Buffalo Chicken Mac n’ Cheese

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Servings

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”.

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.

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.

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!