After a busy week and not making it to our local grocery store..this is what I came up with and I am more than pleased! Who doesn’t like buffalo wings, at least the semi-spicy and flavorful sauce??! *If you don’t, we’ll cease contact now…This casserole was super easy, inexpensive and uses up some things you may already have on hand!
I was in no mood to get my boys and I ready to go out and about today just for dinner and when I gathered all of these ingredients from my pantry and fridge it became a home-run!!
The Starting Lineup
- 5-6 medium russet potatoes, cut into rough 1″ cubes
- 2lb boneless chicken breasts or tenders, cut into rough 1″ pieces
- 6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2 cups grated cheese (cheddar, Jack, peppered, habanero, etc)
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 1/3 cup green onion, sliced
- 1/3 cup+ buffalo wing sauce
- 2Tbsp paprika
- 1Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1tsp ground pepper
- Non-stick spray/oil for 9×13 dish
- Sour cream to garnish (optional)
Preheat your oven to 475 degrees and coat a 9×13 oven proof dish in non-stick spray.
Now is time to start the bacon! I am not a fan (at all) of chewy bacon, but for this dish, I prefer to cook my bacon not too (super-duper-like-normal) crisp. It will continue to cook in the oven.
While the oven is preheating and the bacon is cooking away, we’ll clean and cut the potatoes and chop the 1/2 of an onion.
After the bacon is cooked to your desired doneness, do NOT throw away the 1/3 cup of grease!! ….follow me here.
In a large bowl, drain that excess bacon grease straight into the bowl. To that, combine the wing sauce & spices. Give a good stir and add your cut potatoes and the 1/2 chopped onion into the now amazing glaze. Toss to coat.
While leaving as much wing sauce ‘glaze’ possible in the bowl, transfer the potato and onion mixture to the non-stick sprayed casserole dish.
This potato mix will go straight into your 475 degree oven. Allow to cook for 45 minutes, while stirring every 10-15 minutes.
….back to that leftover buffalo sauce glaze…toss your cut up chicken breasts/tenderloins in this sauce and marinate away. *If you need more sauce for the chicken, just make more. No foul there. *I also usually place bowl in fridge, but take out about 20 minutes before potatoes are finished.
Also, while the potatoes are roasting, combine your sliced green onions, the crumbled bacon and your grated choice of cheese in a bowl.
About now your potatoes should be cooked through and a bit crispy on the edges.
Drop the oven heat down to 400 degrees and remove the potatoes. Right away add the (uncooked) chicken on top, followed by your cheese & bacon mix. Pop this casserole (uncovered) into the oven for 15-20 minutes.
After the 15’ish minutes of baking is done (chicken will be cooked through and juicy), remove the casserole and serve up! We like to garnish ours with a big dollop of sour cream and maybe a drizzle of wing sauce or Bleu cheese crumbles. Enjoy!
Railroad Wife 