The cheese sauce is deliberately pale. Cheddar, milk and a flour roux, seasoned and nothing more — because the colour and the sweetness in this dish come entirely from what is drizzled on at the end.
That drizzle is a third of a cup of barbecue sauce stirred with two tablespoons of honey, and it goes on the chicken rather than through the pasta, which is what keeps the two elements distinct in the bowl.
Why This Recipe Works
- A rack lets hot air reach the underside of the breading, so it crisps instead of steaming against a tray.
- The standard flour, egg, panko sequence is what makes a coating that survives being sliced and set on sauce.
- A three-tablespoon roux thickens three cups of milk into a sauce that coats rather than floods.
- Drizzling the honey-BBQ on top rather than stirring it in keeps the cheese sauce pale and the sauce dark.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken tenders
- A pound and a half, breaded and baked on a rack to 165 degrees Fahrenheit, then sliced.
- Panko breadcrumbs
- A cup and a half, seasoned with half the salt and pepper. Panko rather than fine crumbs, which is what stays crisp.
- Barbecue sauce and honey
- A third of a cup and two tablespoons, stirred together and drizzled over the chicken at the very end.
How to Make It
Bread and bake the chicken
Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat chicken in flour, egg, then panko seasoned with half the salt and pepper. Bake on a rack 18 to 22 minutes, until crisp and 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cook the macaroni
Cook macaroni until al dente.
Make the cheese sauce
Melt butter, whisk in 3 tbsp flour for 1 minute, then whisk in milk. Simmer until thickened and melt in cheddar; season with remaining salt.
Combine
Toss macaroni in the pale cheese sauce.
Top and drizzle
Slice crispy chicken over the macaroni. Stir BBQ sauce with honey, drizzle over chicken, and finish with parsley.
The Oven and the Hob
Two things are made at once and they must stay recognisably separate in the bowl. Crisp cannot be built on a hob and a cheese sauce cannot be built in an oven.
In the oven, at 425F
- Breading
1 1/2 lb of chicken tenders through 1/2 cup flour, 2 beaten eggs, then 1 1/2 cups of panko seasoned with half the salt and pepper.
- 18 to 22 minutes, on a rack
Baked until crisp and reading 165F. The rack is the point: on a flat tray the underside steams in its own moisture and the coating softens.
On the hob
- Al dente
12 oz of elbow macaroni, cooked and drained.
- 1 minute, then simmer
3 tbsp butter with 3 tbsp flour whisked for a minute, then 3 cups of whole milk whisked in and simmered until thickened.
- Off the simmer
2 1/2 cups of cheddar melted in and seasoned. Deliberately pale - it is the background, not the feature.
Sliced on top, drizzled last
The crisp chicken is sliced over the sauced macaroni rather than stirred through it, then 1/3 cup of barbecue sauce stirred with 2 tbsp of honey is drizzled over the chicken. Parsley last. Stirring either element into the other would cost the dish both its crunch and its two-tone look.
Success Tips
- Use a rack. Breading baked directly on a tray goes soft underneath.
- Slice the chicken just before it goes on, so the coating spends as little time on sauce as possible.
- Drizzle rather than pour — the cheese sauce is meant to stay pale under the dark stripes.
Serving Ideas
Six servings in bowls, the pale cheese macaroni topped with sliced crispy chicken, a dark honey-BBQ drizzle and parsley.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this in a slow cooker?
No. The chicken is breaded and crisp, and a covered cooker cannot produce that coating.
Can I stir the BBQ sauce into the mac?
No. The cheese sauce stays pale and the barbecue goes on top, which is how the finished bowl reads.
Do I need a rack?
It is what keeps the underside of the breading crisp while it bakes.
