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
A creamy, spicy buffalo chicken mac and cheese topped off with a buttery toasted panko.
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
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Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and lightly grease a 1.5qt round baking dish or 9x9 square baking dish with butter.
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Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions.
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Meanwhile, melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Once it has melted, add flour and stir until smooth.
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Add milk and spices (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and ground mustard), stir well and bring to a boil.
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Once mixture begins to boil, reduce heat, bring to a simmer, and stir frequently until it is slightly thickened.
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Reduce heat to low and add cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. Stir until cheeses are melted and mixture is smooth.
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Add hot sauce and stir.
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Add shredded chicken and cooked, drained pasta noodles and stir until well coated by the sauce.
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Pour into prepared baking dish and prepare your Panko topping.
Panko Topping
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Combine butter and olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat, stirring occasionally, until melted.
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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
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Use a spoon to sprinkle over prepared buffalo chicken mac and cheese
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Transfer to oven and bake on 350F (175C) for 15 minutes.
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Garnish with parsley, if desired, and serve.
PIN IT!
(And follow me on Pinterest!)
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Easy Mac & Cheese (No Flour/No Roux!)
K. S. says
We added extra buffalo sauce because we like it extra spicy, definitely a winning recipe!!!
N'ya says
Perfect and delicious everyone wanted the recipe!!!
Lisa says
Tried this for the weekend and everyone loved it, thank you for sharing! Will definitely be making again!
Rick says
Thank you for a delicious recipe.
I almost didn’t toast the panko but am glad that I did because it really made the macaroni.
Cynthea says
What? You walk all the way through making the cheese sauce from scratch and then throw in random “buffalo sauce” and don’t tell me how to make it? Not right. Not fair.
Otherwise it looks lovely and I want to make it. Just not with a random store bought “buffalo sauce” added into a from scratch mac -n- cheese.
Sam says
Cynthea, here is a recipe I just found on Google for homemade buffalo sauce: https://addapinch.com/homemade-buffalo-sauce-recipe/
This calls for worcestershire sauce, though, so I found a recipe for that, too: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/242401/homemade-worcestershire-sauce/. It also calls for hot sauce and the worcestershire calls for soy sauce but I’m not sure how deep down you want to get but I am sure there are additional recipes available online. I can’t vouch for the homemade, but I suspect it would work. I’ve only used Sweet Baby Ray’s.
I hope you love it!
Rachael says
Have you ever made this the day before and baked it later or would have suggestions on how to do that?
Sam says
I’ve made it the day before and it reheated just fine the next day! I think if you wanted to do everything except bake it the day before that would be fine too, just cover it with clear wrap and store in the refrigerator, then just bake according to the written instructions. I hope that helps!!
EasyRoast says
Thank you for a delicious recipe.
I almost didn’t toast the panko but am glad that I did because it really made the macaroni.
Sam says
I’m glad that you tried it, it really makes such a difference! 🙂
Easy Roasted says
Perfect and delicious everyone wanted the recipe!!!
Raj says
I made this and it was absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Sam says
So happy to hear that you enjoyed it!! 🙂
Pete says
Perfect! This is a great dish for football season!
Annalise says
Picture this: It’s negative 4 degrees outside, my boyfriend has lost his (only) set of keys in 5 inches of snow, and the puppy peed inside again. Comfort food sounds like the only mend to the situation. I stumble upon this recipe for dinner and he smiles after the first bite. In the way you might when you see fireworks, the ocean, or a long-lost friend. So, thank you Sam for adding the most amazing mac to my recipe book and making my boyfriend fall in love with me.
I opted to sub a half cup of Gouda cheese for mozzarella; so, 1 cup mozzarella and a half cup Gouda. Along with adding a third of a cup of pre-cooked chopped bacon with the chicken.
Sam says
You paint quite the picture!!! This may be my favorite comment yet, thank you so much for writing it, Annalise!! I am so thrilled that you and your boyfriend enjoyed the recipe so much!! <3
Maegan says
This is absolutely delicious! Made it exactly as written. I doubled it for a dinner party and the entire pan was devoured and everyone declared it the best macaroni and cheese ever!
Sam says
I’m s glad to hear that it was such a hit!! Thank you for coming back and commenting, Maegan!! 🙂
Nettie Moore says
Hi Sam,
thank you for submitting your amazing recipes! I wanted you to know that I included your recipe in my Parade roundup: https://communitytable.parade.com/648159/nettiemoore/27-best-ooey-gooey-macaroni-and-cheese-recipes/
Lisa says
Made it without the Panko and it was still delicious!!! My first attempt at scratch sauce and it was perfect and easy. Thanks for sharing!
Sam says
Thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you! 🙂