Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

I'm on this comfort food kick and I'm not sure why. It's just so tasty. And easy. And well, comforting. It makes me want to ignore the dishes and curl up on the couch and fall asleep to a movie. I very rarely do that...the ignoring dishes part. Living in 550 square foot (studio) apartment, I tend to clean more often than normal. One might think that it's simple to clean a small place, which in a way, is true. But in an even bigger way, it's much harder to keep clean. Figure that every space in my apartment is the 'living space'. My bedroom, kitchen, living room, office, closet, and dining room are basically all in one room. There are no doors separating them. So...if I leave dishes in the sink, technically, my bedroom is dirty. And if I don't make the bed, the living room is a mess. So that stuff just doesn't happen. Plus, every time you are outside and walk to the bathroom...you've just tracked dirt into the 'dining room', 'office', 'living room', and 'kitchen'.

Just to show you, here is a picture of my kitchen. I'm actually standing the 'bedroom' section of the apartment and if you look at the very bottom right of the picture, you can see the arm of the couch. That's the living room. It's small, and cute, and homey, and I love it. I also love to keep it clean. Let me point out a few things. Yes, I know my spices should not be over the oven. It's just that there is this cute little shelf that works perfectly for them and I don't really have anyplace else for it. And it's super convenient. And those dishes in the sink. Those are clean. I don't mind letting clean dishes sit there to dry. Because they are clean. And trust me...if you cooked and baked as often as I do, and YOU are the dish washer...you would let them air dry as often as possible as well.

I do realize that had absolutely nothing to do with Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese, and I'm not even sure where that was going, but thanks for still being here. Maybe the day I decided to make this I needed comfort food. Maybe I already swept the floor 17 times and wanted to plop myself on the couch and eat some spicy melty cheese covered pasta. Probably.

This turned out really well. While I love plain old macaroni and cheese, I don't usually make it plain. I typically will use a variety of cheeses and toss in tons of veggies. This time I wanted it spicy. And because I still had some left over blue cheese and one lonely chicken breast, I went with this one.

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

Printable Recipe

by Kacey's Kitchen

• 1 lb elbow macaroni
• 1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 6 oz evaporated milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup hot sauce (Franks Red Hot)
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• handful of blue cheese, crumbled
• freshly ground pepper

1. Rub chicken breast with salt and pepper. Poach chicken breast in shallow pan of water. When cooked through, remove from water, shred with 2 forks, and place in bowl.
2. Pour just enough hot sauce to coat chicken and let sit. Cooking the chicken can be done in advance and left in the fridge overnight to marinate.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Boil pasta until just shy of al dente. Drain and set aside.
5. In a small bowl, mix the condensed milk, egg, hot sauce, and pepper.
6. Place pasta pot over very low heat. Add pasta, butter, and chicken.
7. Once butter has melted, add the milk mixture and stir well. Add shredded cheese and stir until mostly melted.
8. Place in casserole dish, cover with tin foil, and place in oven for 25 minutes. If you prefer your mac and cheese crispy, remove tin foil after 15 minutes.
9. Top with blue cheese crumbs, serve, and don't feel one bit guilty. At least try.