Slow Cooker Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Pasta
The most decadent, amazing and delicious meal to ever come out of your slow cooker! This Slow Cooker Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Pasta continues to get rave reviews! See why for yourself!
Ohhhh, I’m going to be such a bad influence right now. I mean, if you are trying to eat super healthy or stick to light salads for dinner you might want to look away. Except don’t! Because we all need a little indulgence now and then, right? And this one is totally (and I mean TOTALLY) worth the splurge. Delicious, rich, cheesy, creamy and just the right amount of spicy…. Slow Cooker Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Pasta. Yes. In the slow cooker. Like every step of this recipe completed in the slow cooker. Have I convinced you yet?
I don’t indulge in pasta any too often. And when I do I usually eat a small helping and have lots of veggies or a side salad. Not here. No. I stuffed myself full of this yummy, gooey, cheesy pasta. And then started getting super pumped about the idea of sharing it with all of you!
Can you cook pasta in a slow cooker?
- Yes! Make sure to use regular (not gluten free, etc.) pasta
- Keep an eye on it the first time you make it, it can quickly overcook
- If it’s not cooked enough, just add a little more liquid and let it cook a few minutes longer
I’m a huge fan of anything buffalo chicken. I’ve mentioned once or twice (or a bazillion times) that it’s only been in the last year or two that I discovered the wonderful spicy flavor and now I can’t seem to stop myself. I hope you don’t mind. I think I could eat it every day. I’ve found a couple of favorite sauces and still have lots of ideas for using them for dinners.
Tips for making this buffalo chicken pasta for your family:
- This recipe will make a bit ‘ole pot of pasta. Like enough to serve at least six people. Unless you invite me to dinner. In which case I’ll race you for seconds. I’m not feeding six people at my house and in fact I only fed three with this meal.
- My three year old is not a fan of buffalo sauce. Yet. She ate microwaved mac and cheese and I only felt a little guilty. I know what I’m having for lunch!
- If you want to heat some of this up for leftover just add a little splash of water or broth and it will be like the first time you ate it all over again.
Another tip on making pasta in the slow cooker:
Just a little note on how this will all go down. You will cook everything but the pasta. Then in the last 30-60 minutes you will add the noodles.
Try to be around at this point so you can walk by and give it a stir every now and then. Your noodles will cook evenly and you will be glad you gave your arm a little workout.
Every time I’ve made pasta this way in the crockpot my noodles were perfectly done in exactly 45 minutes.
I also feel it’s important to tell you that if you love things buffalo chicken you really need to try my slow cooker buffalo chicken chili!! Okay, now on the the recipe!
Slow Cooker Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Pasta
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 ( packet kind)
- 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
- 1 tablespoon corn starch + 1 tablespoon water
- 16 ounces linguine noodles
- Chopped cilantro for garnish optional
Instructions
- Place chicken, broth, 1/4 cup buffalo sauce, and seasonings in crock
- Top with cream cheese and shredded cheese
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8
- When chicken is fully cooked remove to separate bowl and shred with two forks
- Add remaining 1/4 cup buffalo sauce to chicken and toss to coat
- Set aside chicken
- Whisk together corn starch and water and add to crock
- Use a whisk and stir until cheese and cream cheese (which were added in step 2 and should now be soft and melted) are all combined and smooth
- Break noodles in half and place in crock
- Top with chicken and cover
- Turn crock on high for 30-60 minutes until noodles are fully cooked, stir 3-4 times during cooking
- If noodles are not done you can add extra broth or water 1/4 cup at a time
- Garnish with cilantro if desired and serve immediately
Notes
Nutrition
Is it 1 cup shredded cheese (4oz.) or 8oz. which is 2cups shredded cheese? Thanks Rich
Hi Richard! 1 cup (4oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
Made this tonight on the stovetop, as I got home from work after 5pm and the crockpot was not an option. Cubed the chicken, cooked with 1/4 cup of Frank’s and 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock, and all the spices above. Then added 4 tlbsp of vegan cream cheese and 4 tblsp of vegan cheddar cheese. (we don’t eat much real dairy) Cooked the penne pasta (gluten free) separately, and then added to the pot with the chicken mixture. Didn’t need to use cornstarch. Delicious! Thank you for the recipe idea.
I’m about to put this in my slowcooker, looks delicious. I am in the Netherlands and we don’t have the ranch dressing here. Any suggestions for a sustitute?
Hi Isabel, I have a fantastic substitution for a ranch packet. You can check out Jennifer’s homemade ranch seasoning here! Hope you enjoy the pasta!
http://slowcookergourmet.net/homemade-seasoning-blends/
Hi Jennifer,
Thank you for the ranch dressing recipe. I will try this one next time I make this dish. I already found a similar recipe on Google. We just finished the pasta. Wow! Everybody loved it so much! I added Some chopper parsley before derving. Will difinately make this again. Absolutely delicious!
Great! So glad it turned out well for you!
I am totally addicted to this dish! I made it exactly however I cooled the pasta in boiling water and added it to chicken mixture. I also added extra sauce to the shredded chicken it was not enough to coat the 2 chicken breasts.
Glad you love it Kristina!!
This is in my crock pot as I type! I’ve made it several times and it’s a new family favorite! I can understand having some trouble with it, but you just have to tweak a bit when you run into trouble, and you’ll end up with a delicious meal!! Thanks so much for this, it’s my ‘go-to’ for an easy Sunday night dinner!
I have made this several times in the crock pot for the fam and we love it. But I got a new Instant Pot for Christmas and would love to try it out and cut down the cook time. Has anyone ever made this in an Instant Pot/Pressure cooker? If so, can you provide instructions and the settings?
I followed this recipe exactly, step by step and it came out terrible. It was SO thick and everything clumped together, even though I kept stirring the pasta and checking on it. Definitely will not be making this recipe or any others on this site again.
So sorry it didn’t work out for you, Jessica. As you can see, the recipe has been tested many times by lots of users and I’ve tested many different versions myself with lots of great results. It can sometimes take just a bit of practice to get pasta just right in the slow cooker, but once you get it figured out for your particular slow cooker and ingredients you use, it can be such a great way to have a delicious dinner! I hope you won’t give up so soon, and would be glad to help you trouble shoot. I can assure you all my recipes are tested extensively as I hate for anyone to be disappointed in their dinner. Give me a holler if I can help 🙂
I know this is an old post, but I really appreciate that you actually care about the recipes you post. Some bloggers just post recipes and it seems they have not even tried them. I just found your site today and I cannot wait to try out this recipe.
Awesome! Be sure to let me know how it turns out when you make it!
Hi Jennifer,
I love the “CHEESY BUFFALO CHICKEN PASTA” … so tasty!! Thanks for publishing. Now I’ ll try all the other recipes, too. 🙂
Regards Chris
Glad you loved it, let me know what else you try!
For the people having pasta issues – don’t just throw the pasta in and walk away. Stir the pasta for 3-4 minutes with a fork to de-clump it. Then proceed as the recipe calls for. I think it tends to clump because it is not being agitated by boiling water. I added some extra liquid and was all set. Turned out yummy!
Thanks for sharing your tip! We are so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Hi there,
Very tasty! Do you think I could freeze this in individual portions? Just one of me in the house, and I don’t want to waste it…
Thanks!
Hi there! I haven’t tried it with this recipe, but pasta doesn’t always freeze well. I have occasionally had luck though so it may be worth a try!
We just ate this for dinner & we all (including some sometimes picky teens) ate it up . My son suggested trying other shapes of pasta and more chicken. I just used about a pound. I served it with peas.
I loved it but would stir sooner as my noodles clumped a bit and maybe add just a bit more moisture.
Thanks for a delicious new slow cooker recipe. We’ll definitely have this again.
Thanks Traci, I’m glad everyone loved it! There are some new noodles that I’ve tried that work great in the slow cooker by Barilla called Pronto! They cook a little faster and don’t clump up as much so you could give those a try next time too!