Buffalo Chicken Cheesy Pasta Recipe
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This easy Buffalo Chicken Pasta recipe is made in just 29 minutes on the stovetop by adding shredded chicken and penne pasta to the most amazing creamy, cheesy sauce, filled with two cheeses, buffalo sauce and spices!
For almost a decade, this has been the most popular recipe on the blog! It has been viewed over a million times and has received dozens of 5 star reviews! Needless to say, people go crazy for this buffalo chicken pasta!
For years now I have been obsessed with all things buffalo chicken! Thanks to my friend Lindsay who first introduced me to Buffalo Chicken Dip back in 2010.
I now think of all the ways I can incorporate buffalo chicken into new recipes. From Buffalo Chicken Burgers and Buffalo Chicken Tacos, to Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers and Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls. I’ve found some interesting ways to spread out my obsession over several genres of food!
Now for one of my favorite combinations, buffalo chicken, cheese and pasta!
Table of contents
Ingredients
- Shredded Chicken Breasts – boil or pressure cook 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, then shred the chicken. You can also use shredded rotisserie chicken. I like to use either this Instant Pot Shredded Chicken or this Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken recipe when making this dish.
- Cream Cheese
- Buffalo Sauce – I like to use Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Sauce, but any brand of buffalo sauce will work!
- Chicken Broth
- Paprika
- Garlic Powder
- Black Pepper
- Kosher Salt
- Blue Cheese Dressing – ranch dressing can also be used instead, if that’s your preference!
- Uncooked Penne Pasta
- Green Onions – optional topping to add some color, flavor and crunch!
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes – optional topping, for a little extra spice!
Step by step instructions
Just follow these 6 simple steps to make one of my all-time favorite recipes!
- Prepare the cheesy buffalo sauce. In a large pot or skillet on the stove over medium heat, add cream cheese, buffalo sauce and chicken broth. Whisk the ingredients together until the sauce is smooth and creamy.
- Spice up the sauce! Add paprika, garlic powder, black pepper and salt. Stir to combine.
- Make it creamy! Add blue cheese or ranch dressing to the sauce. Stir the sauce together until it’s smooth and creamy.
- Add the chicken. Add cooked, shredded chicken to the sauce, reduce the heat on the stove to low, then allow the sauce to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Cook the pasta. Add penne pasta to a large pot of boiling water on the stove. Cook according to package directions, then drain the pasta and add it to the buffalo chicken sauce.
- Finish and serve. Top the pasta with diced green onions and crushed red pepper flakes, if you’d like and serve immediately.
More recipes with buffalo sauce
Try these other popular WhitneyBond.com recipes with buffalo sauce!
- Buffalo Chicken Cheesy Tortellini
- Slow Cooker Buffalo Cheesy Sausage Balls
- Buffalo Cheesy Meatloaf
- Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls
- Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Chili
Buffalo Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded chicken breasts, boil or pressure cook 1 lb of chicken and shred
- 8 oz cream cheese, cubed
- 1/3 cup buffalo sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup blue cheese dressing
- 12 oz uncooked penne pasta
Optional toppings
- green onions, chopped
- crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the cream cheese, buffalo sauce and chicken broth.
- Whisk until creamy.
- Add the paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, salt and stir to combine
- Add the blue cheese dressing and stir to combine.
- Add the shredded chicken.
- Allow the sauce to simmer for 10 minutes over low heat.
- While the sauce is simmering, bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove. Add the penne pasta and cook according to package directions.
- Drain the pasta then add it to the cheesy buffalo chicken sauce and stir to combine.
- Top with diced green onions and crushed red pepper flakes, if you would like.
Video
Notes
- Vegetarian Option: Omit the chicken. The spicy, cheesy buffalo sauce is so good on its own, you could definitely do it without chicken! Also, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
- Gluten Free Option: Use gluten-free pasta to make this recipe gluten free. Make sure the blue cheese dressing and chicken broth used are gluten-free.
Nutrition Facts
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126 Comments on “Buffalo Chicken Cheesy Pasta Recipe”
Delicious, easy recipe with common ingredients that I usually have on hand. My husband loved it! I liked it with the blue cheese dressing, but I’m sure ranch would also be good. This recipe will definitely be in the rotation!
This is Soooooooo good! My family loved it!
This has quickly become a favorite with my husband and I! I often buy a rotisserie chicken at Costco and remove the meat. Some of it is used to make chicken salad and the rest usually goes into this recipe. We like a little extra chicken in ours, about three cups. I also replace the blue cheese with ranch since I hate blue cheese. It is amazing! Thank you!
Good recipe! I hacked it to make it one pot (equal parts pasta and broth) then the rest except sour cream for cream cheese, used 1/2 cup homemade Buffalo sauce (hot sauce, canola oil, soy sauce, worchestershire sauce, garlic powder, mustard), added celery seed and shredded carrots.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing!
This was amazing! I replaced the blue cheese with ranch (since I’m not a blue cheese guy). Made it for an anniversary dinner for my girlfriend and it was a hit! We were craving Cosimo’s Pasta Chicken Fusilli dish and figured I’d try to find a spicy chicken pasta recipe and came across this. Amazingly similar tasting to that exact Cosimo’s restaurant dish that we wanted tonight. Very pleased. Probably my new favorite chicken pasta dinner. If you’re a buffalo person like me, you’ll love this.
Fantastic to hear Dan, thanks so much for sharing! Happy anniversary!
How large is the serving size? That’s a lot of calories for 1 meal.
The serving size is approximately 2 cups and is 665 calories for the serving.
How do you think replacing penne with quinoa would be?
Hi Rachel, have you ever tried corn & quinoa penne pasta? That might be a good, healthier substitute! I’m also currently working on a Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Casserole that sounds like something you might be interested, check back in a couple of weeks and that recipe will be live 🙂