Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Bake
This is one of those dishes that I just couldn’t wait to share. The second Tieghan tweeted this recipe, I totally swooned. Buffalo Chicken. Quinoa. CHEESEx3. It’s like she was inside my mind. I have no idea how it took me six weeks to get around to actually making it, but man am I glad I finally did!
Part of me really wanted to just go ahead and eat the rest of the pan. Another part of me wanted to make it last forever. In the end, we compromised and agreed that I would make it again very soon.
I did make a few adaptations to the recipe to make it healthier. While the original included lots of healthy elements (quinoa, broccoli, kale), the dish didn’t really qualify as healthy in my book. I may as well go ahead and tell you that when I make new dishes, I almost always calculate the nutrition facts. Not so much if I’m making cookies for the office or a dish for a potluck or party, but when it comes to food Courtney and I are going to eat throughout the week, I like to know what I’m putting in my body. What I found was that the original recipe had a lot more fat, saturated fat and cholesterol than I prefer our regular nightly meals to have:
Original Recipe: 560 cal, 31g fat, 14g sat fat, 106 mg cholesterol
I started by eliminating nearly all of the butter. I find that while cutting down on oil and butter is brutally obvious when baking, in cooking you often don’t even miss it. This is especially true in dishes like this one that are already heavy in flavorful sauce and cheese. Next I subbed in some of my favorite super light mozzarella from Trader Joe’s (only 45 calories an ounce!) to make room for additional crumbled blue cheese. While the cheeses in the sauce all blends together with the hot sauce, the crumbled blue cheese on top really makes a distinct flavor impact. I was able to cut 110 calories, 11g of fat, 5g of saturated fat and 26mg per serving, and I can honestly say this casserole didn’t taste even the least bit light or lacking. It’s also a great dish if you eat gluten-free or have gluten-free guests!
Jo’s Lightened Up Version: 450 cal, 20g fat, 9g sat fat, 80mg cholesterol
I just love the way the broccoli soaks up the cheesy buffalo sauce, and the quinoa is the perfect vehicle to hold it all together. The recipe makes four huge slabs of buffalo chicken cheesy deliciousness that are uber filling and the perfect satisfying comfort food for a fall night.
Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Bake
Adapted from Half Baked Harvest
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 1/2 cups baby kale
- 1 small head broccoli, chopped
- 1/2 celery, diced
- 2 small (4oz) cooked chicken breast, chopped or shredded
- 1 tablespoon flour (may use whole wheat)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup milk (I used 2%)
- 3/4 cup shredded gouda cheese
- 2oz shredded light mozzarella
- 1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook quinoa according to package. While still hot, stir in broccoli, celery and kale and cover. Add the chicken, toss and set aside.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s melted and bubbly add the flour. Whisk together to create a roux and cook for 1-2 minutes until mixture gets a bit golden in color. Add milk, stir and turn down heat to low. Continue stirring until milk thickens. This may take a few minutes.
- Add in gouda and half of the mozzarella and continue to stir until mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the hot sauce and pepper.
- Pour the sauce over the quinoa mixture and mix well to combine. Pour mixture into a greased 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella and crumbled blue cheese.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes and then turn the broiler on and broil for 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbly.
Serves 4
