Pressure Cooker Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese is a surprisingly delicious ‘adult’ macaroni and cheese, which a slight kick and uses frozen chicken tenders or breasts.
Pressure Cooker Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
My husband and I love this dish! It seems to get better with each bite and tastes even better the next day. It’s a quick meal to make when you have nothing planned for dinner.
Pressure Cooker Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese is an ‘adult’ macaroni and cheese. It is surprisingly delicious. After a couple of bites, suddenly, you are hooked and will yearn for more and more. Seriously.
If you don’t want spicy, no worries, in the notes section, I tell you how to make it mild. The recipe is written for medium, so it’s not too spicy as written.
Cast of Ingredients for Pressure Cooker Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
I saw Wolfgang Puck and Deb Murray make this on TV about 12 years ago, and it sounded interesting, so I decided to use the recipe, but, I made some changes, to what I thought we would prefer. I couldn’t believe how delicious this tasted.
There are not many ingredients and you probably already have them all in your pantry and freezer. The beauty of this meal is that is uses frozen chicken! Although you can use fresh too! De Cecco Rigatoni is best for using in the Pressure Cooker and really, for everything.
It’s more forgiving and stays al dente. I have no idea why we had Barilla in the house. I think when I asked my husband to pick up Rigatoni, he didn’t feel like driving to Stater Bros. and went to the closest market.
I always have tons of Reditainer Extreme Freezer Containers filled with Chicken Bone Broth in my freezer and use it frozen. Don’t leave out the Hidden Valley Original Ranch DRY Seasoning , even if you despise ranch salad dressing like my husband and I both do as it really adds the key note to this dish.
Add the chicken, pasta, stock, vegetables, Buffalo Sauce and Ranch seasoning to the Pressure Cooker cooking pot.
Give it a mix and you are ready to cook.
After the pressure is released, remove the chicken from the Pressure Cooker cooking pot and cut into pieces.
Add in the cheese, one at a time. Cheddar, Jarlsburg (or Swiss), Feta (or Blue Cheese) and cream cheese is a delicious combination. Mix each cheese into the pasta and allow it to melt, before adding in the next cheese.
The noodles will continue to cook and will be the perfect al dente texture, by the time you are ready to eat.
Add the chicken back in.
The dish is nice and creamy, with a teeny kick. The Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese freezes well and is so simple to heat up in an Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker.
We like to store the leftovers in 24 ounce Reditainers Extreme Freezer Containers as they are BPA free, hold up well and are perfect for two servings leftovers. Plus, they are cheap enough to share leftovers with guests.
Pressure Cooker Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
Enjoy! Take about three bites before you decide if you like this or not, as it is a bit different and takes a moment to make sense. 🙂
For traditional delicious other Mac & Cheese recipes, check out my Pressure Cooker Macaroni and Cheese, Fully Loaded and my Pressure Cooker Butternut Squash Pasta recipes.
Equipment Used
- Instant Pot Smart DUO60
- J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Culina Stackable (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
- Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
- Alton Brown Salt Box
- OXO Good Grips Cutting Board
- Microplane Artisan Ribbon Grater
- Reditainer Extreme Freezer Containers
- Freezer Labels
- OXO Stainless Steel Tongs
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Here is your handy printable recipe:
- 1 pound frozen boneless and skinless chicken breasts or tenders
- 16 ounces Rigatoni, Penne, or other sturdy Pasta, uncooked
- 3.5 cups chicken bone broth or stock
- l onion, diced
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- 5 large carrots, peeled and sliced into one inch pieces
- ½ cup Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon Worsterschire Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning
- ½ cup whipped cream cheese
- 1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
- 1 cup Jarlesburg or Swiss cheese, shredded
- ½ cup Feta cheese or Gorgonzola cheese
- Place all ingredients, except the cheese into the Pressure Cooker cooking pot
- Lock on the lid and close the Pressure Valve.
- Cook at High Pressure for 5 minutes.
- When Beep sounds, allow a 6 minute natural release and then carefully do a Quick Pressure Release.
- Open the lid and add in the cream cheese, cheddar, Swiss and Feta, stirring until dissolved.
Fresh, thawed chicken works too! If using dark meat, cut the chicken into 2 inch chunks.
Don’t forget to PIN IT
Pressure Cooker Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
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I was here aGAin….
Tasty! I didnt have celery so I added spinach at the end, instead. I’m not sure whether the lack of celery changed the liquid content, because the pasta on the top was a little dry, and I had to stir it and let it sit in the hot pot for another 10 minutes to soften it. I will definitely make this again, but maybe add a little more liquid.
Hi Ann. The celery does add a bit of moisture, but not enough for dry pasta. Stirring it into the pot helps. Jill
That looks sooo good. Hoping to make it soon!
We are just learning to cook with pressure cooker and came upon your group, which is closed. Hoping to find recipes on Facebook to help us. dickjudywagner@gmail.com. Thank you
Hi Judy~
Happy to have you hear. There are a lot of recipes to try on my blog! Welcome to the Facebook group too. Jill
I made this tonight with thawed chicken tenders that I cut into pieces. I also used Aldi’s brand GF noodles, along with feta, mild cheddar and mozzarella. All I can say is Wow!! This is so yummy! My boys and husband all had seconds. Thank you! Will definitely make again.