As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
This Buffalo Chicken Casserole is a simple dinner of delicious homemade comfort food. Your favorite flavors come together in one tasty main dish.
This buffalo chicken casserole recipe is for all the buffalo sauce fans out there! It uses tender chicken, buffalo sauce, cheese, and carbs; what could be better?
Answer: nothing.
Use any leftover buffalo sauce to make our Greek yogurt buffalo chicken dip and buffalo hummus.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Make sure you warm the milk before adding it to the butter sauce. Cold milk will curdle when it interacts with the hot pan and ingredients.
- Adjust the buffalo sauce to your liking. You can always add more if needed, but start with a minimum amount if you’re cooking for people with tamer tastebuds.
- If you don’t have an oven-safe skillet, do all the prep work in a skillet that you do have, and then transfer everything to a greased 9×13 casserole dish.
HOW TO STORE AND REHEAT
Storing Leftovers: Allow the buffalo chicken pasta to fully cool before storing it in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Reheating Leftovers: You can reheat the pasta for 60-90 seconds in the microwave, or eat it cold like a pasta salad.
Freezing Leftovers: I do not recommend freezing this dish.
Buffalo Chicken Casserole Recipe
Equipment
- Strainer
Ingredients
- 3 cups dry rotini noodles
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts {cubed, cut into ~1-inch pieces}
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp powdered ranch seasoning
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 cup buffalo sauce {use 1/4-1/2 cup if you don't like spicy}
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk, warmed
- 4 oz cream cheese {cubed and slightly warmed}
- 1 1/3 cup shredded parmesan
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 2 green onions, sliced {optional}
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- In a large saucepan bring 3 quarts of salted water to a boil.
- Add rotini and cook until al dente, ~7 minutes. Drain pasta. Set aside. Make the rest while the pasta cooks.3 cups dry rotini noodles
- Salt and pepper the cubed chicken.1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1/4 tsp kosher salt, 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- In a deep oven-safe skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.1 tbsp olive oil
- Add the chicken and cook it until it is almost cooked through (~5 minutes). Transfer to a plate. Drain any juices from the pan.
- Over low heat, melt butter in the skillet, stir in garlic powder, ranch seasoning, and buffalo sauce. Pro tip: for tamer taste buds, start with 1/4 cup buffalo sauce and adjust to taste.1/4 cup salted butter, 2 tbsp powdered ranch seasoning, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 3/4 cup buffalo sauce
- Slowly whisk in warmed milk, and bring to a low boil for 1 minute, whisking constantly.1 1/4 cup whole milk, warmed
- Add in cubed cream cheese, shredded parmesan, and black pepper. Stir until the cream cheese has melted. Whisk until smooth.4 oz cream cheese, 1 1/3 cup shredded parmesan, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- Add in the cooked pasta and chicken and stir to combine.
- Top with shredded mozzarella.1 cup shredded mozzarella
- Bake, uncovered at 350˚F for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
- Top with sliced green onions.
Notes
- Make sure you warm the milk before adding it to the butter sauce. Cold milk will curdle when it interacts with the hot pan.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I didn’t know that I needed a signature pot luck dish but I’m pretty sure I found it in this. This would be perfect for any Sunday Football spread or anytime you’re hankering for buffalo wings without the deep fried guilt.
I used chicken thighs because that’s what was defrosted for dinner but could easily see this coming together even quicker with some shredded rotisserie chicken from your favorite club store. I used about half a cup of the buffalo sauce because I’m a wimp when it comes to spice but after eating this dish, I think I could have easily add the full amount. It’s very well balanced.
I will admit that even though I live Mid-West adjacent, my New Yorker background forbade me from using ranch (sorry Sarah!). Instead of the ranch seasoning, I stirred in about 4oz of bleu cheese crumbles at step 10 with the pasta and chicken.
The result was a super creamy, cheesy, tangy delicious meal. There was not a morsel to be found in our bowls at the end. Not even an errant green onion. These leftovers will not last long. Definitely a recipe to keep!
I love hearing that, Allison!!
The beauty of a recipe is getting to adapt it to your tastes. Ranch excluded and all. 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
This disappeared before I got a chance to take a picture! We veganized it with dairy-free milk and cheeses and plant-based chicken, and it was delicious. We’ll be making this one regularly.
Paula, I love to hear the changes that you made; thank you for sharing them! And I’m so thrilled to hear it was a hit for you.
Pasta is generally measured in ounces, not cups, which makes it easy to sub other pasta shapes. The standard serving is 2 ounces, so this recipe would need 16 ounces to serve 8 people.
Thanks for your input, Barb. As pasta is part of, but not the only component of this meal, I did not follow anything standard to determine serving size/number of people served.
At the end of the day, I can only provide guidelines based on testing and making a recipe over and over. No family is going to ever eat the same meal the same way. I address this in-depth in the comment section of this Fajita Chicken Casserole recipe.