Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese

One word for this meal..YUM!! If I could make the text bigger I would!! So delish, so full of flavor. Who would have thought of buffalo chicken in mac and cheese, that’s homemade.  I found numerous recipes for this dish and created my own trying to be a bit healthier with what I chose to make it with. This is the orignal recipe that I based my version on. so here you go my friends. Make this TONIGHT. You won’t regret, plus you have leftovers for days!

Ingredients:

4 slices of low sodium bacon

4 chicken thighs

1/2 cup of beer, of your choice

1 pound dry whole wheat elbow macaroni

1/2 cup(1 stick) of butter plus 2 tablespoons

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus 1 cup

1 1/2 cups of whole milk and 1 1/2 cups of regular milk, plus 2 tablespoons

3/4 teaspoon of sea salt

3/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper

3 cups grated Skim Shredded mozzarella Cheese

3 cups grated Skim White Cheddar Cheese

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 egg

A few tablespoons of olive oil

2/3 cup of Frank’s Red Hot, more or less depending on how flavorful you want the dish

1 cup panko bread crumbs

Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat bottom and sides of a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Arrange bacon on cookie sheet with foil and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Chop up when cooled down.
3. Put the chicken and beer in a bowl and marinate the chicken for about 20 minutes, or until you are ready to dice it.
4. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add macaroni and cook to al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain the water and put back into pot until needed.
5. Melt 1/2 cup of butter in large pan over medium heat and add garlic, cook till golden.  Add 1/3 cup of flour and again cook till golden.  Add 3 cups of milk, salt and pepper, bring to a boil, make sure you stir! Add 2 cups of cheddar cheese and 2 cups of mozzarella(keep extra cheese for top layer)  stir until cheese is melted about 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Add the cheese sauce, blue cheese crumbles and bacon to the macaroni until combined, pour into baking dish and smooth surface.
7. Dice the chicken into small cubes.
8. Put the remaining 1/3 cup of flour  in a medium bowl. In another bowl, add 2 tablespoons of milk and egg, whisk till mixed. Drain beer from chicken and dip into flour to coat, then into egg mixture then back to the flour.
9. Add olive to large skillet over medium high heat. Fry chicken until golden brown and good through, about 5 minutes per side. If needed cook in batches. Add chicken and hot sauce to a bowl and toss till coated. Top the macaroni with chicken, sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Sprinkle with panko crumbs. Spray top layer with cooking spray. Bake for about 25 to 20 min.

Enjoy!

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