If you love macaroni and cheese, and you love Buffalo chicken, you will love this low fat macaroni and cheese dish! It combines a classic macaroni and cheese with the flavors of Buffalo chicken. It's delicious and more nutritious because you make your own lighter sauce, and you'll be including a good portion of chopped or shredded chicken. This makes it a higher protein, lower carb option to regular mac and cheese.
Servings 6servings
Author Rosanne Rust MS RDN, www.rustnutrition.com
Ingredients
2/3cupcelery, chopped
12-16 ouncesroasted chicken breast, shreddedYou can substitute an equal amount of canned chicken.
Buffalo Sauce
1TBbutter
1TBflour
2 cups1% milk
4TBlight cream cheesecut into small cubes
1/4tspsalt
1/4tspground pepper
1/4tspgarlic powder
2TBhot saucemore to taste
1/2 cupshredded cheddar cheese
3TBblue cheese, crumbled
Macaroni
1 3/4cupselbow macaroni
Instructions
You can either purchase cooked chicken at the store, or poach or roast your own. To roast, heat oven to 400 degrees, place chicken breast on a baking sheet, season with a sprinkle of salt, and roast chicken for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and chop or shred.
Buffalo Chicken Sauce and Pasta
Add water to a medium stock pot, and place on high heat to boil.
Saute chopped celery in a non stick pan, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
In the same pan you sauteed the celery in, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir quickly, then reduce heat to low-medium. Cook for 1-2 minutes until lightly browned.
Gradually add milk, stirring with whisk while adding. Stir and cook for 2 minutes.
Add cubes of cream cheese to milk mixture, and stirring constantly over low to medium heat until well blended. Stir in garlic powder, salt and pepper, and hot sauce.
Add shredded cheese and blue cheese. Continuing stirring until smooth and thickened. Stir the celery into the sauce. If sauce seems to be too thick, add a little bit of milk to thin.
Add cooked chicken to sauce and stir until combined. Set sauce aside or keep it on a very low simmer to keep warm.
Put the macaroni into the boiling water to cook. Cook for 8-9 minutes. (note, you can add broccoli flowerets to this. Add washed, fresh flowerets 6 minutes into cooking pasta. Drain with pasta as below, and toss with Buffalo Chicken sauce).
Drain macaroni when done, and pour drained macaroni into Buffalo Chicken Sauce. Stir to combine, and serve.
Add additional hot sauce to taste, and sprinkle with paprika if desired.