Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Mac And Cheese
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Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese is a great dish that is super easy to make in your Slow Cooker! Everyone loves this spicy and savory dish for dinner! Time to pull out your crockpot.
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Mac And Cheese
| Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 3 Hours Total Time: 3 Hours, 15 Minutes Servings: 6 Servings |
This Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese came from me wanting an easy meal, and my kids’ request for macaroni & cheese and something spicy. My daughter is a mac & cheese fanatic and my son loves anything spicy. We have a BIG problem in our house……if it was up to my daughter she would have mac & cheese every day of the week (SERIOUSLY every day).
To please us all, I decided to whip up some homemade mac & cheese in the crock pot. BOOM!!! Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner! I created a big family hit in our house. My favorite part… it is not an expensive meal to make. Savings and being frugal are a big deal.
Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese is a great easy meal to make any time of year. It’s perfect for winter days when you want a warm meal and summer days when you don’t want to heat the house by turning on the oven.
It’s ideal for a fun game-day party since buffalo chicken is such a classic party dish. And hey, you may even want to try our Southwest Bacon Mac & Cheese too.
Ingredients Needed for Buffalo Chicken Macaroni
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- 1 lb of chicken breast, cubed
- 1 packet ranch dressing – I prefer Hidden Valley ranch
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 small block Velveeta – or 16oz block sharp cheddar cheese if you like a less expensive, less processed
- 3 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4- 1/2 cup buffalo sauce – add per taste
- 16 oz. Pasta of your choice
- Pinch Salt &Pepper
Start with diced chicken and season while cooking in your favorite non-stick skillet. You want to get the chicken browned and cooked before adding it to your slow cooker. See listed quick tips below to skip this step by using a store-purchased rotisserie-cooked chicken.
I recommend spraying your slow cooker with non-stick spray before mixing this buffalo chicken mac and cheese. It can easily stick to the edges, so this helps clean up a lot.
PRO-COOKING TIP
Save yourself some much-needed time and purchase these Reynold’s slow cooker liners. These slow cooker insert bags are a God-sent.
They make for a mess-free slow cooking session, without stubborn baked-on food that’s hard to clean. Seriously, you can thank me later by leaving a comment below.
You’re Very Welcome!
Next, mix everything together well. You want the cheese and sauce well distributed so the pasta cooks evenly.
You can check on this and stir it occasionally as it cooks, but if you need to leave it while you go out, it will be fine without being stirred frequently.
Finally, you will want to make sure that you cook on low for roughly three hours. I have let it go for much longer, but the cheese tends to stick and burn to the sides the longer you wait. Please keep a watchful eye on it. This is not the recipe you can start in the early am and have ready when you get home from work.
Serving this buffalo chicken mac and cheese up for dinner is an easy one-dish meal everyone loves. I add a side of vegetables or a side salad with some blue cheese to add some freshness. You can also top it with bread crumbs if you like. Or share it during your next together as a side of its own.
Quick Cooking Tips for making
This recipe can be adapted for a quick weeknight dinner. It is an absolute crowd-pleaser.
- Use a rotisserie chicken for ease and convenience. Simply shred meat and place it in your crock pot.
- Any shape of pasta can be used. Penne, rotini, and shells work well.
- If you want it to be extra spicy, add in more hot sauce starting with 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup. Just taste as you go.
- I use Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. It is just the best. And really no other hot sauce compares.
Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese Crock-Pot Recipe
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Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese
Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese is a great dish that is super easy to make in your Slow Cooker! Everyone loves this spicy and savory dish for dinner! Time to pull out your crock pot. Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese crock pot.
Ingredients
- 1 lb of chicken breast, cubed (or Tyson grilled and ready to save time!)
- 1 packet ranch dressing (the dry mix, like hidden valley ranch)
- 1 block cream cheese, softened
- 1 small block Velveeta (or 16oz block sharp cheddar if you like a less expensive, less processed)
- 3 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4- 1/2 cup buffalo sauce ( depends on your heat preference)
- 16oz. pasta of your choice, shells are fun! or rotini, of course, regular elbows work!
- Pinch Salt &Pepper
Instructions
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, saute the cubed chicken until nice and brown on the outside. It will finish cooking in the slow cooker. Add the dry ranch packet to the chicken, mix well.
- Plug the slow cooker in and set it to high. Stir in the milk, cream cheese, cheddar cheese. Allow this to warm for about 10 minutes. Mix again.
- Add the uncooked pasta, buffalo sauce, chicken and a pinch of salt & pepper.
- Stir all the ingredients together so that all the pasta is coated and covered by the milk. Place the slow cooker cover on and set to low. Cook for about 3 hours.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1.5 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 666Total Fat: 34gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 113mgSodium: 1450mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 38g
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More Easy Recipes You May Want To Try:
Eating out is easy, and it usually tastes delicious, but it’s expensive. Making this meal at home will save you money. Add this recipe to your weekly meal plan.
I adore Buffalo Chicken. It’s such a delicious flavor.
I agree. Our family may have a small addiction to all things buffalo flavor.
This sounds amazing right now! I love buffalo chicken, but I’ve never had mac and cheese before.
Thanks for sharing. I had delicious lobster mac & cheese at a Midtown Manhattan steakhouse recently. Never tried this recipe though.
What a great combination of flavors. It is nice to have a different version of mac and cheese to try out.
My grown kids like spicy but not the baby who still at home. So this would be all for me or to make when the grown kids came over with their families. Sounds good. Looks good.
It looks really tasty! Can’t wait to try this out.
Excellent recipe here! I am so saving this recipe close by. It has what I want to eat, on my Sundays! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
This looks amazing! Buffalo sauce is my favorite but I’ve never tried adding it to mac and cheese. Can’t wait to try this!
Ohhhh this one sounds delightful!
This is so yummy, we cooked it before and it was so good. Would love to cook it again.
Now this made me realized that i haven’t had a mac and cheese for quite some time now… and now i am craving for it. I love the spin you put here that you get to taste some chunks of meat there instead of just the pasta and cheese
Thank you, Milton!!! We are all about buffalo anything at our house.
I just saved the recipe so that I can try it out. Maybe over the weekend we can serve this to my nephews and niece. I am sure they will be surprised! Hopefully it will be yummy just like yours.
Excellent. Hope you enjoy it.
This sounds really yummy. I’ve never added chicken to mac and cheese. That sounds like a great idea to try.
For sure!!! I thought of this as an entire meal idea.. Simple and easy!!
This is such a great way to level up my mac and cheese game. Thank you so much!
I agree.. I love your term.. Leveling up.
Definitely looks so delicious and tasty. The cheesiness on this Buffalo Chicken Mac Cheese makes it so enticing and very tempting. I would love to make this for the whole family.
I love your recipe. Can you cook mac and cheese pasta in a slow cooker too?
If you mean a box-type mac & cheese. I have never tried it.
I just love cheese so much. Is it possible to put too much cheese?
HA HA HA!!! Great question.. I doubt it. LOL
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese is just the right amount of easy-to-make, rich, and creamy with a homemade cheese sauce. I loved it
Thanks so much!!
Looks yummy! I may try one.
Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you!
It says this yields 6 servings. Is that if you’re serving it for a full meal? I’m planning to make this for a crowd today (about 20 people) but it will just be a side, not the full meal. I’m wondering if I should double the recipe or keep it single? Let me know what you think!
Hey Valerie,
I would absolutely double this recipe. This amount feeds my family of 4 now with no leftovers (as I have two growing teens eating me out of house and home)..Normal size portions does feed 6.
Oh boy does this look delicious. I love using the slow cooker but admittedly don’t use it very often. Mac and cheese is such a comfort food and this version looks like it would be really good. I will have to give this a try.
My son has made this at college a couple of times so he made it for me last night. Thank you, it was very good!
Sounds like you have an amazing Chef at home. Well Done! And happy to hear it turned out great. Thank you for sharing.
This cooked in less than 2 hours for me. I used 2 cans of Swanson shredded chicken (all I had in a pinch) 1/4 – 1/2 cup ranch dressing in place of the packet (again all I had), 1 block sharp cheddar, 2 cups shredded mexican (all I had)…..delish!
AMAZINGS!!! Thank you Heather for sharing your modifications and timing with us 🙂 So glad it all worked out… Dinner in a pinch 🙂
Does the cheese have to be fully melted before placing chicken, noodles and buffalo sauce in?
Hi Laureen,
It doesn’t necessarily. You see it will all eventually melt.
REPORT BACK DEB! HOW THE HECK WAS IT
Well – giving this a whirl tonight for a gathering tomorrow. I used a 8oz block of Monterey Jack plus 8oz shreaded Cheddar Jack rather than cheddar or Velveta. Chicken was Tyson Grilled & Ready frozen diced chicken. And Sweet Baby Rays Creamy Buffalo sauce. Pasta was Medium Shells! We will see – I will report back.
Yes, I would love to know too. I also have swap out the velveeta and used cheddar, But have added a scrambled egg, extra milk with flour to make it smooth. I bet it tasted great!