A creamy, spicy buffalo chicken mac and cheese topped off with a buttery toasted panko. Be sure to check out the video just above the recipe for a super quick and easy visual how-to guide!
Because I literally just shared a savory recipe with you exactly one week ago, I was extremely hesitant to share this Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese recipe with you today.
This is still a dessert blog, and I promise you that there are plenty more cookies in the very near future and lots, lots more sugar. Just, sometimes a recipe is too darn good not to share right away, and this buffalo chicken mac & cheese definitely fits the bill.
And, honestly, if I wasn’t sharing this one with you, it probably would have been my Halloween recipe that I mentioned in my last post, and I’m not sure that everyone else is quite as ready as I am to jump into full-blown Halloween prep (or are you? I hope so because I can’t wait much longer!). 
This Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese recipe started out as a just-for-fun experiment. Those happen a lot around here, especially with savory recipes, and most of them don’t make it onto the blog (because we do sugar here, right? Hard to tell recently!).
This one wasn’t originally destined for the blog, but then it happened…
That first mind-blowing bite where I knew that I had to share it with you because it was just so perfect, so decadently rich, so creamy, so cheesy, so mind bogglingly addictive that my hands were absolutely tied on the subject.
It’s actually so creamy and richly delicious that I really consider it to be more of a “party food” rather than a true dinner. It’s absolutely addictive and sure it has protein (chicken) and calcium (cheese and milk), but it’s a stretch to consider this as a nutritious dinner. It’s more of a comfort food, the kind that you pile on your plate at a party and keep going back to for seconds, and thirds. However, if you want it for dinner, who am I to tell you how to live your life?
To make this buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese so creamy, I went beyond your standard shredded cheeses, and in addition to shredded mozzarella and cheddar, and I also used cream cheese and sour cream. These two ingredients are possibly the most critical in developing such a creamy and richly flavored dish.
Everything is topped off with a buttery, crispy, crown of toasted panko that gives way beneath your spoon to the best dang mac and cheese of your life.
It carries some heat, as all buffalo-flavored things do, but it’s not overwhelmingly hot (though you heat-seekers out there can feel free to up the ante with a few extra tablespoons if you dare), and is nicely tempered by all of that cheese.
Alright, that’s all for today and I promise there will be a lot more sugar in my next post 😉
Be sure to check out my easy mac & cheese recipe if you’re looking for something more classic and simple!
If you make this Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese in the meantime, though, be sure to share it on Instagram and tag it #sugarspunrun so I can see your work and we can obsess together over how amazing this dish really is!!
Enjoy! The printable recipe is just below the video.
Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 oz dry macaroni noodles I used Cellentani noodles (230g)
- 3 Tablespoons butter (42g)
- 3 Tablespoons flour (24g)
- 2 cups milk (475ml)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- 4 oz cream cheese (115g)
- 1 ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese , I use low-moisture part skim (170g)
- 1 cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese (115g)
- ⅓ cup sour cream (80g)
- ½ cup buffalo hot sauce (120ml)
- 1 ½ cups shredded chicken (200g)
For Panko Topping:
- 1 Tablespoon butter (14g)
- ½ Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup seasoned panko crumbs (30g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and lightly grease a 1.5qt round baking dish or 9x9 square baking dish with butter.
- Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile, melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Once it has melted, add flour and stir until smooth.
- Add milk and spices (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and ground mustard), stir well and bring to a boil.
- Once mixture begins to boil, reduce heat, bring to a simmer, and stir frequently until it is slightly thickened.
- Reduce heat to low and add cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. Stir until cheeses are melted and mixture is smooth.
- Add hot sauce and stir.
- Add shredded chicken and cooked, drained pasta noodles and stir until well coated by the sauce.
- Pour into prepared baking dish and prepare your Panko topping.
Panko Topping
- Combine butter and olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat, stirring occasionally, until melted.
- Add panko and stir well until the butter and oil has been mostly absorbed. Continue to stir until panko is lightly toasted and turns a light-medium brown color
- Use a spoon to sprinkle over prepared buffalo chicken mac and cheese
- Transfer to oven and bake on 350F (175C) for 15 minutes.
- Garnish with parsley, if desired, and serve.
Nutrition
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Quinton Butler says
Awesomely creamy and seriously delish
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it! ☺️
Tracy says
Was very good. The second time I made it I made so.e substitutions though. I used ranch in place of the sour cream and topped with doritos. Very good that way too
Sam says
That sounds delicious! I am glad you enjoyed it. ☺️
Michael says
I decided to make this for Thanksgiving. Added some extra hot sauce and cheese on top, but didn’t do the Panko. I have to say that first bite was heaven. So glad I came across this recipe, 11/10 would recommend.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Michael! My husband would definitely love adding more hot sauce. I’ll have to do that next time. 🙂
Laura says
it was a big hit at our Christmas Pot luck Dinner!
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it, Laura! 🙂
GingerB says
My husband is too funny.. we’ve been eating dinner for a total of 5 mins and he’s complimented the mac and cheese 7 times, Told me to make sure I come on here to praise the person who posted this. LOL I followed the directions exactly, it was easy to follow and tastes amazing! Thank you for sharing this amazing dish!
Sam says
😂I am so glad he enjoyed it! 🙂
Melodie Burlew says
My son mentioned that he was craving Buffalo chicken and Mac and cheese. I made this recipe, and he is now devouring it! So very good!
Sam says
I’m so glad to hear he enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out, Melodie!! 🙂
Jaime says
Hi, Sam!
We love this dish so much, we probably eat it every other week, if not more. It is our ‘treat yourself’ dinner.
I was wondering if you had any advice on adding cauliflower to this dish? Do you think it would work well, and if so, how would you recommend going about doing so?
Thank you so much!
Sam says
Hi Jaime! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Unfortunately I am probably the *worst* person to ask about adding cauliflower, I’ve never tried it myself 🙈If you have another recipe you like for cauliflower mac & cheese you could probably try substituting this sauce for that one and I think that would work, but it’s honestly hard for me to say having never made it this way myself.
I’m hoping someone else who might have tried this might chime in and have an answer for you! Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Nancy says
Can you make ahead and freeze this?
Sam says
Hi, Nancy. I have not tried it, but I think it will work just fine. 🙂
Amy says
Wow didn’t have cram cheese. Didn’t matter. Also did Greek yogurt instead of sour cream 10 out of 10
Sam says
So glad you enjoyed, Amy!!
Natalie says
I want to make this recipe and I’m not a good cook at all and would need it to feed like 20 people and have no clue how to adjust the ingredients for that. Please help me
Sam says
This recipe makes about 8 servings (obviously this is dependent on how much each person eats) To get enough for 20 people you would need to make 2.5 times the recipe here. For that many people, it may be best to just triple the recipe to make math easier and make sure there is enough. 🙂
Sarah says
I want to make this tonight l, but have no cream cheese. Can I sub something else in for it?!
Sam says
Hi Sarah! I’m not sure of anything that would give this mac & cheese quite the same flavor/texture that cream cheese would.
Devon says
I want to make a double portion of this to bring to a party, and think bringing in a crock pot would be best- do you think prepping the Mac n cheese and topping with the Panko in the crock pot will be fine, without baking in the oven?
Sam says
Hi Devon. The panko may get soggy, but other than that it would work fine. 🙂