This easy chicken dinner is one of our favorites!
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❤️ Why you'll love it
- This casserole is rich, creamy and makes for the perfect comfort food.
- A great way to feed a crowd and use up leftover chicken.
- This buffalo chicken recipe is full of tender chicken and the pasta is cooked to perfection.
Y'all, I love a dish that goes together fast and comes out perfectly every time. I'm not saying you'll get a standing ovation when you put it on the table but...
It could happen.
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
*Note - The bacon crumbles are not shown in the image below.
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- penne pasta
- cream cheese
- ranch dressing
- hot sauce
- chicken
- mozzarella cheese
- sharp cheddar cheese
- cottage cheese
- Ritz crackers
- butter
- green onions
- crumbled bacon
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions for this buffalo chicken pasta bake. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Mix together cream cheese, cottage cheese, ranch and hot sauce until smooth and evenly mixed.
- Add chicken, 1 cup of cheese mixture and the pasta noodles to the cream cheese mixture, then spoon into the prepared baking dish.
- Mix the remaining cheese and spread over the top of the casserole.
- Sprinkle the top of the pasta with Ritz crackers, then bake per the directions in the recipe card.
🥄 Equipment
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You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
🥫 Storage
If you have leftover buffalo chicken pasta bake store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or put in an airtight container.
Reheat in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 - 15 minutes or microwave until warmed through.
This casserole can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then reheat as directed above. If you are planning on freezing it then it's best to leave the cracker crumbs off until you reheat it.
📖 Variations
- Add some chopped bacon to the cheese mixture for a delicious flavor twist.
- You can use boneless chicken thighs, too.
- Use rotisserie chicken to save time.
- Try a different kind of pasta, such as elbow macaroni or shells.
- Add a can of drained and rinsed black beans to the cheese mixture for a little extra protein and fiber.
- Add some chopped green bell peppers or red onions.
- For a little extra spice, add some diced jalapeños.
- If you love buffalo flavor but not the heat, add some melted butter to the hot sauce to tone it down.
- Adding sour cream can make buffalo chicken casserole even creamier and reduce the spice level from the buffalo sauce.
- If you prefer blue cheese dressing with your buffalo wings, feel free to use blue cheese instead of ranch dressing in this cheesy pasta.
- Blue Cheese Crumbles will add a tangy flavor to your cheese mixture and they're great sprinkled on top.
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: I use Frank's Hot Sauce in this because it's thicker and has more texture than other brands. It coats the other ingredients much better.
- Once you mix the pasta and chicken with the sauce get it in the oven as quickly as possible - the pasta will absorb some of the sauce. If this happens just add ½ cup milk or half & half around the edges.
- Trader Joe's Everything But the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend is a great topping for this dish.
- If you don't have Ritz crackers on hand, any type of cracker will work.
- This casserole is best served hot, straight from the oven.
- I like to cook my pasta to al dente per the package directions because it will continue to cook in the oven.
- A dash of garlic powder and black pepper added to the cream cheese mixture will add additional flavor to this pasta dish.
👩🍳 FAQs
Yes, you can definitely make buffalo chicken pasta casserole ahead of time. Just assemble everything as directed in the recipe - but leave off the cracker crumbs. Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to bake it. When you're ready to eat, add the cracker crumb layer and bake it according to the directions in the recipe card.
No, you will need to use cooked chicken for this recipe. You can poach a boneless skinless chicken breast if you don't have any cooked chicken on hand.
📚 Related recipes
- King Ranch Chicken Casserole is comforting, creamy and a great meal on busy weeknights.
- Poppy Seed Chicken is an easy meal for nights when you want something hearty without a lot of effort.
- Million Dollar Casserole is an easy dinner that's creamy, cheesy, and always a hit with the entire family.
- Tamale Pie is a family favorite.
🍽️ Serve with...
- These Maple Roasted Carrots are sweet, tender and pair well with this easy pasta recipe.
- If you are looking for a fresh side salad to pair with this pasta, give this Italian Green Bean Salad a try.
- This No Bake Strawberry Shortcake is an easy dessert that the whole family will love.
📞 The last word
I love this easy buffalo chicken pasta recipe! It checks all the boxes for comfort food and flavor!
It's a fun twist on buffalo wings - which I don't care for because I'm lazy and boneless is just easier.
If you like spicy you'll also love this copycat Popeye's blacked chicken!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Ultimate Buffalo Chicken Pasta Bake
Print Pin Recipe SaveEquipment Needed
Ingredients
- 16 ounces penne pasta
- 8 ounces package cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup ranch dressing
- ½ cup hot sauce, I used Frank's Red Hot Thick
- 2 ½ cups chicken, cooked and diced, (about 1 ½ lbs raw)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, about 4 ounces shredded from a block
- 1 cups cheddar cheese, about 4 ounces shredded from a block - I like sharp cheddar for this
- 1 cup cottage cheese, optional
- 15 Ritz crackers, about 1 sleeve, crushed
- ¼ cup butter
- green onions, for garnish
- bacon crumbles, for garnish - optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions.
- Drain.
- Stir together the cream cheese, cottage cheese, ranch, and hot sauce until smooth and creamy.
- Mix the Cheddar and Mozzarella cheeses.
- Add the chicken, 1 cup cheese mixture, and cooked pasta noodles to the cream cheese mixture and stir to combine.
- Spoon into the prepared dish.
- Combine the remaining cheese and sprinkle over the top of the pasta.
- Melt butter.
- Stir the melted butter into the Ritz cracker crumbs.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until heated through.
- Remove from oven, drizzle with more hot sauce and Ranch. Garnish with sliced green onion and bacon crumbles if desired.
Notes
- Once you mix the pasta and chicken with the sauce get it in the oven as quickly as possible - the pasta will absorb some of the sauce. If this happens just add ½ cup milk or half & half around the edges.
- Trader Joe's Everything But the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend is a great topping for this dish.
- If you don't have Ritz crackers on hand, any type of cracker will work.
- This casserole is best served hot, straight from the oven.
- I like to cook my pasta to al dente per the package directions because it will continue to cook in the oven.
- A dash of garlic powder and black pepper added to the cream cheese mixture will add additional flavor to this pasta dish.
Nelena Donovan
I love your recipes! I also love how easy it is to find the recipe.I can go right to it.Keep up the good work!
Nelena Donovan.❤️🙏🏼😄