15-minute Buffalo Chicken Pasta

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Got 15 minutes to make dinner? Then make this easy Buffalo Chicken Pasta! It's the perfect weeknight treat with all your favorite buffalo flavors - mixed with pasta, for a delicious meal that's just as good heated the next day.

There are some recipes I'm more proud of than others, for various reasons. This is definitely one of them.

It combines two of the world's best things - buffalo sauce and pasta - to make a weeknight dish that's easy to make in just 15 minutes, and so full of flavor you'll be coming back for seconds, and thirds... Seriously, no dish has ever finished faster in my house than this one!

Why you will love this recipe

• It's easy to make without any difficult or unnecessary steps
• It's quick - when the pasta is done, so is the sauce
• All your favorite buffalo flavors - hot sauce, butter, blue cheese...
• Spicy, but not crazy spicy - so you can actually finish a bowl (or two)
• Green spring onion lightens it up - and adds a nice, fresh crunch
• Heats up really well if you somehow manage to have leftovers

What you need to make it

Ingredient notes & substitutions

• Chicken thigh filets have more flavor than chicken breast filets, but both work
• Crumbled blue cheese - I use the cheapest kind I can find
• Cream - I use full fat, but low fat, half n half or milk works as well
• Green spring onion can be excluded or switched for a smaller amount of chives
• Hot sauce - I always use Cholula hot sauce*, but any similar kind will work.
• Salted butter can be switched for unsalted, with an added pinch of salt

How to make it

Start by getting the pasta cooking, and it will be done just in time to dump into the sauce.

1. Melt half of the butter in a pan over medium-high heat
2. When the butter is melted and slightly browned, add in the chicken and season with garlic powder and onion powder. Mix well.
3. Fry for 2-3 minutes, until cooked on all sides and all the way through
4. Lower the heat to medium and add in hot sauce and the rest of the butter, then mix well while the butter is melting

5. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes
6. Pour in cream, mix well, and simmer for 1 minute
7. Mix in crumbled blue cheese
8. Mix in chopped green spring onion

9. Mix well
10. Drain the pasta, but make sure to reserve some of the pasta water. Then add the pasta to the sauce.
11. Pour over pasta water
12. Mix well, simmer for 1 minute, and serve!

Tips & tricks

• Cut the chicken really small to maximize flavor and minimize cooking time
• Season the chicken in the pan to save time & effort
• Add the second half of the butter after the hot sauce to avoid it browning
• Cook the pasta until it is almost done - it will finish cooking in the sauce
• Use kitchen forceps or a pasta ladle to pick up the pasta, instead of draining the water
• Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days
• Store in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months

Recipe FAQ

More 15-minute dinners

• Spicy Sausage Pasta
• Creme Fraiche Carbonara with Bacon
• Tortellini Carbonara
• Vegetable Pad Thai (almost Vegetarian!)
• One-pan Pork Chops and Mushrooms with Red Wine and Thyme
• Smoked Salmon Pasta with Spinach & Lemon

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...and let me know what you loved about it in the comments.