Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese Pizza

Note: This dough makes enough for three pizzas in my opinion. So after the rising process, I divided it into three equal-sized rounds, and made three different pizzas. The toppings listed in this recipe are enough to cover one pizza.

Make the dough by adding the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar into a large bowl. Mix. Add the water and mix slowly until it starts to combine. I use my KitchenAid for this process to keep everything in the bowl during the rising process. Mix for about 30 seconds. The dough should be a bit stiff. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or a sheet of plastic and let it sit at room temperature until the dough has doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

During this time, make your chicken and macaroni and cheese.

To make the chicken, add the cubed chicken to a small mixing bowl and lightly coat with the cornstarch, salt and pepper. Stir to lightly coat all of the chicken.

Heat your oil in a deep pot over medium heat, to 350 F. Add the chicken into the hot oil in small batches and cook the chicken for about 5-7 minutes. When it’s done remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon, place it on a paper towel lined plate and lightly season with salt. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

Add the cooked chicken to another small mixing bowl, and toss in the Frank’s RedHot, coating the chicken. Taste one, then back away because they are addicting.

Next, make the macaroni and cheese. Cook your pasta, to just before al dente (according to package instructions). Then, drain and set aside.

In the meantime, melt your butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter is nice and bubbly, toss in the flour, and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook, and continue stirring on medium heat for about 4 minutes. Add in the milk, and continue cooking until you have a nice, thick sauce. Keep stirring as you do not want any clumps.

Add the drained noodles to a mixing bowl, and toss in the cheese. Pour the thickened sauce into the bowl, and give a few good stirs. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Revisit the dough. Once the dough has risen, put the dough onto a floured surfaced. Form into a round ball. I divided my dough into three balls. Cover with a moistened kitchen towel for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven and pizza stone or pan to 500ºF.

Let’s make the pizza. Roll the three balls of pizza dough to your desired thickness.

Onto your pizza dough, lay down the slices of provolone cheese, and arrange accordingly. Onto that, add the macaroni and cheese, and spread that on top of the entire pizza going close to the edges. Top that with the cooked chicken, and shower with blue cheese crumbles.

Slide your pizza peel under the pizzas and put them onto your pizza stone in the oven. (Or transfer the pizzas to pizza pans and put the pans into the oven).

Ccook for about 20-25 minutes or until the crust is nice and golden, and the macaroni and cheese is nice and bubbly.

Remove them from the oven and slide the pizza onto a cookie rack, to retain a nice, crisp crust. Shower with the sliced celery. Drizzle a bit more Frank’s RedHot sauce over the top.

Let the pizza cool for about 5 minutes, then slice and serve.

I was super excited about this pizza because it is everything I love about Buffalo chicken. But then there’s delicious macaroni and cheese that is all set on top of an awesome pizza crust! Are you excited? I was, and still am.

Biting into it was amazing. That mac and cheese was perfectly balanced by the subtle heat from the crispy Buffalo chicken and the slight tanginess of the blue cheese. As I made three different pizzas that day, and having my counter top look like you walked into a pizza parlor to pick out your own slice, my wife, who is not a fan of Buffalo chicken or blue cheese, fell in love with this pizza. So did I. I hope you enjoy.