Vic’s Tricks To…Buffalo Chicken Cauliflower Mac & Cheese

The cold weather is coming in hot.Wait. You know what I mean.It’s freezing outside and all I wanna do is stay under the blanket, snuggle with the pups, and eat comfort food.And yet, I did so darn well on the diet, I’m not willing to give up all that hard work.So, I decided to compromise using the ultimate life-saver:Cauliflower!Seriously, if I could marry cauliflower, I would.Now, I’m not saying this recipe is really “healthy” – but, you’re saving a heck of a lot of calories by ditching the pasta. I’m also providing some substitutes to make it totally KETO!I’ve actually already written out my base recipe for Vic’s Tricks To…Cauliflower Mac & Cheese, but the buffalo chicken really adds that extra somethin’ somethin’.Don’t worry, I’ll still write out each step below. Work smarter not harder knowwhatimsayinnn.

Preheat oven to 450°. Place chopped, bite-sized cauliflower florets in a bowl and toss with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until tender.

While the cauliflower roasts, you can make the nuggets.Take a large skillet with edges (I used my cast iron) and heat about 1 inch of canola oil over medium high heat.Because we know that canola or peanut oil are the best for frying because of their high smoke point, right guys?? NO OLIVE OIL.You’ll want to cut some chicken breast into bite-sized pieces, cover them in egg, then toss them in a breadcrumb mixture. I really like panko and garlic powder.IF KETO: Use pork rinds or almond flour, seasonings, & parmesan----Vic Trick: This is my tried and true chicken nugget dredging technique:– I take my nuggets and throw them into a large bowl with the egg.– I also prepare a large ziplock bag with my breadcrumb mixture (in the pic above, I made it keto by using pork rinds & parmesan cheese).– Then, I pick up a piece, shake off the excess egg and throw it in the breadcrumb bag. Repeat that with like 4/5 pieces.– SHAKE THAT BAG LIKE YOU MEAN IT– Remove the breaded chicken and set aside or place right into the pan with hot oil.

Cooking in batches (DO NOT OVERCROWD THE PAN), fry up each piece of chicken until cooked through – about 4-5 mins per side depending on the size of your chunks.Then remove them to a paper towel to absorb the oil.

Toss your chicken pieces in a large bowl with 3/4 of the wing sauce and set aside for now.Vic Trick: I used a pre-made buffalo wing sauce for this, but if you’re making your own, just melt a stick of butter and 2/3 cup of hot sauce.

NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE CHEESE SAUCE BABAAAYYYYIn a pot on low heat, bring 1 cup heavy cream to a simmer. Stir in 2 tbsp cream cheese until melted. Add in the rest of the wing sauce and whatever shredded cheese you desire. I love cheddar so I used that, but also put in a little mozzarella just for kicks. Use about 3/4 cup of each because we’ll use the rest on top. Drool.Add in the roasted cauliflower and about 3/4 of the buffalo chicken (we’re saving some for garnish) and mix to combine the sauce onto each piece.

Pour the mixture into an oven safe dish, cover with more cheese, then bake until the cheese melts, about 5 more minutes.Scoop into bowls, garnish with more of the buffalo chicken and blue cheese crumbles and ooooohhhhhhh baaaaabbbbyyyy wait until you taste how good this is!!!