Buffalo Chicken & Potato Casserole

Do you ever have those days where you really don't want to dirty a ton of dishes in the kitchen? I love cooking and eating but I hate the cleanup after wards. Now it wouldn't be so bad if the Mr. and I had the "I cook, therefor you clean" method to break up the responsibility but we don't. See the Mr. is deathly allergic to doing the dishes just like I can go into cardiac arrest if I get anywhere near the laundry basket. And since the Mr. is the breakfast/burger king and I prefer more of a variety when it comes to my dinner, I am the one cooking and cleaning up the mess. So it is a no brainer that I get giddy when I come across recipes that don't use all of my pots/pans and bowls just to make one measly little meal.

I got the recipe from the Betty Crocker website and switched some things. The original recipe had frozen hash browns which I substituted by grating potatoes with my box grater and using them instead. Why go out of my way to buy frozen hash browns when I can grate my own? However, if you have frozen hash browns then by all means, use those! I also swapped the cream of celery for the cream of chicken simply because the Mr. does not like celery. This is a pretty forgiving recipe and you can add more or less chicken, cheese, potatoes, hot sauce or dressing. I, personally, would add more chicken since I didn't feel like there was enough. The end product is a creamy, crunchy, spicy chicken casserole that can be cooked and served in one dish.


Now if you are not a fan of buffalo wings dipped in ranch or blue cheese dressing (yes you can use blue cheese instead of ranch) then chances are that you are not going to like this one bit. You see I grew up on Franks hot sauce, as a baby, my mother would put Franks in my bottle and when I grew a little older I would put some on my chicken flavored baby food. Okay, Okay I jest. In all honesty I hated spicy foods as a kid. If my mom put Franks on something she would have to take out my portion before doing so because I was just that much of a pain in the rear as a child. Now that is no joke, just ask anyone in the family, I was a handful. However, something happened and slowly I built up a tolerance to spicy foods and now I pretty much put Franks on everything. If at any point in time I go in the cabinet and see that we are out of Franks, I sound the alarm and rush to the nearest store (in my case the only store out here) and stock up on Franks.

• 1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch strips
• 1/3 c. Franks hot sauce
• 5c. red potatoes, grated w/ box grater, or frozen hashbrowns, thawed
• 1 c. light ranch dressing/ blue cheese
• 1/2 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 (10 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 c. panko

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Grate potatoes and wrap into a cheesecloth and wring out as much liquid as possible.
3. In medium bowl, stir together chicken strips and buffalo sauce. Spoon into baking dish in a single layer.
4. In the same bowl, stir together potatoes, dressing, cheese and soup. Spread over chicken. Sprinkle panko evenly over the top.
5. Cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes; uncover and bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender and juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.

I've made this recipe with both the fresh potatoes and the hasbrowns. The fresh potatoes will have more crunch and potato-y flavor than the hashbrowns.

 *Update*
Meghan S. has a great idea since so many people are having problems with the potatoes. She says to "boil the whole potatoes (in their skins), refrigerate them overnight or till cool, and then peel (a butter knife works--so easy) and grate them."
-Thanks Meghan! 

Printable Recipe

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Delicious Dishes
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