How One Canned Soup Turns Mac And Cheese Into A Buffalo Chicken Delight

Macaroni and cheese has a nostalgic way about it. We connect it with childhood, but as we get older, the flavor and prep process get even more creative. While those popular store-bought boxed mac varieties might have worked as a kid (and, let's be honest, they hold a place in adulthood, too), many of us start craving a more complex dish as we get older. If you want to build a show-stopping, bold-flavored mac and cheese dish while keeping the classic meal's low-effort appeal, try adding Buffalo-style chicken soup to your cheese sauce.

There might be a Buffalo chicken soup brand you already swear by, but if not, then it's hard to go wrong with a can of Campbell's Spicy Buffalo-Style Cream of Chicken. You can add some into an already-delicious mac and cheese recipe, or start from scratch and use the soup as the sauce's base. Just whisk in cheese until fully melted and some cream or milk to thin the sauce enough to reach your desired consistency. If you prefer to control the thickness better or want a more broth-forward sauce blend, you can also use a packaged soup ingredients mix such as Frontier Soups, then add in your own amount of Buffalo sauce to decide its spice level.

If you're sticking with the canned soup, then the Buffalo flavor is figured out. But there are other components to boosting this mac and cheese, like which types of cheese and chicken you add to the dish. Keep the cheese sauce mild — try flavors such as Monterey Jack or a mild cheddar — then add a burst of tangy flavor by garnishing each serving with crumbled blue cheese. Opting to use blue cheese as a garnish rather than a central ingredient also means that anyone dining on the dish who doesn't love the flavor of blue cheese can skip it more easily. Balance that spice and tang with a bright add-on such as diced green onions, which can either be folded into the mac and cheese or used as a garnish alongside the blue cheese for a pop of color.

If you want to omit blue cheese, you can go a little more impactful on the cheese selection, opting for a sharp cheddar, or sticking with Monterey Jack but adding in some fresh Parmesan or provolone. For a creamy macaroni and cheese, use canned chicken. Don't knock it until you try it; canned chicken's texture is much smoother than cubing or pulling the chicken yourself, so it blends into that silky cheese sauce so much better (as the past winner of a macaroni and cheese competition, trust me!). Tyson canned chicken received the highest ranking in our roundup, so it's a good one to pick up. If you can't bear the thought of chicken from a can, shred or pull it; it will fold in better than thick chunks.