Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

Yes, you read the title of this recipe correctly.

Today, we’re combining two of our favorite foods, buffalo chicken wings and cheesy lasagna, to make the ultimate crowd-pleasing casserole.

This buffalo chicken lasagna has just the right amount of spice to balance the creaminess of the blue cheese sauce. In flavor, it perfectly mimics eating hot wings with a side of blue cheese dressing, but with the added toothsomeness of pasta.

As impressive as this dish sounds and tastes, it’s actually quite simple to prepare.

For the chicken, I picked up one of those rotisserie chickens from the grocery store. Shredding the breasts and the thighs, you should get about four cups of chicken. You can also use any leftover chicken you happen to have, or roast your own if you want to go the extra mile.

This recipe also calls for oven-ready lasagna noodles to cut down on prep time. This means there’s no need to boil the pasta beforehand.

All that’s left to worry about is making the blue cheese sauce and assembling the lasagna.

This recipe has all of the things you love about buffalo chicken, but in pasta form. It would be great for a Game Day buffet table, or just add a side of roasted vegetables to turn this into a complete meal.

And if you decide to keep this goodness for yourself, you can wrap individual portions in plastic wrap and toss them in the freezer. Take one out whenever you have a craving.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 quart whole milk
• 8 ounces blue cheese crumbles
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Ground black pepper
• 4 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 1 cup hot sauce
• 8-ounce package oven-ready lasagna noodles
• 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

Special equipment:

• 9x13-inch (3 quart) baking dish

1 Preheat the oven to 400˚F.

2 Make the bleu cheese sauce: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat; add the flour and cook, stirring occasionally, until bubbly and slightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes.

Slowly whisk the milk into the butter-flour mixture. At first, the mixture will seize up and look crumbly, but will smooth out as you keep adding milk and whisking.

Once all the milk is added, bring to a simmer. Whisk frequently, scraping along the bottom of the pan, so as not to burn.

Cook until the mixture has thickened slightly and seems creamy, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the blue cheese, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir until the cheese has melted. Taste and add additional salt and pepper as needed.

3 In a separate bowl, toss the chicken with the hot sauce until evenly coated.

4 Assemble the lasagna: Spread a few spoonfuls of cheese sauce over the bottom of a 9x13-inch (3-quart) baking dish. Arrange a single layer of pasta sheets on top of the sauce. Layer with a third of the shredded chicken mixture, about 1 cup of the blue cheese sauce, and then about 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.

Repeat this process 2 more times. Finish with a final layer of noodles, the remaining blue cheese sauce, and the remaining mozzarella.

5 Bake the lasagna: Cover the dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until bubbling and lightly browned around the edges, about 10 minutes more.

Cool about 15 minutes before serving.