Ingredients
Scale
- 3–4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (season with a little pepper and salt before cooking)
- 1 1/2 lbs cooked pasta (I used pasta shells)
- 12 strips of bacon, cut in pieces
- 2/3 cup of buffalo sauce
- 1 large clove of garlic, minced
- 2 cups milk
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 cup crushed crackers (can be any kind you like – cheese crackers would be great but you can also use plain soda crackers or vegetable crackers)
Instructions
- Assemble your ingredients. Make sure that your chicken breasts have been cooked and cubed (season with salt and pepper and cook in the oven at 425°F for 35-40 minutes)
- Begin cooking your pasta according to the package instructions while you work on the rest of the recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cook the bacon pieces in a large fry pan until crisp and set aside on paper towel to drain. Drain most of the fat from the pan but leave a small amount in the pan. Toss the chicken in the fry pan on low heat for about 2 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside with the bacon.
- In a medium pot melt the butter. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute. (Don’t let the garlic get brown though or it will be bitter.)
- Add the flour and whisk until combined.
- Pour in the buffalo sauce and combine.
- Pour the milk into the pot and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil lower the heat to Minimum and add the cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and combined and sauce has thickened. Set aside.
- Once the pasta has been cooked and drained, pour them into a12″-15″ glass casserole dish (or other large casserole dish).
- Combine the sauce, pasta, chicken and bacon in the casserole dish making sure everything is evenly distributed.
- Sprinkle the cracker crumbs over top of the casserole and then sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Place into the oven uncovered for about 15 minutes until the casserole is heated through and the cheese is melted on top.
