When you are ready for a seriously delicious and grown up version of a classic comfort food, then it’s time to give this Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese a try! Simple, easy and indulgently delicious!
A chill in the air = time for some serious comfort food. Agreed? Good because I have a mac and cheese for you that is all about rich, delicious and comforting. And buffalo sauce. Because we wouldn’t want boring old mac and cheese, now would we?! Super simple to make and totally homemade with a from scratch cheese sauce… who could refuse a serving or three?! Use your slow cooker to make easy work of this wholesome Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese that everyone will love.
Can you cook Mac and cheese in a slow cooker?
- The answer is… oh yes!
- It takes a little bit of a watchful eye after adding the pasta to make sure it cooks evenly
Of course, I had to use shells pasta shapes because I wanted, no I needed, all the little pockets to be able to hold all of the cheese. Cheese to pasta ratio is an important consideration, I think, when it comes to good mac and cheese.
I’m gonna give you a little trade-off here in the time it takes to make this meal. You’re going to save some time by tossing the pasta right in the crock. But, I’m gonna tell you to take a few minutes to make a from scratch cheese sauce because it’s worth it. Really.
Perfect with a tossed green salad or quickly shoveled straight from the crock to your mouth. Time to put away the shorts and tanks and dig out the sweatpants. And eat the comfort food. All of it.
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When you are ready for a seriously delicious and grown up version of a classic comfort food, then it's time to give this Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese a try! Simple, easy and indulgently delicious!
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce (start with 1/4 and add more to taste when done)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
- 8 ounces shell pasta (or other pasta)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 2 cups shredded cheese (I used half sharp white cheddar and half mild cheddar)
- Add chicken, broth, buffalo sauce and seasonings to slow cooker
- Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8
- Shred fully cooked chicken with forks and return to crock
- Add uncooked pasta and stir to combine
- Cover and cook pasta on high for 30-45 minutes until fully cooked (if needed you can add additional water 1/4 cup at a time for any uncooked noodles and stir)
- In saucepan over medium high heat melt butter
- Whisk in flour
- Slowly pour in milk while whisking until smooth
Bring to simmer for 4-6 minutes until sauce thickens enough to stick to a spoon (it will be just a little thinner than most cheese sauces)
- Remove from heat and whisk in cheese until melted and smooth
- Add cheese sauce to crock and stir to combine
- Serve immediately
I cooked this in my 5 quart slow cooker on high for 3 hours, then cooked the pasta for 40 minutes
Hi,
I was wondering that if I was to use chicken breasts, then should I uhave the crockpot on high? Or would low be ok?
Thanks! Hoping to make this for.dinner tonight!
You can leave the chicken in the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours. Then just kick it up to high for the 30-45 minutes that you are cooking the pasta. Hope that helps 🙂
Thank you Jennifer for the info about the on low for 6 8 hours
I made this. It came out horrible. My noodles completely disintegrated. They were just gone. And my cheese sauce was too thick. I dont think ill make this again. Probably my fault.
Hi Evette, I’m so sorry you ended up disappointed. How long did you cook the noodles and how often did you check them? What kind of pasta did you use? As far as the cheese sauce, you can always thin it out with a bit of broth, but I’d love to help you solve the noodle problem. The most common culprit is the type of noodles or cooking them too long.
This mac and cheese looks SO incredibly cheesy, creamy and of course delicious! Wish I had some to devour right now – great recipe too!
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
I have looked through a few of your tasty recipes and they look great! But…how many servings each produces would be great
As a rough rule of thumb these are the meals I’m making for my family so most will feed about 4 people give or take. Always hard to estimate as everyone eats such different serving sizes 🙂 That being said I agree. One of my goals is to incorporate more step by step photos and measurements of the final product. So much work, so little time! 😉
Hi,
I can’t believe it took me this long to discover your website! I made this last night and it came out AMAZING!!!! My boyfriend and I are both buffalo chicken fans, and being that I also love mac n cheese, I figured I would give this a go. A+++++ For this one!
Hooray!!
Made this for a superbowl party and it was such a hit! It made enough that I had leftovers for lunch too. 🙂
Woohoo! Double win 🙂
Love this recipe. I was wondering if you had a trick to prevent the flour/butter mixture from sticking and burning on the bottom of the sauce pan. Seems no matter what I try or how hard I whisk, it still happens. Thanks.
Hi!! and thanks!! Try using a nonstick pan. You will only need to whisk it just until it’s combined so get the milk going in right away as soon as the flour is mixed in and perhaps reduce the heat just a bit. Hope that helps!
Made this for a potluck yesterday and it was fantastic. Only two comments. I doubled the size and found it to be a little mild. So I increased the Buffalo sauce to 4 cups (double what is proportionately recommended) and found it gave a satisfying zing without being spicy.
Also, I had excess liquid after the cheese sauces was added. Leaving the pot slightly ajar for a little bit helped steam that off. This was seriously fantastic. I want to make it again immediately.
Awesome!! Thanks for the feedback and so glad you loved it! 🙂
I was wondering if you’ve ever added any cream cheese to this recipe or if it’s even really needed? TIA
Hi Britany! Certainly not needed in this recipe but you could add a little for even more richness if you wanted!!
This is a dumb question but are you throwing away the liquid after pulling the chicken or leaving it in the crockpot
Not at all!! You will leave the liquid as it is what is used to cook the pasta and will be absorbed.
How many does this recipe feed? I’m trying to make but need to know that 1st.
Thanks!
Hi Sonja! With 8 oz of pasta this will easily serve 4 and could even serve 6 if you are serving it along with other dishes. Hope that helps.
I made this last night. Only used 2 cups of milk instead of 2 1/2, simmered for 6 minutes to thicken. When it was finished it was more like a soup for some reason. Any ideas what I did wrong? Btw, it still tasted fantastic and I will make it again in a heartbeat!!!!
Well that stinks! I’m glad it still tasted good! Was the pasta soupy at all before you added the cheese sauce? The liquid should have been fully absorbed in the pasta. Was the cheese sauce thick enough to stick to the spoon? Could be that you needed a bit more cheese?
Yes, the pasta was very soupy and the cheese did stick to the spoon. Next time I make this I’ll just add extra pasta. Like I said it tasted fantastic! I don’t like things very (spicy) hot, but I like the taste of the hot spice so the 1/4 cup of hot sauce was perfect!
Are you putting the chicken in RAW. And still leaving the broth with the raw chicken juices ?
Hi Kimberly! Yes, the chicken goes in raw and will fully cook along with the broth. When you add the pasta all the broth gets absorbed similar to a casserole. Then you will stir in the cheese sauce that you make for the final mac & cheese!
Thank you, starting it now! Very excited 🙂
That was my question too..but thanks for clarifying.
How would you modify this if you were using already cooked chicken? I usually shred rotisserie chickens
Hi Rachel! The slow cooker is used mainly for getting the chicken cooked then just as a handy way to finish the pasta right in the pot. If you are using cooked chicken I’d say skip the slow cooker, leave out the broth, and just cook your pasta as usual, add the cooked chicken and the cheese sauce right to that!
Made this for our dinner tonight. My husband said if there were so stars…this meal should get them. Delicious, creamy with just the right amount of kick. Thank you!!
This seemed more like chicken and cheese because the macaroni was so outnumbered by chicken. Good though! I just added the rest of the box of pasta and more water. Thanks!
Hi Erin! Glad you were able to make it work with a noodle to chicken ratio that works for you!
My husband and I are excited to try this tonight. However, we just got home,from the store and I realized that I accidentally bought thin sliced chicken breasts instead of regular chicken breast… ? Any suggestions on if I should do different cook times? These are sliced pretty thin…
Hi Mikayla! Did you already make this? Cooking time should not be impacted that significantly with this recipe, since it’s cooking in liquid it won’t dry out. The beauty of how flexible slow cooking can be 🙂
Yes I did make it and it was delicious!! And you are correct, I did not have to vary the time much at all. The only issue I had was my cheese sauce did not get very thick, but after it was mixed in with the pasta you couldn’t tell at all. My husband has requested we add this to our rotation of planned dinners. Thank you again! ?
This recipe produces fantastically moist and easy to shred chicken. BUT – it calls for way too little buffalo sauce (I could barely taste it with 1/2 a cup in, ended up dumping in a bunch of my favorite to taste) and far too much milk for the cheese sauce For real, unless you want to play the reducing game for ages just put in less, like 1-1.5 cups max to melt the cheese. Otherwise makes a delicious buffalo mac n cheese soup 🙂
could you use a family size box of mac & cheese, and the other spices and chicken.
Hi Kathy… yes, check out this buffalo chicken mac & cheese recipe, I think it’s exactly what you are looking for.
Made this today — so good! Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks Marie! I’m so glad you liked it!
Does the consistency of the cheese sauce change if you leave it in the slow cooker for too long after you’ve mixed it all together? I noticed that the recipe says to serve immediately, but I was wanting to have it all together and ready for nights when we have an event in the evening and get home a little later. Several of my other homemade mac n cheese recipes require specific cook times or else the texture of the sauce changes, but I’m wondering if this will be okay left on the “warm” setting, or have you ever tried leaving it in the crockpot after combining?
Yes, it does get kind of gummy if you leave it too long. Taste will still be good but texture can get weird. Depends on how much this bothers you. You can fix it up a little by adding more liquid right before serving.
Made this a month or so ago. It was amazing. I will say that agree with one of the other comments that it is way to much milk. I was reducing for ages. I’m making the again tonight and will def. be using less milk. Delicious!
Thanks Chris!
I’m looking to make this for about 8 people… and modifications i need to make to the ingredients to incorporate for that?
Hi Jeremy! Depending on the appetites of your guests, you could make this as is and serve with a large salad, or increase the recipe by 1.5x and use a 6-7 quart slow cooker.
When do I add the cheese
Hi Michael! You add the cheese to the sauce in step 10 and then add all of the cheese sauce to the slow cooker in step 11
Can this be converted to cook in acassrol fish in the oven. I would assume that you could do the chicken in the crock pot and then mix everything else and then bake. What do you think?
Hi there! I’m sure it could be changed to be an oven casserole recipe, however, the chicken in this was specifically developed with just the right amount of liquid in order to cook the pasta in the slow cooker. If you wanted to finish it off in the oven for a few minutes to get a nice topping, you could follow the recipe to the end, then transfer to a casserole dish and top with some cheese or breadcrumbs and bake for a few minutes. Hope that helps!
How well does this recipes reheat? I have a work potluck coming up, and would like to make it the night before. Any suggestions on how to reheat this in the crockpot?
Hi Meredith! I’d say it doesn’t reheat really well for something like this, maybe only in small individual portions. I’d suggest making it fresh.
Delicious!!!! Made it today. Very flavraful, cheesy, just enough bite and very filling.
Thanks Sheila!
What would I need to do if i wanted to make this for about 2 1/2 pounds or 5 pounds of chicken?
I think you’d have to make it as two recipes, in two separate slow cooker just because of the volume of food it would make.
Hi! I’m thinking of stuffing this in a calzone, would the noodles be ok in the oven if I baked everything? Also, I saw your comment above about doubling the Ben recipe. If I wanted to double it, AND have a later crockpot, can I make it all in the same pot?
Thanks!
Hi Jessica! That’s a great question, but I’ve never tried anything like it so I have no idea how it would work. If you make it, be sure to let me know!
Could this be put in the oven instead?
Are you meaning not using a slow cooker at all? Yes, but the recipe would have to be adjusted significantly because it was developed specifically for the slow cooker. You’d want to cook the components and then assemble and would certainly need less liquid.
Is there a way to convert this recipe into a stove top one? I have made this before in a slow cooker but as I am in college now I do not have one.
yes, it certainly can. I would just use leftover shredded chicken and then cook pasta as you normally would and drain. Make the cheese sauce and combine!
Would it make a difference if you don’t use an whisk? I only have spoons
It might be a little clumpy, Kelsey. Maybe a fork?
Just made this for a potluck tomorrow. God bless is it good. Needless to say I’m eating it right now instead of waiting till the potluck.
Love this!
Can you make this without chicken? Would you add the spices to the cheese sauce? And then just add it to cooked noodles?
Hi Jordan! To make it without the chicken I would skip the slow cooker and just cooker the noodles as you usually would on the stove. Make the cheese sauce per the recipe and just toss!
How well would this reheat after being frozen? I want to freeze this and reheat when camping.
I’m afraid to say it, but I think it would be pretty iffy. I’m worried it would be soggy and the cheese would separate.
We gave it a shot this weekend and it actually came out pretty good. We added a little water and more buffalo sauce to the pot as it was heating up and it was still a fan favorite. Thank you!
Was thinking about trying this for a company potluck. Problem is we do not have a stove top to use for the cheese sauce during the day. Have you ever made the cheese sauce up prior and keep it refrigerated until needing to add it in. Trying to figure out how to make the cheese sauce work in this situation.
Yes, I think you could make up the cheese sauce ahead of time and keep it refrigerated. Then microwave and add to slow cooker.