This is a mac and cheese with buffalo in it, not a buffalo dish with pasta added. The hot sauce goes in at the start with the broth, where the long cook rounds it off, and the dairy that follows takes the edge off what is left.
The pasta never cooks in the cooker for long. It goes in just shy of al dente and gets fifteen to twenty minutes on Low, only long enough for the cheddar to melt around it.
Why This Recipe Works
- Cooking the chicken in broth and hot sauce seasons it from the inside rather than coating it at the end.
- Cream cheese stirred into the hot shredded chicken emulsifies before the cheddar arrives, which is what stops the sauce breaking.
- Undercooking the macaroni leaves it room to absorb sauce during the final short cook instead of turning soft.
- Sharp cheddar carries the flavour so the hot sauce does not have to be increased.
Ingredient Notes
- Buffalo-style hot sauce
- A quarter cup and no more. Increasing it turns the sauce red and takes the dish somewhere else.
- Elbow macaroni
- Twelve ounces, cooked just shy of al dente. The shape is specified, and it finishes cooking in the cooker.
- Cream cheese
- Eight ounces, cubed so it melts evenly into the shredded chicken before the cheddar goes in.
How to Make It
Cook the chicken to 165F
Place the chicken in the slow cooker with the broth, hot sauce, garlic powder and onion powder. Cover and cook on Low for about 3 1/2 hours, until the chicken reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Shred, then cream cheese
Shred the chicken in the cooker and stir in the cubed cream cheese until smooth.
Fold in pasta and cheddar
Fold in the cooked elbow macaroni, milk and cheddar. Cover and cook on Low for 15 to 20 minutes, just until the cheese melts and the pasta is coated.
Finish
Finish with smoked paprika and parsley.
How the Sauce Comes Together
The sauce is built in three passes, each one adding body and each one pulling the colour further away from red.
The cooking liquid
The chicken reads 165F on a thermometer.3/4 cup chicken broth, 1/4 cup buffalo hot sauce, garlic powder, onion powder
Seasons the chicken from within across the roughly 3 1/2-hour cook and gives the sauce its heat base.
The emulsion
No streaks of cream cheese remain; the mixture is uniformly smooth.8 oz cubed cream cheese, stirred into the shredded chicken
Turns the thin cooking liquid into a coating sauce and takes the sharpness off the hot sauce.
The cheese pass
15 to 20 minutes on LOW - only until the cheese melts.1/2 cup whole milk and 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar, with the macaroni
Brings the flavour and the final creamy orange-yellow colour, and thins it just enough to coat every elbow.
Then tasteSmoked paprika and chopped parsley over the top. The paprika adds warm colour without adding heat.
Success Tips
- Thaw the chicken fully before it goes in. Frozen chicken in a slow cooker spends too long below a safe temperature.
- Cube the cream cheese rather than dropping the block in — it melts smooth in a fraction of the time.
- Pull the pasta early. It has another 15 to 20 minutes of cooking ahead of it.
Serving Ideas
Six servings, dusted with smoked paprika and chopped parsley. No blue cheese, celery or breadcrumb topping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I add more hot sauce?
Keep it moderate. The sauce should be creamy orange-yellow, and more hot sauce pushes it red.
Where is the blue cheese and celery?
Deliberately absent. They are common buffalo markers but they are not part of this recipe.
How do I know the chicken is done?
165 degrees Fahrenheit on an instant-read thermometer, at about 3 1/2 hours on Low.
