It’s official BBQ season and I am thrilled! Summer is my favorite time of the year! The snow is gone and the lakes are ready to be swam in. I also get excited for the food! Hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, and of course…pasta salad!
If you follow my blog at all, you know that I have quite the soft spot for pasta and in the summer that means all different types of pasta salads! If you want to check out my other recipes click here for each: Bruschetta Pasta Salad, BLT Ranch Pasta Salad, Italian Pasta Salad, and Greek Pasta Salad. All are perfect for a summer BBQ.
Out of all the pasta salads that I have tried, I think this one is the easiest. It has the least amount of ingredients and takes the least amount of prep.
All you need is the following:
- Noodles (any shape)
- Chicken Breast
- Celery
- Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
- Ranch Dressing
- Cheddar Cheese
- Green Onions (optional)
Start with boiling your pasta. If cooking right before serving, you will want to get this cooked and put in the refrigerator and cooling as soon as you can. Make sure you add a little olive oil to the noodles so they do not stick together while cooling.
In another pot, start boiling water for your chicken to be put into. If you are following the portion sizes of this recipe, you will need to have a large pot. DO NOT FILL ALL THE WAY! You will need to add two pounds of chicken and you do not want it to overflow.
Plan on this chicken boiling for 30 minutes, depending how thick the breasts are. When you think they are cooked, take them out and cut them to check for pink in the center. If you have a meat thermometer, the middle of the breast should measure to at least 165 degrees F.
If the meat isn’t fully cooked, just add it back into the water to continue cooking.
When it is complete, shred with forks or these handy meat claws. I am not going to lie, this is one of the least favorite things to do when it comes to cooking. My hands and wrists start to hurt and it takes longer than I think it should. However, I love shredded chicken, so we do it for the recipe!!
While both the noodles and the chicken are cooking, this is a good time to cut up the celery and the green onions. For the celery, I suggest cutting up 1 or 2 stalks and then waiting for the other ingredients to be done to judge how much you want in your pasta salad. I suggest using 4 stalks, as I like the crunch it adds to the recipe, but some might want more or less!
Now that everything is cooked and chopped up, add all of the ingredients except the green onions to a large bowl and mix. This includes the noodles, chicken, shredded cheese, hot sauce, celery and ranch.
After mixing, evaluate if you prefer more sauce (I am a sauce fanatic), more celery, or cheese. Once complete, top with green onions for garnish and either serve immediately or if your noodles and chicken need more cooling, place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
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Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 12 oz Bow Tie Pasta
- 2 lb Boneless Chicken Breast
- 1 cup Frank's Red Hot
- 1/2 cup Ranch
- 4 stalks Celery
- 4 oz Mild Cheddar
- Green Onions to Garnish
Instructions
- In one pot boil water and cook pasta according to instructions on the box
- In another pot, fill mostly with water and wait for it to boil
- Add raw chicken- this will need about 30 minutes to cook
- In the meantime, dice celery and green onions
- Once chicken is fully cooked, remove from boiling water and shred using forks
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain, and add noodles to serving bowl
- Add the shredded chicken to the serving bowl
- Add the diced celery to the serving bowl
- Add Frank's Red Hot and Ranch and mix
- Add cheese
- Add green onions for garnish and serve
2 Comments
zoritoler imol · September 22, 2022 at 7:39 am
Just what I was searching for, thanks for posting.
zoritoler imol · October 28, 2022 at 8:35 am
Saved as a favorite, I really like your blog!