Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Pasta
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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!
Table of contents
Since 2012, this has been one of the most popular recipes 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 recipe.
For years, 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 burgers and tacos, to stuffed peppers and egg rolls, I’ve found some interesting ways to spread out my obsession with buffalo sauce over several genres of food.
This pasta recipe combines several of my favorite things into one delicious dish, buffalo chicken, cheese and pasta. It’s a tasty combination and easy to make in just 29 minutes, perfect for a simple weeknight meal.
Ingredients
- Shredded chicken breasts – boil or pressure cook 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, then shred the chicken. You can also use chicken pulled from a cooked rotisserie chicken, purchased at the grocery store. I like to use either this Instant Pot Shredded Chicken or this Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken recipe when making this dish.
- Cream cheese – I recommend using full-fat cream cheese for this recipe. A low-fat cream cheese just won’t give you the same flavor and creaminess.
- Buffalo sauce – I like to use Frank’s Red Hot sauce, but any brand of buffalo sauce will work.
- Chicken broth – you can use boxed broth, or make your own broth at home using bouillon.
- Paprika + garlic powder + salt + black pepper – to season the creamy, cheesy buffalo sauce.
- Blue cheese dressing – ranch dressing can also be used instead, if that’s your preference.
- Uncooked penne pasta – you can also use small shells, elbow or macaroni noodles, or another small pasta in it’s place.
- Green onions – optional topping to add some color, flavor and crunch.
- Crushed red pepper flakes – another optional topping, for a little extra spice.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos above to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, recipe video and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Prepare the cheesy buffalo sauce. In a large skillet, or dutch oven, on the stove over medium heat, add cubed 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 it and add the cooked pasta to the buffalo chicken sauce.
- Finish and serve. Garnish the pasta with diced green onions and crushed red pepper flakes, if you’d like and serve immediately.
Recipe variations
- Make it vegetarian. Omit the chicken, and replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth, to make this recipe vegetarian. The creamy sauce is so delicious, you won’t even miss the chicken!
- Use chicken thighs. If you’re a fan of dark meat, cook chicken thighs, instead of breasts in an Instant Pot, then shred the thighs to use them in this recipe.
- Make it gluten-free. Substitute in gluten free pasta to make this recipe gluten free.
- Add vegetables. Mix in 1 cup of fresh spinach leaves with the cooked, shredded chicken, or add steamed broccoli or cauliflower, to add some veggies to this pasta dish.
- Add more spice! Mix in one teaspoon red pepper flakes with the other spices to add even more heat to this pasta recipe. As the recipe is written, this pasta dish has a mild-to-medium spice level.
Storage and reheating
Buffalo chicken pasta leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and eaten within 5 days.
The pasta can be reheated on the stove or in the microwave. To reheat it on the stove, add the pasta to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir and reheat for 5-10 minutes, or until heated through. If the pasta starts to look dry, stir in another 3-4 tablespoons chicken broth.
To reheat the pasta in the microwave, add it to a microwave safe bowl and heat for 2-3 minutes.
What to serve with it
This buffalo chicken pasta recipe is delicious on it’s own, or served with buttery bread on the side. Or to lighten things up, add a side salad or roasted veggies.
Pair the recipe with any of these side dishes for a winning combo!
More recipes with buffalo sauce
Add all of these popular recipes with buffalo sauce to your menu of easy dinner recipes!
Buffalo Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast, from a rotisserie chicken, or using this recipe for Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
- 8 ounces cream cheese, cubed
- ⅓ cup buffalo sauce
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup blue cheese dressing, or ranch dressing
- 12 ounces uncooked penne pasta
Optional toppings
Instructions
- Heat a large pan, or dutch oven, on the stove over medium heat.
- Add the cubed 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 cooked, shredded chicken, then stir to combine.
- 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 buffalo sauce and chicken broth used are gluten-free.
- Storage: leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and eaten within 5 days.
- Reheating: to reheat the pasta on the stove, add the pasta to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir and reheat for 5-10 minutes, or until heated through. If the pasta starts to look dry, stir in another 3-4 tablespoons chicken broth. To reheat the pasta in the microwave, add it to a microwave safe bowl and heat for 2-3 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
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133 Comments on “Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Pasta”
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!