Make Me A Meal - Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

I apologize that I have been slacking on Make Me a Meal Monday... to be honest with you, I have not tried any new recipes.. well except the two that I found in the Food Network Magazine that I recently picked up... one was a complete and total flop [chicken and pasta soup - which was made in the crock pot] and the other was really tasty, however not really easy... and that brings us to today...

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

This meal was really good, but not easy [not easy at all!] - there is a reason that Kraft has an empire in mac and cheese.. ha! but if you like a dish that will leave you with a labor of love and a delicious meal - then it may be worth it! {it also is NOT a healthy meal by any means} and I thought it wasn't overly spicy at all - on a level of 1 to 10 of spice level - i think it would be a 3

Ingredients
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
kosher salt
1 lb of elbow macaroni
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
3 cups shredded [if you know me cubed] rotisserie chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup hot sauce [preferably Frank's]
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 1/2 cups half and half [i used 1/2 cup half and half and 2 cups of skim milk]
1 lb of yellow sharp cheddar cheese cut into 1" cubes
8 oz pepper jack cheese, shredded
2/3 cups sour cream
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley


Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter [i used cooking spray] a 9"x13" pan
Chop up chicken, onion, celery and garlic

Cook noodles as directed on the box [i used whole wheat pasta]

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

Stir in chicken and garlic and cook 2 minutes then add 1/2 cup of hot sauce and simmer until slightly thickened about 1 more minute
i made sure i had all of the pieces of the next step right next to the pan pre-measured so it didn't cause me to burn anything or miss a step

melt 2 tablespoons butter in a sauce pan over medium heat, stir in the flour and mustard with a wooden spoon [or plastic if thats all you have] until smooth.

whisk in the half and half [i only used 1/2 cup half and half and then 2 cups of skim milk]

and add the additional 1/4 hot sauce and stir until thick, about 2 minutes

whisk in in the cheddar and pepper jack cheeses
then whisk in the sour cream until smooth


spread half of the macaroni in the prepared baking dish, then top with the chicken mixture and the remaining macaroni

pour the cheese sauce evenly over the top

I made the casserole part of the dish the night before - and I was EXHAUSTED after cooking this dish... [even sweating!]... i typically wouldn't post a lovely picture such as this - however i don't want ya'll to think that this dish was an easy one...

The topping


put the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted. Stir in panko, blue cheese and parsley

Sprinkle over the macaroni and bake until bubbly, 30-40 minutes.

Let rest 10 minutes before serving.