Buffalo Chicken Casserole
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If you like buffalo chicken dip, you’ll love this all-in-one Buffalo Chicken Casserole. It’s creamy, cheesy and bursting with buffalo ranch flavor.
Matt’s love of buffalo chicken has officially own all of the family over. It started by us trying buffalo chicken dip, which was a mistake. Because although it doesn’t look amazing? It’s addicting.
I took the love of the buffalo ranch flavor and made potatoes, mac ‘n cheese and pinwheels. And now we’re sharing a new main dish, the Buffalo Chicken Casserole. Although we all love this, Kinslee loves it the most. And I know you’re going to love it too once you see how easy it is.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Dinner ready in under an hour.
- Options to use leftover shredded chicken or pasta.
- Great for potlucks or family gatherings.
- Adjust the spicy flavor by adding more or less buffalo sauce
Ingredients Needed:
- Pasta: Any pasta shape will do. And we’ve even made this with gluten free pasta and Banza chickpea pasta.
- Cream Cheese: I go with full fat cream cheese. Because this isn’t exactly health food, right?! But if you’d like, you can use a lower fat cream cheese.
- Evaporated Milk: Why use evaporated milk instead of fresh milk? For one, I always tend to have a couple of cans of this on hand, and fresh milk always seems to be running short in the house. Evaporated milk also holds up to the heat of the oven. You won’t have any curdling if you use it.
- Ranch Seasoning: Add one packet of seasoning to boost that ranch flavor in the casserole.
- Ranch Dressing: Your favorite brand of salad dressing will work just fine.
- Buffalo Wing Sauce: Frank’s buffalo sauce is our favorite. Or you can make homemade buffalo sauce.
- Rotisserie Chicken: Rotisserie chicken works great in this recipe. I like how the chicken already has a little bit of flavor which just adds to the casserole. You can also use leftover shredded chicken or our favorite roasted chicken recipe.
- Shredded Cheese: Always buy a block of cheese and shred your own for casseroles. If you use pre-shredded cheese, it can leave your casserole greasy.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Casserole
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray.
- Cook pasta according to the package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking: In a bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add in the evaporated milk, ¼ of a cup at a time, mixing between each addition. Mixing in the milk slowly will help your mixture to stay smooth and not have small chunks of cream cheese.
- Add the ranch dressing and buffalo sauce. Mix well.
- Add the chicken and 1 ½ cups cheese. Stir to combine.
- Mix in the drained pasta until it is coated.
- Add noodle mixture to the casserole. Spread it out evenly.
- Top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until it is bubbly and heated through. I do 25 minutes, then 3 minutes under the broiler on low to crisp up the top. That is optional, but I love the crispy top!
Recipe Variations
- I’ve already mentioned that you can use any type of pasta you’d like.
- Use blue cheese dressing instead of ranch if you like that flavor.
- Top with blue cheese crumbles, bacon, diced green onion or ranch drizzles.
Serving Ideas
This is an all-in-one casserole with pasta, chicken and cheese. What it doesn’t have is veggies! This would be great with a side salad, roasted broccoli or oven baked potatoes.
Add our ranch dinner rolls if you’d like some bread with it. And next, try our crispy ranch chicken!
Buffalo Chicken Casserole
If you like buffalo chicken dip, you'll love this all-in-one Buffalo Chicken Casserole. It's creamy, cheesy and bursting with buffalo ranch flavor.
Servings 10
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 12 ounces rotini pasta about 4 cups dry
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 14 ounces evaporated milk 1 can
- 1 ounce ranch salad dressing seasoning mix 1 package
- 3/4 cup ranch dressing
- 1 1/2 cups buffalo wing sauce
- 2 1/4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
Optional Toppings:
- ranch dressing
- green onions sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cook pasta according to the package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking: In a bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add in the evaporated milk, ¼ of a cup at a time, mixing between each addition. Mixing in the milk slowly will help your mixture to stay smooth and not have small chunks of cream cheese.
- Add the ranch dressing and buffalo sauce. Mix well.
- Add the chicken and 1 ½ cups cheese. Stir to combine.
- Mix in the drained pasta until it is coated.
- Spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray.
- Add noodle mixture to the casserole. Spread it out evenly.
- Top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until it is bubbly and heated through. I do 25 minutes, then 3 minutes under the broiler on low to crisp up the top.
- Drizzle ranch dressing over the top of the casserole.
- Sprinkle with sliced green onions or bleu cheese crumbles.
Notes
The calories shown are based on the recipe serving 10, with 1 serving being 1/10 of the casserole. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**
Nutrition
Calories: 544kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 1859mg | Potassium: 320mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 782IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 386mg | Iron: 1mg
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I made this for dinner tonight! Wow! It was sooo hot. Lol My husband was sweating in the face it was so good and thank goodness I served it with coleslaw. I used Frank’s Red Hot as my Buffalo Wing sauce (which I use all the time) Next time I think I’ll try just 1/2 cup)!
I made this for dinner tonight. The whole family loved it, and said I need to use this one again. It was delicious, and easy to prepare. I’m glad I made a double batch. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been any leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for the great recipe!