece of pasta is coated. Don’t cook the pasta all the way through in the water. Instead, drain it when it still has a little bite, then add to the sauce and continue cooking for a few minutes more until the pasta is cooked and has absorbed a little of the sauce.
When draining the pasta, make sure you save a cup of the pasta water. Then, when you add the pasta to the sauce, splash in a little of the water if it looks too dry. The starch in the water will help the sauce cling to the pasta.
What are your top pasta tips? Share your thoughts with us below.
We also have plenty of to get you inspired, plus a. Having lived in Italy for the past 20 years and married an Italian, I can absolutely vouch for these tips. I've gone from being a total Philistine to appreciating the finesse of pasta shape combined with type of sauce! To me pasta was pasta, but I have to admit that I have seen the light!
The real secret is using a biiiig pan to cook the pasta in - make sure the water is boiling before you add the pasta, throw it in, salt (coarse, not table), lid on to get the water back to the boil, then time as per packet, minus 1 min and taste for personal preference. It's true that we tend to drain the pasta, put it back in the pan, add a ladle of sauce and let it bubble up, then serve with another ladle of sauce on top.
Buon Appetito!