Comfort Food Chicken Mac N' Cheese

This is in no way shape or form good for you but man it's a wonderful comfort food that will warm you up on a cold winter day.

4 chicken breasts (I use boneless skinless)
2 boxes of box mix mac n' cheese
1 stick of butter (or the amount listed on the box mix for 2 boxes)
1/2 c milk (or the amount listed on the box mix for 2 boxes)
1 large family size can of cream of chicken soup mixed with about 1/4-1/2 c warm water (this is essential)
1/2 cup of cheese (I like sharp cheddar best)
1 bag of Cheetos (crunchy kind normal cheddar flavor)
salt and pepper to taste, more pepper than salt since soup and cheese mixes will add salt to the mixture.

Optional:
6 oz sour cream or 6 oz cream cheese softened
garlic salt to taste
Any other herbs you like with chicken like sage, mrs dash, rosemary, thyme, etc.

If you leave out the chicken soup it will take away from the creamy meaty taste, you could try using a rotisserie chicken to add extra chicken flavor and then maybe put in cream of onion,celery,or even cheddar cheese soup but we always use cream of chicken.

Boil chicken in a decent size pot until cooked through/done. Take the chicken out and start boiling mac n' cheese noodles in the already ready chicken water. While the noodles are boiling cut chicken into bite size pieces. Start preheating your oven, take a casserole dish (I use 9x13) and line the bottom with Cheetos. The noodles should be done by now so drain and prepare mac n' cheese according to direction on box. Add salt and pepper, cream of chicken soup and the optional sour cream/cream cheese and/or garlic salt then stir in chicken and add 1/4 cup of the cheese. Pour cheesy mixture over the Cheetos and then sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake in 350 oven for about 30 min, the cheese will melt and the Cheetos will form a soft crust on the bottom.
You could probably even throw all the ingredients into a crock pot (chicken would need to be cooked first of course) for a potluck and instead of a crust of Cheetos's you could just stir them in.

I was gonna order pizza tomorrow, might have to go down the shops.

I'm going to try it out.
Anything with mac and cheese and cheetoes will make my kids happy.

Sounds good. Have you tried it with bacon? That goes with mac and cheese like Abbot and Costello. Too old a reference? Like Kirsty Alley and an all you can eat buffet.

I like everything except for the cheetos..
why not try lining the bottom with a hard cheese like you do for souflees and cutting the liquid back a little?
And maybe using a real cheese sauce not boxmix?

Try this:
Mac n' Cheese
Fannie Farmer (1946)

Notes: You can also freeze this recipe in zip-lock bags for later use - once you have mixed the macaroni along with the cheese sauce allow to cool to room temperature before adding to your freezer.
Pull it out the night before and allow macaroni and cheese to reach room temperature Then add the macaroni and cheese to a buttered baking dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs and then bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown on top and bubbling.



Formula:
8 ounces of macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded good quality
1/2 cup breadcrumbs, buttered
Seasonings for breadcrumbs (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cook and drain macaroni according to package directions and set aside.

In a large saucepan melt butter and add flour mixed with the salt and pepper while using a whisk to stir until well blended (make a rue) than pour milk and cream in gradually while stirring constantly.Bring to a boil and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly).
Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) 10 minutes. Add shredded cheddar little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts. Turn off your stove. Add macaroni to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.Transfer macaroni to a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle top with breadcrumb mixture. Bake 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Serve hot.

reply to post by darkredfish


You can also add some bacon of chicken chunks if you would like.

Make sure they are pre-cooked and add them in at last moment before baking.

Originally posted by darkredfish
Try this:
Mac n' Cheese
Fannie Farmer (1946)

Notes: You can also freeze this recipe in zip-lock bags for later use - once you have mixed the macaroni along with the cheese sauce allow to cool to room temperature before adding to your freezer.
Pull it out the night before and allow macaroni and cheese to reach room temperature Then add the macaroni and cheese to a buttered baking dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs and then bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown on top and bubbling.



Formula:
8 ounces of macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded good quality
1/2 cup breadcrumbs, buttered
Seasonings for breadcrumbs (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cook and drain macaroni according to package directions and set aside.

In a large saucepan melt butter and add flour mixed with the salt and pepper while using a whisk to stir until well blended (make a rue) than pour milk and cream in gradually while stirring constantly.Bring to a boil and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly).
Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) 10 minutes. Add shredded cheddar little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts. Turn off your stove. Add macaroni to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.Transfer macaroni to a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle top with breadcrumb mixture. Bake 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Serve hot.

Cookin' was so hard in the old days. All that stirring.

But it tastes a heck of a lot better.