Buffalo Chicken Style Pasta Salad

An easy buffalo chicken flavored pasta salad that can be prepared in just fifteen minutes.  The perfect side dish for any party!

I recently shared the recipe for this buffalo chicken pasta salad over on Spend with Pennies.

I’m trying to be grateful.  It’s 100 degrees outside and the air is thicker than a bowl of my favorite Panera broccoli cheese soup, and just as hot.  It’s literally difficult to breathe; my lungs take a few extra milliseconds to filter out the oxygen from this dense blanket of sheer humidity.

But, it’s summertime, it’s warm (putting it mildly), and there’s no snow in my 10-day forecast (and hopefully won’t be for a while), and for that, I’m trying to be grateful.  In fact, I’m about to introduce even more heat to your summer days — in the form of this buffalo chicken pasta salad.

I made this buffalo chicken pasta salad a little while ago for a cookout at my parents’ house.  It was nothing fancy, just the family and some of my sisters’ significant others (which makes for a pretty full house of 12 people) and I brought along this pasta salad for everyone to try out.  It was a hit, and Nikki  ate nearly the whole container on her own.

To keep things simple I use a rotisserie chicken, which I shred while it’s still warm and then toss with the pasta and cheese (for melty mozzarella in every bite) and then the sauces.

The buffalo sauce gives this pasta a good bit of heat, but it’s tempered nicely by the ranch dressing, and the pasta, too.  The scallions and red pepper do a good job of keeping the dish from being too spicy (a cooling, crunchy element), so all ages can enjoy a big scoop besides their burgers without grappling for a glass of water.

Enjoy, and let’s try to appreciate the heat while it lasts.

Buffalo Chicken Style Pasta Salad

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

• 8 oz rotini pasta
• 1 1/2 cups shredded chicken (I use a rotisserie chicken, shredded)
• 1/3 cup chopped red pepper
• 1/2 cup buffalo sauce
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 Tbsp chopped scallions

Instructions

• Cook pasta according to package instructions.
• Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
• Add chicken breast and red pepper and stir to combine.
• In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, mayonnaise, garlic powder, and black pepper to make a sauce.
• Pour sauce over pasta mixture and stir until well combined.
• Stir in mozzarella cheese (it is best to add this while the pasta is still warm so that the cheese mostly melts).
• Top with chives and serve*

Notes

*This pasta salad is delicious either served warm or chilled first in the refrigerator.

Tried this recipe?Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

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