You know when you find something so amazing that you have to share it with all of your friends immediately?

Something amazing: Buffalo Chicken Baked Pasta

My friends: All of you!

After eating a delicious Baked Ziti dish on a Progressive Dinner, my friend and fellow Buffalo Chicken addict, PK, suggested that I make a Buffalo Chicken Baked Ziti.

I was obviously on board with this idea and a couple weeks later, Buffalo Chicken Baked Pasta was created!

I re-named it “baked pasta” instead of “baked ziti” because sometimes ziti is not available, like at Trader Joes, where I was purchasing my pasta for this dish 😉

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
• 1 lb pasta (ziti, rigatoni or penne)
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
• 1 cup buffalo sauce
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup blue cheese dressing
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Begin by pressure cooking or boiling the chicken breasts and cooking the pasta.

Next, shred the chicken breasts, then combine the shredded chicken, cooked pasta, mozzarella, buffalo sauce, ricotta cheese and blue cheese dressing.

Mix all of the ingredients together then pour into an oven safe baking dish.

Next, combine the parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs.  I also added a little Italian seasoning.  Totally optional, but gives it a little extra flavor!

Sprinkle the mixture on top of the pasta dish.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes, then turn the broiler on to high and brown up the crust for 3-5 minutes.

Garnish with diced green onions if you would like!

I’m all about a little extra kick, so I sprinkled some crushed red pepper on top as well!

Crispy crust, cheesy center, buffalo chicken spice, I couldn’t ask for anything more in a dish!

Oh, and it’s easy to make and takes less than an hour to prepare and bake, yeah I’m totally on board!

If simple dishes are your thing, be sure to check out our Pinterest board with “Quick and Easy Dinner Dishes”, all prepared in under an hour!

♣ Vegetarian Option: Omit the chicken for a vegetarian Cheesy Buffalo Baked Pasta dish.

♦ Gluten Free Option: Use gluten-free pasta and breadcrumbs to make this recipe gluten-free.