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”
This is one of my family’s favorite recipes! I am actually making it tonight for dinner, so I pulled up the recipe and thought I would leave a review. If you are at all into “buffalo” style anything, and you love pasta, this is the recipe for you! If I go over 3 weeks without making it, my kids start to riot. I am feeding a family of 7 and this recipe makes plenty as long as I serve some bread with it (I mean…we are Italian! haha). There are NEVER any leftovers…they just devour it. It is also a very quick cook when you use a rotisserie chicken like I do. It is the perfect amount and heck..for $5, I cannot buy chicken that cheap in the package and I do not have to cook it, making it the perfect weeknight meal that is on the table in 30 min (or football food~as we will be busy watching the games on this beautiful winter Saturday afternoon!). Comfort food for “buffalo lovers” at its finest. On the regular rotation for sure. Please try this one!!
I make this all the time and love, love, love it. I take it to family and potlucks with a great many compliments. I currently replace the pasta with frozen riced cauliflower and it is just as good, quicker and carb free. win win
Oh my goodness this was delicious!! I was looking for a recipe that would use shredded chicken as I had some in my freezer, and this was the first recipe to pop up! I don’t like BC so I did use ranch but next time I will make this in 2 batches and use BC in one because my husband loves it more than ranch lol. Thanks for an amazing recipe..you rock!!
Hi Dayle! I’m so glad you found the recipe and enjoyed it! Thanks so much for sharing! You too rock, my friend! 🙂
One of my favorite pasta recipes in the world! And the EASIEST to make! Whitney has turned me into a buffalo sauce lover!! I make this dish with Carba Nada low carb noodles to make it more keto-friendly and turns out just as delicious!!
Thanks so much Lindsay! I’m glad to hear you’re on “Team Buffalo” with me now! 🙂
How many oz is a serving?
Hi Lisa, one serving is approximately 2 cups or 16 oz.
Anything with buffalo sauce is great, but when combined with cheesy chicken pasta, yum!
I made it and loved it! I made it a little bit healthier by using lentil-beet noodles, adding frozen broccoli and peas, and using vegetarian Beyond Meat chicken. I also double the sauce part to account for all of this. Thanks for this delicious recipe!
Love hearing how you made it your own Hannah! Thanks for sharing!
I can’t comment on this recipe as I do not like buffalo Chicken.. lol.. but those who tried it loved it! Besides using gluten free pasta and ranch instead of blue cheese dressing, I followed the rest of the recipe and it was easy to make and (according to everyone else) tasted great! Next Time I’m adding it to a baking dish and topping it with cheese for a casserole cuz who doesn’t love more cheese? Thank You! Definitely adding this to my family recipes!
Hi! My family dislikes blue cheese dressing. Have you tried this with a ranch dressing instead or what else would you possibly suggest to us ?! Thanks!!
Hi Terra, yes, you can absolutely sub ranch dressing for the blue cheese dressing. It works great!
Oh my gosh, this dish was DELICIOUS! Thank you! My whole family LOVED it! Their only complaint? No leftovers for lunch the next day!
Hi Tanya, I absolutely LOVE to hear this! Thank you so much for trying the dish and taking the time to leave a comment!
Can you use Ranch Dressing instead of blue cheese?
Hi Becky, yes you can!
Oh my gosh I LOVE this!!! It was so delicious! My two boys, who are ridiculously picky, loved it! Thank you so much for sharing!
Yay!! That’s so great to hear Terra-Lynne! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Does this freeze well?
Looks delicious! Anything I could substitute the cream cheese with? Was hoping to make this without a store trip and we only have 4 oz of cream cheese.
Hi Mandi, you can just use the 4 oz of cream cheese you have on hand, the sauce just won’t be quite as thick and creamy, but it would still work!
I just made this dish for dinner this evening. It was very good. I did add a bit more buffalo wing sauce to add some kick! I served it in pasta bowls and drizzled some blue cheese dressing with chopped green onions on top.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for sharing!
How much does it serve
Hi Ronin, it will serve 4. Enjoy!
Just made this for dinner and it was amazing!! Thanks for a great recipe 🙂
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Kayla! Thanks for sharing!
Enjoyed this for dinner tonight. Only change I made was that I used crumbled blue cheese instead of blue cheese dressing because I didn’thave any. Very tasty,will make again , thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much Sally! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Delicious! Made substitutions because my husband has been doing low carb/glycemic for a while now, so I used shirataki noodles. We also had some chicken buffalo wing sausage that I used instead of chicken. Threw in some diced sauteed onions and zucchini as well. Didn’t use the extra salt because he is trying to cut back and I think that the other ingredients have enough salt in them. The sauce is excellent and versatile. Thanks!
Hi Debbie, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe and I love that you made it your own!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was really good! Recipe is a keepe ?
Thanks Sarah! So glad you enjoyed it!