Let’s take a break from Thanksgiving recipes for a minute to talk about mac and cheese. Lighter Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese, to be exact! There are worse things.
Lately I’ve been in a knock-down, drag-out fight with myself over my mac and cheese addiction. This beast formed while I was pregnant and has continued to rage on throughout the summer and fall. I can’t get enough! Worst yet, the kind I crave the most is this ridiculous version from a nearby Cajun restaurant which I make Ben pick up, um, at least once a week. It’s white cheddar, it’s impossibly thick and creamy, and it’s probably made with a shocking amount of cream, butter, and cheese. I was actually just thinking about the amounts last night in bed (?) and almost shed a tear.
Anyway, good mac and cheese, thankfully, does not need to be cream, butter, nor cheese laden, believe it or not, as I will prove to you in this mac and cheese recipe. I had scoop after scoop of it for lunch the other day!
There’s just 2 Tablespoons of butter in the entire recipe, and I used Greek yogurt to both thicken the sauce and give it a tang that tastes so good with spicy buffalo wing sauce. A modest amount of freshly shredded cheddar cheese gives the dish decadence, and a secret, cheesy ingredient provides a whole ‘nother level of deliciousness. Buckle up, baby – you’re in for a yummy ride!
Start by cooking 8oz (1/2lb) gluten-free or regular rotini in a big pot of salted, boiling water until it’s just under al dente. The pasta will finish cooking while the mac and cheese bakes in the oven, so make sure it’s still got a bit of a bite to it.
Meanwhile, add 1lb chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces to a large skillet with nonstick spray over medium-high heat. Season with salt and pepper then saute until no longer pink. Remove to a plate then set aside.
Turn the heat down to medium then melt 2 Tablespoons butter in the skillet and add 2 cloves minced garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, then sprinkle in 2 Tablespoons gluten-free flour (I like white or brown rice flour) or all-purpose flour, whisk until smooth, and then cook for 1 minute.
Next, slowly stream in 1-1/2 cups milk (I used skim but just use whatever you’ve got in the fridge) while whisking constantly then stir until thickened and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes.
Turn off the heat then add in all the goodies! Starting with 6oz plain Greek yogurt.
4oz freshly shredded cheddar cheese (freshly shredded is best, if you can swing it!)
And 3 Laughing Cow Blue Cheese Wedges (my secret ingredient!) I am SO excited about this addition! It melts like a dream and adds an awesome flavor to the mac and cheese. I don’t usually love blue cheese but the flavor in these wedges is just right – not too strong.
Once all the cheese is melted, stir in 1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce (not hot sauce.) This sauce contains no butter, and thus no fat – just zippy buffalo wing flavor.
Add the cooked chicken and pasta so the sauce then give everything a big stir to coat.
Transfer the mac to an 8×8 baking dish then top with 1/2 cup crushed gluten-free Rice Chex (made from 1 cup Chex) or panko bread crumbs for crunch, and 2 Tablespoons more buffalo wing sauce for a concentrated punch of flavor. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and bread crumbs are light golden brown.
Let rest for 5 minutes then scoop and devour!
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Lighter Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
Description
Lighter Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese is spicy and decadent, yet lighter than regular mac and cheese. Gluten-free friendly, too!
Ingredients
- 8oz gluten-free or regular rotini
- 1lb chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- salt and pepper
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 Tablespoons gluten-free or all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 cups milk (I used skim)
- 6oz plain Greek yogurt
- 4oz shredded cheddar cheese
- 3 Laughing Cow Blue Cheese Wedges, crumbled into pieces
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons buffalo wing sauce, divided
- 1/2 cup crushed gluten-free Rice Chex (made from 1 cup Chex) or panko bread crumbs
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook rotini in a big pot of salted, boiling water until just under al dente. Pasta should still have a bit of a bite to it as it will finish cooking in the oven. Drain then set aside.
- Meanwhile spray a large skillet over medium-high heat with nonstick spray then add chicken, season with salt and pepper, and then saute until no longer pink. Remove to a plate then set aside.
- Turn heat down to medium then melt butter in the skillet, add garlic, and saute for 30 seconds. Sprinkle in flour then whisk until smooth and cook for 1 minute. Slowly pour in milk while whisking then cook until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat then add in Greek yogurt, cheddar cheese, and Laughing cow cheese. Stir until smooth then stir in 1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce.
- Add cooked pasta and chicken to the skillet then stir to combine. Transfer mixture to an 8x8 baking dish then top with Rice Chex or panko bread crumbs and drizzle over remaining 2 Tablespoons buffalo wing sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and bread crumbs are light golden brown. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
Lighter Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese is off the chain. There, I said it! Spicy, creamy, cheesy – and with a nice crunch from the panko bread crumbs. This would be great to serve the day before Thanksgiving, actually, when company’s in town and you need to feed a crowd. It’s certainly a pleaser! Enjoy!
[…] Recipe adapted from Iowa Girl Eats […]
[…] “Light” isn”t often used with “buffalo chicken” or mac and cheese,” but Iowa Girl Eats finds a way to make it happen. Find the recipe at Iowa Girl Eats. […]
how many calories and how much is serving?
When you say 5-6 servings what’s the average serving size?
I made this tonight with a few substitutions and LOVED it. I bought 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts and poached them, and then shredded the meat instead of cubing it. I couldn’t find blue cheese laughing cow, so I used an ounce of reduced fat cream cheese and 3 tbs blue cheese crumbles. I used franks hot sauce instead of wing sauce because I forgot to pick up wing sauce, and penne instead of rotini for the same reason (failed at shopping this week!). Finally, I omitted the panko and just sprinkled a little extra shredded cheddar and smoked cayenne on top. It was delicious! Nowhere near as orange as your one, but it tasted amazing. I admit I was skeptical that fat free greek yogurt would do anything for me, but it really worked here.
With my substitutions, this made 7 large servings at 364 calories each. Each serving has 31 grams of protein!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a huge hit with my family! This is definitely going to be a regular part of our meal rotation. Thanks for creating a lighter version if something so tasty; without sacrificing an ounce if flavor.
Just wondering what the nutritional facts are as opposed to the original.
Hi, they discontinued laughing cow bleu cheese flavor. Any other bleu cheese suggestions? Thanks
I would add some crumbled blue cheese for the taste.
Just made this for the first time. I, also, was not able to find the Laughing Cow Light Bleu Cheese wedges, so I used reduced fat bleu cheese crumbles. It worked fine. This was excellent enough to make me feel guilty! I used vegetable based rotini to boost the healthy eating factor.
Thanks for sharing. Made this tonight and both my husband and I really liked it. He said he couldn’t stop eating it, it was so yummy. I couldn’t find the bleu cheese laughing cow in ANY of the stores I went to, so I just used the garlic and herb. It worked great. Just curious if it tastes a whole lot different with the bleu cheese.
I was hesitant to post a comment because I really altered the recipe so I could eat more, lol: Instead of pasta, I used cauliflower. I used lit cheddar. I didn’t have the laughing cow so I used 2 Tbl of neufchatel, and I skipped the panko. Can I tell you how absolutely amazing this tasted? I ate half the recipe in one sitting which, with the substitutions, was only 605 calories. I really shouldn’t have, but I had the extra calories for the day and it was worth it! My husband agreed and thought it tasted so much like the buffalo chicken dip that is so popular that he suggested I could leave out the cauliflower and just serve it during football games with celery for dipping! Honestly, it was probably light enough as it was, but I only get 1380 calories a day so I have to make every calorie count :D. Thank you for the terrific recipe!
I’ve made this recipe twice, it’s awesome. I didn’t change anything and I love that it’s light! Thanks for sharing!
[…] A “make for JC” recipe. Source […]
This was fantastic.. one of my husband’s favorite things that I’ve ever made. It tastes restaurant worthy! My store didn’t have the blue cheese laughing cow, so instead I put in some light cream cheese and mixed in some blue cheese crumbles, because I had them on hand, and it was delicious. Thanks for an awesome recipe!
Made this last night and it came out fantastic! Do you have a calorie count by any chance?
YAY! So glad. :) I don’t have the calorie count but recommend the Livestrong recipe calculator tool: http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/create/
[…] The Laughing Cow cheese wedges in recipes like Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil Stuffed Chicken and Lighter Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese in the past, but they’re also great to pair with healthy snacks like fresh apple slices. […]
[…] Lighter Buffalo Mac and Cheese […]
[…] Here’s the recipe, adapted from Iowa Girl Eats: […]
I made this last night and it was seriously SO GOOD! I looked forward to eating the leftovers for lunch all.day.long. today and it was still SO GOOD the next day :) Next time, I might not even bake it, as it was delicious just mixed up on the stovetop. Thanks, Kristin!