This is a member requested recipe that I finally got around to making and I’m so glad I did!! I love this spin on mac n’ cheese and I love that it’s packed with protein. To mimic that classic Frank’s red hot buffalo sauce, we’re using tomato paste, butter, chili flakes and a few other zesty ingredients. The sauce gets its silky cheesiness from a combo of yogurt, cheddar, and egg. It all gets mixed together with pasta and chicken until the spicy, tangy, silky sauce coats everything. Top with some funky blue cheese for that classic buffalo chicken flavor.
Ingredient highlight
Pasta! I have a deep love for pasta. It’s delicious, it’s a great vehicle for other ingredients, and it nourishes me inside and out.
“Pasta contains a high amount of protein (in the form of gluten) and starch, a complex carbohydrate. Some of that starch is resistant starch, which gets fermented in the large intestine, becoming a form of fiber. If the word “carbohydrate” were replaced by the word “fiber” when referring to pasta, and the word “gluten” replaced with “protein” – suddenly things become very different. Pasta provides the body with protein, fiber, and energy.” – Letitia Clark, Bitter Honey
Servings 4
Prep Time 10 minutes 
Cook Time 15 minutes Ingredients
- 8 oz short pasta (elbows, shells, etc…)
- 4 tbsp (57g) butter
- ½-1 tsp red pepper flakes*
- ½ tsp black pepper (optional)*
- ¼ cup tomato paste*
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari*
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar*
- 1 tsp garlic powder*
- 2 cups (5-6 oz) grated cheddar cheese
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2-2 ½ cups shredded or chopped chicken**
- Crumbled blue cheese, for topping***
- *These ingredients combined with the butter is our homemade buffalo sauce. You could substitute all of these with ¼-½ cup Frank’s Red Hot hot sauce. Just add it to the pot with the butter and whisk until smooth.
- **One pound of boneless chicken will give you about 2.5 cups of chopped chicken. Use my Instant Pot method to cook and shred the chicken or you can pan-fry it to get a little more flavor and color on the chicken. The easiest thing to do is buy a rotisserie chicken and use that!
- ***Or you could just top with more cheddar, but the blue cheese makes it taste more “buffalo chicken-y”.
Instructions
- Cook and shred or chop your chicken if you have not already.
- Fill a medium-large pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add your pasta and cook according to the instructions on the box. Reserve about 1 cup of pasta water, then drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a separate medium-large pot over medium-low heat, add the butter, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Once the butter has melted, let the spices sizzle in it for about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute or until it darkens in color, stirring often.
- Whisk in the soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic powder until combined. Turn off the heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cheese, yogurt, egg, and salt. Slowly whisk in about ⅓ cup hot pasta water (or use hot water).
- Turn the heat back onto medium-low (you want the tomato mixture to be warm when you pour the cheese in). Stir in the cheese mixture until combined and the cheese starts to melt a little, about 30-60 seconds.
- Immediately add the pasta and chicken and stir vigorously for about a minute or until the sauce is thickened and coating the pasta (it will be saucy!).
- Serve topped with blue cheese and black pepper.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Grate 2 cups cheddar cheese
- Cook and shred or cube 1 lb chicken (2ish cups cooked)
Substitutions:
- To make vegetarian, replace the chicken with 2 cups baked or pan-fried tofu chunks or a can or two of drained beans (crisp them up in the oven or skillet if you’d like). You’ll want to season the tofu or beans with plenty of salt before adding.
- You could also leave out the chicken and cook an extra 4-8 oz of pasta.
- This isn’t a very vegan-friendly pasta, but you could try using a vegan butter, yogurt, + cheese substitute. Skip the egg.
- To make gluten-free, use a GF pasta.
- If you don’t want any spice, just leave out the chili flakes.
- Replace the cooked chicken with any cooked protein.
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Warm up leftovers in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, until warmed through. Top with blue cheese. If you have any fresh herbs like parsley or scallions, put that on top!
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