Cajun Chicken Alfredo Mac and Cheese
First of all, this recipe is amazing, and it’s easily adjustable to feed a whole crowd or just a few. If just needing a few of you, reduce everything in half. I have baked it in individual crocks (like what they serve french onion soup in) for just 2 people and frozen the rest.
Second of all, it’s my favorite thing to take to people when they need to be fed. You know who those people are. Someone’s in the hospital, someone just got out of the hospital, someone had a baby, someone passed away….
Third of all, it can be made ahead of time, so it’s great when you know people are coming over for dinner but you don’t have time beforehand to cook.
Fourth of all, it freezes well. Ok, I’m making up the introductory clauses at this point, so I’ll just get to the recipe.
Grill, smoke, bake, fry your chicken however you like it. I personally like to grill it to give it a bit of the flavor. Now, I’m no good with a grill outside, but I am amazing with a grill on my stove. If you don’t have a cast iron griddle for the stove you don’t know what you’re missing. My favorite, and the one seen in the pictures, can be found at https://amzn.to/2IhKIEb. It’s reversible, so you can have a flat surface for pancakes and a grill side for meats and veggies. It fits perfectly over any 2 burners. It’s extremely amazing when you don’t want to shovel 2 feet of snow off your grill in the winter or when your husband forgets to get propane for 2 months in a row. 🙂 It’s always way more easy and convenient for clean up.
So, onward. cook your chicken. I cook it whole first then let it cool and cut it up. This time I bought the thin sliced breasts that were already trimmed because I knew I didn’t have extra time to trim the chicken. I sprinkle one side with a generous amount of cajun seasoning, but feel free to use whatever your favorite chicken seasoning is. That’s the beautiful of this recipe is that it’s so forgiving to meet your needs. Check out the picture below. See the grill marks? Amazing!
While that’s cooking, cut up the broccoli and boil the noodles. See pic below for broccoli. Basic bight size pieces will suffice. I didn’t take a picture of boiling noodles because I figured we were all proficient in that.
Because my noodles are gluten free they cook a lot faster. See picture below for my favorite gf noodles. You can get them at Costco, and trust me, I’ve been through a lot of brands. These are our go tos. I drain them and rinse with cold water then just leave in the sink. Turn on your oven to 400. At this point you can make the sauce portion. Start with melting the butter. Now, all recipes seem to measure butter in cups, which, to me, is silly because they’re typically marked in tablespoons. For those who hated conversions in 4th and 5th grade, that’s 4 tablespoons. You’re welcome. Once it’s melted, stir in the flour and garlic and whisk until smooth and bubbly. Now, at first it seems the farthest from smooth. At this point, I just get it bubbly and mix in the milk. It smooths out from there. So dump in the milk and whisk, stirring randomly, until it thickens to look like a sauce.
Once thick, add in 1 cup of the pepper jack cheese. Tip: I buy the 2 cup bag so I don’t have to measure anything. Lazy or genius? Also add in the 1 cup parmesan cheese. Stir until it’s stringy and blended.
Dump in the noodles and mix. Because of my lack of spacial awareness, I had to pour the mixture into a bigger bowl to mix. So, however you do it…..add in the broccoli and chicken. I diced my chicken first, but you can do it however you like it. Stir it up and add it to the greased casserole dish. Cover with the remaining 1 cup of cheese. I also had a 1/2 cup extra parmesan, so I put that in as well.
From here, cover and freeze or put in the refrigerator if you’re not ready to eat it yet. When ready, thaw fully and bake for 20-25 minutes. If you’re eating it immediately, bake for 15 minutes. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the silence while everyone’s mouths are chewing!
Cajun Chicken Alfredo Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken
- 1 head broccoli
- 1 lb macaroni noodles I used gluten free and it worked fine
- 4 Tbs butter
- 1/3 c flour I also used gluten free one to one baking flour
- 1 Tbs garlic heaping tablespoon
- 2 1/2 c milk
- 2 c pepper jack cheese
- 1 1/2 c parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Grill your chicken however you would like. I used a grill cooktop on my stove with a cast iron griddle.
- While that's grilling, cut up your broccoli into bite size pieces.
- Boil the noodles, drain/rinse, and let sit in the sink until you're ready for them. At this time, turn on your oven to 400.
- In a large pan, melt the butter. Once melted, add in the flour and garlic and whisk until bubbly. Add in the milk and whisk until it's a smooth sauce.
- Once the sauce thickens, add in 1 cup of the pepper jack cheese and 1 cup of the parmesan cheese. Stir until it's all melted. It should be a little stringy. Cut up your chicken into bite sized pieces.
- If your pot is big enough, dump in the cooked noodles and raw broccoli. If it isn't big enough, pour sauce into a bowl then dump the remaining ingredients. Mix together until all sauce is distributed.
- Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan or put into individual serving dishes to be baked. Top with the remaining cup of pepperjack and and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.
- At this point, cook for 15 minutes or cover and freeze. If freezing, be sure to thaw completely before cooking, and you will probably need to add 5-10 minutes of cook time.
Notes
