Buffalo Chicken Casserole
The original recipe: Buffalo Chicken Casserole by paleOMG
1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Brush the exposed flesh of the spaghetti squash with olive oil and season with a couple pinches of salt & pepper. Place flesh down on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake until the skin is softened when you poke it - about 35 - 40 minutes.
3. While the squash is baking, heat a large cast iron skillet or dutch oven to medium heat with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add the carrot, celery, red pepper, onion, and garlic powder. Stir to evenly distribute the garlic powder.
4. Cook the vegetables until the onion is softened (about 8 minutes) before adding the ground chicken and breaking it into smaller pieces with your spatula. Season with salt & pepper, but go easy on the salt because the hot sauce is salty!
5. Cook until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink, stirring occasionally (8-10 minutes).
6. Remove from heat and add in the mayonnaise, hot sauce, and eggs. Mix until thoroughly combined.
7. When the squash is done, remove from oven and let it cool. Lower the oven temperature to 350F.
8. Use a fork to shred the flesh of the squash into strands. We get impatient and sometimes just use an Ove Glove to hold the squash and shred the strands directly into the vegetable/chicken mixture.
9. Mix the spaghetti squash strands with the vegetable & chicken mixture until thoroughly combined.
10. Bake at 350F for an hour.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4
1 medium spaghetti squash (or 2 small ones), halved lengthwise
2 tbsp olive oil + extra for brushing onto the spaghetti squash
1 medium carrot, sliced into circles (for the pieces with large diameters, cut in half into half-moon shapes)
2 stalks of celery, chopped cross-wise into half moon shapes
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1lb extra lean ground chicken
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I use Hellman's 1/2 the Fat)
1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce
3 large eggs, whisked
Avocado + chopped green onions for garnish (optional)
DIRECTIONS
My Changes & Notes:
1. Seasonal squash.
When squash is in season (usually around the fall), it's super easy to find one spaghetti squash that weighs in at around 2.5lbs. I made this when it was out of season, however, and ended up purchasing two very small squash that totalled approximately 2.5lbs together.
Halve the squash lengthwise and brush with olive oil before seasoning with salt & pepper. Then, place face down on the baking sheet and bake around 35 min or until the skin gives in easily when you poke it.
2. Carrots and stuff.
While the squash is baking, I prepare my onion, celery, red pepper, and carrots.
1/2 onion diced
1 red bell pepper diced
2 stalks of celery cut across into half moon shapes
1 medium carrot sliced across so the resulting shape is a circle - for the pieces with really big diameters, I cut those into half moon shapes
Heat a pan to medium heat with 2 tbsp olive oil and then add in the vegetables. Season with 1 tsp garlic powder, salt & pepper (go light on the salt), and mix to evenly distribute the garlic powder.
Cook the vegetables for approximately 8 minutes before adding in the ground chicken and breaking it up with a spatula. Let this mixture cook until the chicken is completely cooked through and no pink remains, stirring occasionally (approx. 8-10 minutes).
3. Save the buffalo.
Once the veggie and ground chicken mix is cooked through, add in:
1/4 cup mayonnaise (we do not follow a paleo diet, so I just used store bought Hellman's 1/2 the fat)
1/4 Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce
3 whisked eggs
Mix it all up and then bake at 350F for 1 hour. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes before serving, it's easier to slice & serve as a single piece that way.
**NOTE** The first time I made this recipe I used the full cup of Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce as instructed. This was WAY too hot-saucy for us (maybe because I use the buffalo type vs. Frank's Red Hot original sauce). It wasn't too spicy, but just way too salty. Since then, I've experimented with differing amounts of hot sauce. We now use 1/4 cup of the Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce; this ends up quite mild and you can taste the vegetables more prominently than the buffalo flavour... but we like it that way. Try the 1/4 cup first and give it a taste (BEFORE adding the eggs) - if you want a more bold buffalo flavour, add more as needed & taste to adjust as desired. Remember, you can always add more but you can't take it away.