Slow Cooker Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Pasta
This one won’t be for the calorie-conscious, but it WILL be one of the most decadent and delicious meals you ever make in your slow cooker! Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Pasta gets rave reviews time after time. A bowl (or two) of this cheesy, creamy pasta will satisfy all your carb cravings.
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What’s To Love About This Recipe
But really, what’s NOT to love about creamy, cheesy carbs and tangy buffalo sauce all-in-one? Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Pasta is one of my most-loved recipes. Let me tell you why!
- Every step of this recipe can be completed in the slow cooker – even cooking the pasta. If you haven’t tried cooking your noodles in slow cooker meals yet, you’re missing a one-pot cleanup opportunity!
- The flavor – have I mentioned the flavor yet? I am a huge fan of buffalo sauce and I try to incorporate it into lots of different types of dishes. This one tops the list!
- Buffalo sauce adds a little spice, but not so much that the whole family can’t enjoy it. The added cheese creates the perfect balance.
- I don’t indulge in pasta dishes too often, but this is one for which I definitely make an exception. It’s just that good! You’ll love making a recipe that’s a real winner around the dinner table.
Okay, before we get to the recipe, I do have to warn you. This recipe is designed for 6 servings, but between 3 people in my family, we devoured every single bit of it in one meal!
Ingredients Needed
- Boneless skinless chicken – I prefer to use chicken breasts, but boneless skinless thighs are also an option. The chicken will ultimately be shredded and mixed with additional buffalo sauce.
- Chicken broth – Broth adds flavor to the sauce and cooks the noodles. I recommend keeping a little extra broth on hand in case you need it for the pasta at the end. Use bone broth for extra nutrients if you like.
- Buffalo wing sauce – Split the buffalo sauce into two portions for different segments of the recipe. You can use your favorite buffalo wing sauce – whether sweet, mild, medium, or hot.
- Seasonings – Use a tablespoon of ranch dressing mix from a single packet, and add in some garlic powder, celery salt, salt, and pepper.
- Cream cheese – This is used to achieve the super creamy sauce! If you’d like to make this slightly lower-fat, you could also use Neufchatel cheese.
- Shredded sharp cheddar cheese – Sharp cheddar is the best flavor to complement the tangy wing sauce. If you have extra time, shred some yourself for the freshest quality.
- Cornstarch slurry – Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water to create a slurry that thickens the creamy sauce.
- Linguine noodles – I like the shape of linguine noodles and how they hold their texture well in the slow cooker. If you choose another type of pasta noodle, note differences in cooking time.
- Chopped cilantro – For an optional garnish, chop up some fresh cilantro to sprinkle across the top of each bowl!
How To Make Buffalo Chicken Pasta In The Slow Cooker
If you haven’t made pasta in your slow cooker before, you’re about to find out what a great shortcut this is! With pasta recipes, you will typically cook the meat and sauce ingredients first, then add the noodles to cook in the final steps. This is how it works with Buffalo Chicken Pasta!
- Place chicken, broth, 1/4 cup buffalo sauce, and seasonings in the slow cooker.
- Top with cream cheese and shredded cheese.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
- When the chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the slow cooker and shred it with two forks in a separate bowl.
- Add the remaining 1/4 cup of buffalo sauce to the chicken and toss to coat. Set the chicken aside.
- Whisk together cornstarch and water and add the mixture to the slow cooker.
- In the slow cooker, use a whisk to stir the melted cheese and softened cream cheese (added in step 2) until all ingredients are combined and smooth with no lumps.
- Break the noodles in half and place them in the slow cooker.
- Top the noodles with the shredded chicken and cover. (Keep an eye on the noodles the first time you make this since they can quickly overcook.)
- Turn the slow cooker on high for an additional 30-60 minutes until the noodles are fully cooked. Stir the noodles 3-4 times during cooking with tongs or a large fork.
- If the noodles are not done after 30-60 minutes, you can add extra broth or water, 1/4 cup at a time or as needed.
- Garnish servings of pasta with fresh cilantro, if desired, and serve immediately.
Recipe Substitutions and Variations
When you’re planning to make easy buffalo chicken pasta, you might want to try a few other ingredient swaps for convenience or taste.
- Chicken – Besides boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, you could also use precooked ground chicken, precooked and shredded chicken, or a rotisserie chicken. If you use precooked chicken, reduce the slow cooker time to only 1 hour on high or 2 hours on low, then add the pasta for the allotted time.
- Spice – If you need a more kid-friendly option, look for a mild buffalo wing sauce or use less than the designated amount.
- Pasta noodles – Try out any shape or size of pasta noodles that you like, but keep in mind that different shapes may have different cooking times. Stay close by your slow cooker to check on the pasta during the final cooking time. If you choose gluten-free noodles, reduce the broth by ½ cup.
- Veggies – If you want to add a little extra nutrition to your protein and carbs, go for it! Finely diced peppers and onions would be a great addition, or frozen corn or a frozen veggie blend would also be delicious.
What To Serve With Buffalo Chicken Pasta
Buffalo chicken pasta makes a hearty plate but would be delicious with some fresh veggies on the side. Mix up a green garden salad topped with Zesty Lime Jalapeno Ranch Dressing, or offer a side of sliced raw veggies and dip.
Top your pasta with fresh cilantro or sliced green onion. Add a sprinkle of blue cheese crumbles across your plate if you like!
Storing and Reheating
When we make this at home, we rarely have leftovers, but you might be lucky enough to have some for lunch the next day! Store your leftover pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
I recommend adding a splash of broth or water before reheating in the microwave or on the stove to help the sauce to be smooth.
I don’t recommend freezing this dish since the combination of pasta and dairy won’t defrost well.
Slow Cooker Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Pasta
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce 1/4 cup now, 1/4 cup later
- 1 tablespoon ranch dressing mix from a packet
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water
- 16 ounces linguine noodles
- Chopped cilantro for garnish optional
Instructions
- Place chicken, broth, 1/4 cup buffalo sauce, and seasonings in slow cooker.
- Top with cream cheese and shredded cheese.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
- When chicken is fully cooked, remove it from slow cooker and shred with two forks in separate bowl.
- Add remaining 1/4 cup of buffalo sauce to chicken and toss to coat. Set chicken aside.
- Whisk together cornstarch and water and add mixture to slow cooker.
- In slow cooker, use a whisk to stir melted cheese and softened cream cheese (added in step 2) until all ingredients are combined and smooth with no lumps.
- Break noodles in half and place in slow cooker.
- Top noodles with shredded chicken and cover.
- Turn slow cooker on high for an additional 30-60 minutes until noodles are fully cooked. Stir noodles 3-4 times during cooking with tongs or a large fork.
- If noodles are not done after 30-60 minutes, add extra broth or water, 1/4 cup at a time or as needed.
- Optional: Garnish pasta with fresh cilantro and serve immediately.
Notes
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, add a splash of broth or water to help the sauce to be smooth.
- When making pasta in the slow cooker, your best results will come if you use tongs or a large fork to stir occasionally.
- Reduce the spice level by using less buffalo sauce or a milder wing sauce.
I am using rotisserie chicken. Will this be fine to make on the stove? Would I need to adjust anything besides when I add the chicken?
I haven’t tested this to be sure, but you may need to adjust the liquid amounts.
Fantastic recipe. The first time I made I followed the recipe,except I cut the wing sauce in half for the gentler palates. It was great! But the linguini did stick. Today I used egg noodles….turned out beautifully! I also used leftover shredded chicken and cut my cook time in half.
Thanks so much for sharing! I love hearing how people are able to adapt a recipe and make it their own.
Does this recipe work with frozen chicken?
You will need to use thawed chicken for this recipe.
This sounds tasty and I think the majority of my household would like it. However several of us have to watch sodium count. Any idea what it would be for the average serving?
The sodium count per the nutrition calculator is 1319 per serving. You could adjust ingredients to see if that helps reduce it for you, such as the using a homemade or low sodium ranch, buffalo sauce, broth, etc.
Bomb. Perfect the whole family loved it!!
Thanks Karen!
I live in Buffalo and don’t know what Buffalo sauce is. Here we use Frank’s red hot sauce for wings etc. would this work? Also, we don’t use ranch for anything such as wings. We use blue cheese. Can I sub that?
If it’s the wing sauce, yes. Otherwise most grocery stores carry other brands labeled buffalo or wing sauce. The ranch called for in this recipe is a dry seasoning, so blue cheese would not be a good substitute.
I made this tonight and on a whim even though I didn’t have celery salt but I had everything else and it was DELICIOUS. When I started this dish I planned on boiling the penne separately so I reduced the chicken stock as was told to another reviewer (I did 1.5 cup of chicken stock) well guess what ….. changed my mind after removing the chicken and added about 1 cup more of chicken stock and threw in the penne and turnt the heat to high, it took roughly 40minutes to cook the penne and I did not need the water or cornstarch (it was thick) …
Yummy recipe thank you!
So glad you loved it!
What can you substitute for the Buffalo Sauce?
If you’re not wanting something with buffalo sauce, I’d suggest my Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Pasta or even my Slow Cooker Chicken Alfredo Pasta! I’ll bet you’d love one of those instead!
I absolutely love this recipe. The only issue that I have is the pasta. It clumps together when it cooks. If I cook the pasta separately, how much of the chicken broth would I need to remove from the crockpot portion of the recipe?
Hey Reyna! I’m so glad you love it! Pasta in the slow cooker can stick together sometimes. I haven’t tested cooking this one separately, but my best guess would be to use 1 to 1 1/2 cups of broth instead of 3.
Great and easy recipe! Used Franks Hot Buffalo Sauce and it was very hot – but we love buffalo so it wasn’t a problem for us. I used penne and let cook for 20 minutes at the end instead and it turned out great.
So glad you loved it!