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This one pan Buffalo Chicken Pasta is an easy pasta dinner where everything, including the pasta, cooks in one pot!
Cooking everything in one pot makes prep and clean up easy. This pasta dinner recipe comes together easily with a few ingredients you probably already have in your fridge and pantry. It tastes just like buffalo wings in pasta form.
If you love the taste of buffalo sauce, try these buffalo cauliflower bites!
Ingredient Notes
- Pasta – Penne pasta is preferred for this recipe, but you can use a similar type of noodle such as ziti or rigatoni.
- Chicken – Chopped chicken breast is preferred, but you could also use chopped boneless chicken thighs.
- Chicken Broth – You can use vegetable broth instead.
- Blue Cheese Dressing – You can use ranch dressing if desired.
- Blue Cheese – You can omit the blue cheese crumbles, if desired.
- Cream Cheese – This gives it the creamy texture.
- Buffalo Sauce – Choose your favorite buffalo wing sauce.
- Onion – A sweet or yellow onion works best.
Tips for Cooking the Pasta
- Use a 12″ skillet or sauté pan. A classic stainless steel sauté pan is our favorite reasonably priced pan.
- The chicken does not need to be cooked through completely. It just needs to be brown on all sides. It will finish cooking while the pasta is cooking.
- Do not omit the broth or liquid as that helps to cook the pasta.
- Be sure to cover the pan so that the pasta cooks completely. You can stir once while simmering, but immediately recover.
- You can use another type of similar noodle. Rigatoni, fusilli or ziti noodles work well too. If you use a completely different type of noodle, you may need to adjust the cook time.
TIME SAVING TIP: Save time and chop the chicken and yellow onion in advance.
One pasta pasta dinners our always on our dinner menu rotation. They are easy and delicious.
Other Easy One Pot Pasta Dinners
- Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Lemon Chicken Orzo
- Chicken and Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo
- Jalapeño Popper Chicken Pasta
Enjoy this buffalo chicken pasta for dinner any day of the week. This is also a great meal to bring new parents or someone who needs a little comfort food.
Try it and let us know what you think!
One Pan Buffalo Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 1/2 cups uncooked penne pasta
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup buffalo sauce
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1/2 cup blue cheese dressing
- diced green onions, for topping
- blue cheese crumbles, for topping
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper; set aside.
- In a 12" pan or skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and stir until soft, about 3 minutes. Add chicken to pan and cook until brown on both sides. Stir in garlic and cook an additional minute.
- Add uncooked pasta, chicken broth, and buffalo sauce to pan. Stir then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 22 minutes.
- Remove from heat, stir in cream cheese and blue cheese dressing. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- Top with green onions and blue cheese crumbles, if desired. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Pasta – Penne works best, but you can use rigatoni, ziti or fusilli instead.
- Broth – Chicken or vegetable broth works great.
- Cream cheese – Use full fat or light cream cheese.
- Blue cheese dressing – You can substitute for ranch dressing if you don’t like blue cheese.
- This recipe tastes great as leftovers. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This pasta has such great flavor!
I’m so glad to hear you loved this meal! Thanks for your feedback.
What a tasty dish! Buffalo sauce with the pasta is such a great idea. Nice easy one pot meal.
I know the cream cheese is probably a key to the creamyness . Is there anyway to not use it or to substitute for something else ?
Hi, Simone! The cream cheese does add to the creaminess but you could use a shredded cheese instead, such as cheddar or gouda or use a nondairy substitute like Kite Hill.
So easy and delicious. I used a dash more buffalo sauce, and next time I think I’ll try using 3/4 of the blue cheese dressing.
Can this be made with ranch dressing instead of bleu cheese? We’re not big on bleu cheese.
Hi, Cherissa! While I haven’t tried it myself I know a few people who tried ranch with this recipe and said it tastes just as good. Enjoy!
Ashley, we just made this dish for dinner and it was absolutely AMAZING! Thanks so much for the recipe and the inspiration! 🙂 I followed the recipe exactly and the result was a wonderful meal and a very happy hubby!
Hi, Christian! I am so glad to hear that you loved it. Thank you so much for your nice comment 🙂
The flavor in this is absolutely fantastic!!! Holy cow!!
Oh man, my husband would go nuts over this… and of course I would love it too! I’m getting the ingredients this weekend and we will be having this for dinner next week, Thank you!
So I’m usually not a buffalo flavor fan, but I have to admit, this looks irresistible! Can’t wait to try this one!
One pan, carby goodness and buffalo chicken? It doesn’t get much better than that! I want to face plant into this pot every single night! Pinning!