A buttery sauce mixed with smoked gouda and blue cheese make one velvety and flavorful and lighter BBQ chicken mac and cheese. The ideal comfort food!
This is such a Monday meal.
A big bowl of pasta, screaming for you to come pull a chair up to the table, grab a fork and to dig in.
During the summer, Monday dinners are reserved for veggie packed, nutrient dense dinners to balance out the weekend splurges. Entree salads with salty cheese, juicy chicken, and crisp green vegetables are usually all present. But as the leaves start to change and the fire place is roaring more than having our windows open, it all indicates foods that warm you from inside out are a must.
Mac and cheese is the quintessential comfort food. Stick to your bones. Make you feel good sorta food. The velvety cheese, the chewy pasta, and with one bite, you are in pure bliss. Ironically, growing up and still to this day, I rarely crave pasta. Except plain noodles tossed in butter and salt. Healthy, I know. I was never the girl that could eat endless bowls of spaghetti but nowadays, when I get a hankering, pass me that fork and let me dig in. Buttery cheese that covers every nook and cranny. Loaded with flavors for endless profiles with each spoonful.
Needless to say, a craving hit a couple of weeks ago when Kansas City was shocked with our first bitterly cold (I mean 40 degrees F for September was colddddd. Talk about a slap in the face from the 80 degrees we were enjoying!), I knew just the meal to warm Mr HIT and I up. A silky, yet lighter sauce made of almond milk and cottage cheese keeps the sauce velvety, yet easy on your waist line. It proves to be a favorite in our house as it is the perfect base here and here. Adding protein yet mimicking the thickness that heavy cream usually provides.
BBQ sauce is the perfect addition if you were to ask my hubby. As folks from KC, BBQ runs in our veins. Its slight sweetness, paired with the tangy and salty blue cheese crumbles tie this dish together. The blue cheese is subtle though; enough to let you know its there but not in your face as blue cheese can be quite potent.
This dish is ideal for a weeknight, or heck even Saturday evening with a beer and some friends! It comes together quickly and proves to be popular as I served it to my in laws and they were asking for more!
Grab a beer, a big bowl of BBQ pasta and kick your feet up for making it through another Monday!
A buttery sauce mixed with smoked gouda and blue cheese make one velvety and flavorful and lighter BBQ chicken mac and cheese. The ideal comfort food!
10 minPrep Time
30 minCook Time
40 minTotal Time
Yields 6
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 cups cooked and diced chicken breast
- 12 oz penne pasta, uncooked (gluten free if sensitive)
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 4 Tbsp tapioca starch (or flour)
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 1 cup fat free cottage cheese
- 3/4 cup your favorite BBQ sauce
- 4 oz smoked gouda
- 4 oz crumbled blue cheese
- For garnish, thinly sliced green onion and extra BBQ sauce
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan, over medium heat, add the butter and melt. Add the diced red onion, salt and pepper. Let cook for 5-8 minutes, or until onion is soft.
- Meanwhile, add the almond milk, cottage cheese and BBQ to a blender and puree. Also while onions are cooking, prepare water for pasta and bring to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente as the pasta will go into the hot sauce and will continue to cook. If pasta is done before sauce, set aside in a colander.
- When onion is soft, whisk in the tapioca starch until onions are coated well. Stir for 2 minutes to create a roux. Add in the milk mixture, whisking constantly, and stir for another 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Reduce heat to medium-low and add in the gouda and blue cheese. Continue to stir until sauce is creamy and cheese has melted. Add in penne and stir to coat, then toss in chicken.
- To serve, sprinkle with green onions and extra drizzle of BBQ sauce on top.
Notes
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