The ultimate guilty-pleasure… with a little bit of health thrown in.
Buffalo chicken in a quinoa-loaded casserole. Yum!
If you have never tried quinoa before, it is a super-healthy protein-packed starch that is a great replacement for rice in recipes. Give it a try sometime!
(And if you are scared of buffalo sauce, try this Chicken Broccoli Quinoa Casserole!)
I make my own condensed cream-of-chicken soup, though you can obviously substitute the canned stuff…
But homemade is super simple and much better for you (not to mention cheaper!) than the canned stuff!
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked quinoa
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 3 chicken breasts, diced or shredded
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup Frank's buffalo sauce, divided (3/4 cup + 1/4 cup)
- 3 cups homemade condensed cream of chicken soup (or 2 regular cans)
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter a 9x13" baking dish.
In a large pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions & celery until soft and the add in the chicken and garlic, sautéing until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in 3/4 cup buffalo sauce and simmer until the sauce has thickened and reduced a bit; Set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together the cooked quinoa, cream of chicken soup, mayo, most of the shredded cheese (saving a little bit to sprinkle on top) and the remaining 1/4 cup buffalo sauce.
Gently fold in the chicken/celery/onion mixture and dump into the greased pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the top is golden and the casserole is bubbling.
Serve with a drizzle of blue cheese dressing (or crumbles sprinkled on top!) if you'd like, and fresh celery on the side!
http://sweetannas.com/2012/03/buffalo-chicken-quinoa-casserole.html
