One thing you probably don’t know about me is my EXTREME obsession with everything buffalo. Seriously, if something is vegan and contains the word buffalo, I will order it over anything else on the menu. Now, combine that with mac n’ cheese and I’m basically in heaven!

Every once in a while we will make the 5 hours drive to Dallas just to eat at our favorites vegan places. 2 of these places have something buffalo on the menu and I ALWAYS order it because I can’t help myself yall! Spiral Diner has hands down the BEST buffalo nachos in the history of the world. Yall, I can’t even begin to describe how truly amazing they are.  Picture it: a bed of chips, nacho cheese, then they add BUFFALO CHICK’N, and top it all off with ranch AND blue cheese dressing, PLUS IT”S ALL VEGAN! Oh my goshhhhhhh yeeesssss! Sorry, very unprofessional but I don’t care, they are that good. The second place is V-Eats which has an AWESOME buffalo mac n’ cheese and is the inspiration for making one of my own at home. They make theirs with cauliflower which is unique and delicious, but I wanted to use some of our favorite chick’n substitutes and see how it turned out. So without further ado I give to you my recipe for buffalo mac n’ cheese.

Ingredients for mac n’ cheese

Mac N’ Cheese

To start off you need to make the bed on which your buffalo yumminess will lay on. I previously posted a delicious mac n’ cheese with shredded vegan cheese that you bake, but if you want a less processed version or can’t find a vegan cheese you love, try this recipe. To make the sauce you will need to soak 1/2 cup cashews overnight or just boil them along with your veggies. If you decide to boil the cashews add them along with 1/3 cup carrots and 1 1/4 cups diced potatoes. Boil until all three are soft enough where you can stick a fork in them and meet no resistance, then drain. Add the cashews, potatoes, and carrots to a blender with 1/4 cup nutritional yeast and 1/2 cup almond milk. Blend until completely smooth and then stir in black pepper to taste. If the sauce is too thick for your liking add a bit more milk. Boil your favorite pasta and then add the cheese sauce to it.

Two different buffalo chick’ns for you to decide between!

Buffalo Chick’n

I used two different chick’ns to see which one we would ultimately like better, but then we couldn’t decide, they were both so good! So I’ll give you both recipes and let you decide for yourself. The first way is the way to go for gluten free and involves getting your hands on some textured vegetable chunks. I use this specific one from amazon as I have not been able to find it anywhere else, plus it’s tasty and easy to work with. You have to reconstitute it in vegetable stock in order to work with it so do this the night before and leave it in the fridge to make sure it’s ready to go the next day. I usually do about 2 cups to make sure I have enough.

TVC buffalo chick’n

The second chick’n is delight soy nuggets and you don’t have to do anything but defrost them to get them ready to go. This one is not GF.

Delight soy buffalo nuggets

After you’ve decided which chick’n to use it’s time to batter em up and fry em! Combine 1 cup of flour, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp cayenne, and 1 tsp garlic powder in a shallow dish and 1 cup of almond milk in another. Place the chick’n in the flour, then into the almond milk, and back into the flour. Heat a pan with enough oil on the bottom to fry in over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot enough to fry place each piece in and cook until golden brown on each side. Remove from oil and place on a rack or paper towel.

In a microwavable bowl add 1/4 cup vegan butter and 1 cup buffalo sauce. Microwave in 30 second intervals until the butter is melted. Place the chick’n into the buffalo sauce and you are ready to eat my friend! Assemble the buffalo chick’n on top of the bed of mac n’ cheese and enjoy!

Ooey gooey cheesy buffaloy yumminess!

Buffalo Mac N’ Cheese

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Ingredients:

• • 12 ounces your favorite pasta (if you are wanting GF make sure your paste is!)
  • 1/2 cup cashews
  • 1/3 cup carrots
  • 1 1/4 cups diced potatoes
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 cup almond milk for cheese sauce and 1 cup for battering
  • pepper to taste
  • 2 cups textured vegetable chunks (this is the GF way) or delight soy nuggets
  • 1/4 cup vegan butter
  • 1 cup buffalo sauce
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 cup gluten free flour
  • oil for frying

Directions:

1. Soak cashews overnight or just boil them along with carrots and diced potatoes. Once soft add them to a blender with nutritional yeast and almond milk. Blend until completely smooth and then stir in black pepper to taste. If too thick for your liking add a bit more almond milk. Boil your favorite pasta and then add the cheese sauce to it.
2. If you choose the GF route with TVC soak them overnight in vegetable broth. If you choose the soy nuggets just defrost them.
3. Combine flour, paprika, cayenne, and  garlic powder in a shallow dish and almond milk in another. Place the chick’n in the flour, then into the almond milk, and back into the flour. Heat a pan with enough oil on the bottom to fry in over medium-high heat. Fry each piece until golden brown on each side. Remove from oil and place on a rack or paper towel.
4. In a microwavable bowl add vegan butter and buffalo sauce, microwave in 30 second intervals until the butter is melted. Place the chick’n into the buffalo sauce, drain excess, assemble the buffalo chick’n on top of the bed of mac n’ cheese and enjoy!

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I hope you let you enjoy this recpe and if you have any questions please contact me! Don’t forget to follow me to keep up to date on my posts and get new recipes!