Easy Buffalo Chicken Pasta Recipe (2024)

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by Whitney Bond
July 6, 2023

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4.41 stars (71 ratings)

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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!

Easy Buffalo Chicken Pasta Recipe (1)

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
  • Step by step instructions
  • More recipes with buffalo sauce
Easy Buffalo Chicken Pasta Recipe (2)

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!
Easy Buffalo Chicken Pasta Recipe (3)

Step by step instructions

Just follow these 6 simple steps to make one of my all-time favorite recipes!

  1. 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.
  2. Spice up the sauce! Add paprika, garlic powder, black pepper and salt. Stir to combine.
  3. Make it creamy! Add blue cheese or ranch dressing to the sauce. Stir the sauce together until it’s smooth and creamy.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Finish and serve. Top the pasta with diced green onions and crushed red pepper flakes, if you’d like and serve immediately.
Easy Buffalo Chicken Pasta Recipe (4)

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Try these other popular WhitneyBond.com recipes with buffalo sauce!

Easy Buffalo Chicken Pasta Recipe (5)

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4.41 stars (71 ratings)

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Buffalo Chicken Pasta

This easy Buffalo Chicken Pasta recipe is made in just 29 minutes on the stovetop by adding shredded chicken to a creamy, cheesy buffalo sauce, made with cream cheese and blue cheese dressing, then tossing with penne pasta!

Servings: 4 people

Prep Time: 19 minutes mins

Cook Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 29 minutes mins

Author: Whitney Bond

Ingredients

Optional toppings

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

Calories 665kcal (33%)Carbohydrates 68g (23%)Protein 33g (66%)Fat 29g (45%)Saturated Fat 14g (70%)Cholesterol 117mg (39%)Sodium 1827mg (76%)Potassium 475mg (14%)Fiber 3g (12%)Sugar 5g (6%)Vitamin A 1031mg (21%)Vitamin C 2mg (2%)Calcium 123mg (12%)Iron 2mg (11%)

Did you make this recipe?Tag @WhitneyBond on Instagram and hashtag it #WBRecipes!

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originally published February 23, 2012 — last updated July 6, 2023 130 Comments

Posted in: 29 Minute Meals, Buffalo Sauce, Chicken, Dinner, Method, Quick and Easy Recipes, Recipe Videos, Recipes, WB Favorites

About Whitney Bond

I’m a sports-loving, coffee-drinking, food blogger, the host of “29 Minute Meals”, a contributing writer for TODAY Food, cookbook author and on-camera food and lifestyle expert! Here you’ll find most recipes are made in 29 minutes or less, in one pot, or in a crock pot!

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Leave a Reply

    130 Comments on “Buffalo Chicken Cheesy Pasta Recipe”

  1. Heidi Knowlton Reply

    Has anyone tried substituting Sriracha sauce for the Buffalo sauce? We aren’t fans of Buffalo sauce but sure do love Sriracha!

    • Hi Heidi, you could definitely try it with sriracha, but since it’s much spicier than buffalo sauce, I would cut the amount down to 2-3 tablespoons of sriracha, instead of 1/3 cup of buffalo sauce. Let me know what you think, if you try it!

      • Heidi Knowlton

        We tried it subbing buffalo sauce with 3 Tablespoons of Sriracha. It was delicious. I couldn’t think of any flavor dressing that wouldn’t conflict with Sriracha so for the 3/4 cup dressing I subbed a combination of crema (if you live in Mexico, as I do, you know what that is), mayonnaise and milk (I found the sauce too thick without additional milk or water). I also omitted the salt as it seemed salty enough without it. If you like Sriracha, you will love this.

  2. Kelli Johnson Reply

    So so yummy! I used ranch because I hate Bleu cheese. And I tried ground chicken with it, it’s what I had at home, and still turned out pretty good! Would probably do shredded chicken next time.

  3. 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!

  4. This is Soooooooo good! My family loved it!

  5. 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!

  6. Gamefacelouie Reply

    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.

  7. 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.

  8. How large is the serving size? That’s a lot of calories for 1 meal.

  9. 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 🙂

Easy Buffalo Chicken Pasta Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can I add to buffalo sauce to make it less spicy? ›

Buffalo sauce in its most simple form is made by combining butter with hot sauce, so to tone down the heat, you can simply add more butter. If you're open to making a slightly sweeter buffalo sauce, adding honey or agave could be a good option as well to neutralize some of the spiciness.

How to dilute hot sauce for wings? ›

There's an easy solution though - adding dairy products. Dairy has a natural ability to counteract spiciness, so a dollop of sour cream or a sprinkling of cheese can help tone down the heat. You can also try stirring in things such as butter, cream, or yogurt.

What sides go with buffalo chicken? ›

The best side dishes to serve with buffalo chicken are blooming onion, crispy green beans, celery and carrot sticks, coleslaw, loaded potato skins, macaroni and cheese, cornbread, French fries, blue cheese stuffed mushrooms, grilled vegetables, sweet potato fries, and green salad.

How to make wings less spicy? ›

Here are some of our favorite ways to make a dish less spicy.
  1. Add more ingredients to dilute the spiciness. The easiest way to tone down a dish that's too spicy is to add more ingredients to lessen the proportion of the spicy element. ...
  2. Add dairy. ...
  3. Add acid. ...
  4. Add a sweetener. ...
  5. Add nut butter. ...
  6. Serve with bland, starchy foods.

What to add to sauce to make it less spicy? ›

Sweet Defeats Heat

Adding something sweet to a too-spicy dish is another great way to reduce spiciness. A sprinkle of sugar or honey should do the trick. Or add a touch of sweet ketchup. If it's a tomato-based sauce, stir in a little more tomato sauce and maybe a touch of sugar.

Should you heat buffalo sauce? ›

Storing Homemade Buffalo Sauce

The sauce will harden in the refrigerator (because of the butter), but you can remove what you need from the jar with a spoon and then gently reheat the sauce over low heat before using it. If, as you reheat, the sauce separates, whisk or shake it back together.

How do you dilute spicy pasta sauce? ›

Cool Down Too-Spicy: Tomato Sauce

Drizzle in some heavy cream to cut back heat significantly, or try copious amounts of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to lighten the sauce a touch. Good backups that will also work include mascarpone, sour cream, yogurt (preferably Greek-style) and milk. Taste as you go.

Does adding water to sauce make it less spicy? ›

Another simple way to temper something spicy is to dilute it. This can be done by adding more of the non-spicy ingredients to a dish (like vegetables, grains, meat or broth) or even just by adding water to thin it out.

What can you use to reduce spiciness? ›

A squeeze of lemon or lime juice or a little vinegar can help cut through spiciness. Acidic foods tone down the spiciness in foods and can add some flavor, making this a good trick for seafood dishes or creamy soups and chowders.

What is another name for a buffalo chicken? ›

They are often called simply chicken wings, hot wings, or just wings. Buffalo wings have gained in popularity in the United States and abroad, with some North American restaurant chains featuring them as a main menu item.

What state is known for buffalo chicken? ›

Buffalo Chicken Wing History

But the concept of cooking wings in peppery hot sauce was born in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, when co-owner Teressa Bellissimo cooked leftover wings in hot sauce as a late-night snack for her son and his friends.

What is buffalo sauce made of? ›

In its simplest form, buffalo wing sauce is a just a combination of cayenne pepper hot sauce and butter. My recipe calls for a few additional ingredients to help balance the flavors, but it's still very straightforward. If you keep a bottle of Frank's RedHot in your fridge, you can whip it up anytime!

What cancels out spicy? ›

Balancing it with an acid can help neutralize the molecule's activity. This means drinking or eating something acidic — such as lemonade, limeade, orange juice or a tomato-based food item or drink — may also help cool your mouth down. (Milk is also acidic, by the way.)

How do you keep wings crispy in sauce? ›

Crisp the Skin

Thoroughly pat the wings dry with paper towels before seasoning them with salt and placing them on a baking sheet. Bake at 375˚ until the wings are crisp and brown, about one hour. If you have sauce to put on your wings, do so just before serving to keep them from getting soggy.

How to reduce spices in pasta? ›

To make pasta less spicy, you can dilute the spice by adding more plain pasta or sauce, add dairy products like cream or cheese, or balance the heat with sweetness from ingredients like sugar or honey. Adjusting the level of spice gradually can also help control the spiciness.

How do you neutralize buffalo sauce? ›

If you like heat, you're familiar with capsaicin. You also probably know that water doesn't help, but milk does. If you can't or won't do milk, other fatty ingredients like broth, olive oil, or butter will do the trick. Also, sugar will cut the heat pretty reliably.

How do you reduce spicy heat in sauce? ›

6 Tips to Fix Dishes That Are Too Spicy
  1. Add Dairy. There's a lot of hype about using milk to help provide relief from spicy foods, and for good reason. ...
  2. Use Citrus. ...
  3. Add Nuts or Nut Butters. ...
  4. Sprinkle in Sugar. ...
  5. Add Starch or Grains. ...
  6. Dilute It.
Apr 14, 2022

How to fix too spicy buffalo chicken dip? ›

You can cut the spice with any kind of acid. Yogurt or sour cream work well, or add some lemon or orange juice, if you have it. Another option would be to add some tomato puree (or crushed tomatoes, if you don't mind changing the texture), because they're high in acid as well.

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